American comedian Ellen DeGeneres was BOTD in 1958. Born in Metairie, Louisiana, she had a turbulent childhood including being sexually assaulted by her stepfather. After attending the University of New Orleans, she worked odd jobs and started performing stand-up comedy. By the mid 1980s, she was touring nationally on the comedy circuit and appeared on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in 1986. She rose to national prominence as the star of the prime-time TV sitcom Ellen, playing a neurotic bookstore owner. The show ground to a halt in 1997, when DeGeneres came out as lesbian in a TV interview with Oprah Winfrey. Weeks later, her TV character also came out as gay to her therapist (played by Winfrey). DeGeneres became an overnight lesbian icon, appearing on the front cover of Time magazine and facing down criticism from homophobic press and commentators. Her relationship with actress Anne Heche also received extensive press coverage. Despite winning an Emmy Award for the coming-out episode, Ellen was cancelled the following year. After a brief and unsuccessful film career, she reinvented herself as a talk-show host, producing and fronting the popular The Ellen DeGeneres Show. DeGeneres has also hosted the Oscars, the Emmys and the Grammy Awards, and voiced the character of Dory in the 2003 animated film Finding Nemo. Her show closed in 2022, after former employees accused her of bullying and sexual harassment. She is married to the Australian actress Portia de Rossi.