She has fast become a household name and no one can deny that Ellen is quite a piece of work, but today it’s time to look past her and at the people who function with her behind the scenes and beyond the camera. It’s all going to be in here, tid bits of information about Ellen DeGeneres mother, father, brother and her wife.
Ellen DeGeneres Mother
She is one of the most important women in Ellen’s life, that is bound to happen when people go through a lot together, her name is Betty DeGeneres and she raised the star on her own for the most part of it. She was born on May 20, 1930, in Violet, Louisiana. The mother of two was once married to Ellen’s father, Elliot DeGeneres but that went down the drain after 22 years.
She is now married to Roy Gruessendorf and that seems to be going on well for her. So, the big question is, how does Ellen DeGeneres mother feel about her daughter being a member of the LGBT community? The answer is a whole story on it’s own so hold on.
Betty, who is a published author described her total reaction to Ellen’s open admission that she was swinging for the other team in 1997. Well, she wasn’t thrilled, it was a different time back then, but soon she moved from ‘passive acceptance to becoming a full blown activist’.
Ellen DeGeneres mother is in total support of her daughter and the entire LGBT community.
Ellen DeGeneres Father
His name is Elliott Everett DeGeneres, an insurance agent and though we do not know much about him, we do know that he wasn’t around much during her childhood. After the separation between Ellen DeGeneres mother and Elliot in 1973, Ellen decided to go live with her mum while her brother stayed with their dad.
Though he was not around that much, in his own way the star’s father was still very present. The one occasion that Ellen spoke about her father quite a bit was when she explained his concerns for her when she came out as a lesbian in 1997. She said, he didn’t like how open she was about it because what he wanted was for her to live a quiet life.
In her own words, she said, ‘ My parents divorced when I was young – they were very different personalities. My mother is a strong woman, sarcastic and sassy, and I learnt how to be a tough woman from her. My dad is a wonderful man but he has a lot of fear and he was overprotective of me.’
She added. ‘ He didn’t want me to hurt myself so he wanted me to be nice and quiet all the time and not really argue or speak my opinion. So imagine his challenge of having an openly gay child.’ In more recent news, it seems that Elliot is quite ill and the house he shares with his current wife is just not cutting it for people their age.
A neighbor hinted that the star’s father is in serious need of some help, ‘ …Hopefully Ellen will realize that helping him move to a place with no stairs will help. I’ve never met Ellen here but I know he goes to see her. I think she just doesn’t know how hard it is for them there.’
Ellen finally lost her father in early January 2018 at the age of 92. She revealed that he was a good man and had a good life despite not having any medicine or been to the doctor in his entire life.
Ellen DeGeneres Brother
Well, it seems like both siblings decided to go down the showbiz route, as Vance DeGeneres is an American actor, comedian, musician, film producer and screenwriter, known for his work in television. He was born on September 2, 1954 and according to Ellen, he was actually the funny one.
It;s evident that he is not just Ellen’s brother, Vance has done quite well for himself in his own right and he is kind of a Jack of all trades. He actually joined the Marine Corps and attained the rank of a corporal after two years. He has been on radio, he has been in the music industry and he is currently co-runs Carousel Productions at Warner Bros., Steve Carell’s production company, developing comedy movies.
Ellen DeGeneres Wife
Well, anybody who knows Ellen knows this lady, her name is Portia Lee James DeGeneres, she was born Amanda Lee Rogers, but professionally she is referred to as Portia de Rossi. She was born on January 31, 1973 and she is an Australian-American actress.
Portia is popular for her roles in Scandal, where she played Elizabeth North, the Vice President’s Chief of Staff, Nelle Porter on Ally McBeal, and Lindsay Fünke on the television sitcom Arrested Development. She met her other half in 2005, backstage at an awards show and they hit it off immediately. By August 2008, they were married at an intimate gathering, with their mothers and 17 guests in attendance.
There are no plans on both their parts to extend their family, but the two have adopted several rescue animals.