Tropicana Magazine Nov-Dec 2015 #104: The Festive Issue

THE GAME CHANGER
Ellen
DeGeneres
THE BOLD AND THE HUMOROUS
WORDS THERESA SHALINI STEPHEN
PHOTOGRAPH GETTY IMAGES
A WOMAN WITH AN UNENDING WIT, ELLEN DEGENERES
IS AN INSPIRING ENTERTAINER WITH A STEEL SPINE AND A BIG
HEART WHO STAYS TRUE TO HERSELF DESPITE HER SUCCESS.
Bright-eyed, sharply dressed and downright witty, Ellen
DeGeneres is no foreign name in the entertainment
industry. She made her name in stand-up comedy but has
since added acting, writing, producing, hosting and judging
credits to her formidable resume. It should come as no
surprise then that she has consistently ranked among some
of the most powerful and influential people on the planet,
including a 12th placing on the Forbes ‘World’s Highest-
Paid Celebrities’ in 2015 list.
It didn’t start all roses for Ellen as she had to cope with the
divorce of her parents when she was 13 years old, then cycled
through multiple odd jobs when she entered the workforce.
She began doing stand-up comedy gigs in small bars and
clubs, gradually building a reputation for herself on the local
comedy circuit and began touring on a national level in the
early 1980s. In 1982, she earned the title of ‘Funniest Person
in America’ by American television network Showtime,
and became the first female comedian to be interviewed by
Johnny Carson on “The Tonight Show” in 1986.
Ellen starred in the television sitcom “Ellen” from 1994
to 1998, and in its fourth season in 1997, her character
confessed to a therapist played by Oprah Winfrey that she
was a lesbian – right around the same time that Ellen herself
revealed her sexuality on “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. With
that announcement, she became the first openly lesbian
actress to play a lesbian character on television, a brave
move that had financial repercussions for herself and her
projects but was widely lauded by the LGBT community as
an iconic moment for gay rights acceptance.
84 TM | NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2015