Profile Facts: Television Personality

Showing posts with label Television Personality. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 16

Lulu (singer)

Lulu Kennedy-Cairns OBE (born Marie McDonald McLaughlin Lawrie; 3 November 1948), known professionally as Lulu, is a Scottish singer, actress, television personality and businesswoman. Noted for her powerful singing voice, Lulu is internationally

'Bachelor' host Chris Harrison apologizes for 'speaking in a manner that perpetuates racism'

"Bachelor" host Chris Harrison is taking a step back and reflecting on a recent interview that had Bachelor Nation in an uproar. On Tuesday, the longtime emcee appeared on Extra in an interview with former "Bachelorette" Rachel Lindsay

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Wednesday, February 10

Ellen DeGeneres says Portia de Rossi was her ‘rock’ during toxic work environment scandal: ‘She kept me going’

Ellen DeGeneres is grateful Portia de Rossi is always by her side – especially during tough times. The talk show host faced scrutiny last year after several former employees alleged a toxic work environment. The 63-year-old told People magazine on Wednesday

Sunday, February 27

Anne Hathaway (actress)

Anne Jacqueline Hathaway (born November 12, 1982) is an American actress. After several stage roles, she appeared in the 1999 television series Get Real. She played Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries (2001). Over the next three years, Hathaway reprised that role for The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, and starred in family films, appearing as the title character in Ella Enchanted, both in 2004.

Hathaway had dramatic roles in Havoc and Brokeback Mountain, both in 2005. She starred in The Devil Wears Prada (2006) and in Becoming Jane (2007) as Jane Austen. In 2008, she was acclaimed for her lead role in Rachel Getting Married, for which she won awards and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 2010, she starred in the box office hits Valentine's Day and Tim Burton's Alice In Wonderland, as well as Love and Other Drugs. She is scheduled to play Selina Kyle in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises.

People magazine named her one of its breakthrough stars of 2001, and she first appeared on its list of the world's 50 Most Beautiful People in 2006.

Early life and career

Hathaway was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her father, Gerald Thomas Hathaway, is a lawyer, and her mother, Kathleen Ann (née McCauley), is an actress who inspired Hathaway to follow in her footsteps. The family moved to Millburn, New Jersey when she was six years old. Hathaway has an older brother, Michael, and a younger brother, Thomas. She is of mostly Irish and French ancestry, with distant Native American and German roots.

Hathaway was raised a Catholic with what she considered "really strong values," and has stated she wanted to be a nun during her childhood. However, she decided against it at the age of 15, after learning that her brother, Michael, was gay; she felt that she could not be part of a religion that condemned her brother's sexual orientation. In 2009, Hathaway described herself as a non-denominational Christian because she had not "found the religion" for her, and later stated that her religious beliefs are "a work in progress".

As a preschooler, Hathaway attended Brooklyn Heights Montessori School. She entered first grade at the Wyoming Elementary School in Millburn while she was technically still a kindergartner. Hathaway graduated from Millburn High School, where she participated in many school plays; her high school performance as Winnifred in Once Upon a Mattress garnered her a Paper Mill Playhouse Rising Star Award nomination for Best Performance by a High School Actress. During this time, Hathaway was in plays including Jane Eyre and Gigi at New Jersey's Paper Mill Playhouse (which is located in Millburn, across the street from Hathaway's middle school).She spent several semesters studying as an English major and Women's Studies minor at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York before transferring to New York University's Gallatin School of Individualized Study, referring to her college enrollment as one of her best decisions, because she enjoyed being with others who were trying to "grow up". Hathaway was the first teenager admitted into the Barrow Group Theater Company's acting program.

A soprano, Hathaway performed in 1998 and 1999 with the All-Eastern U.S. High School Honors Chorus at Carnegie Hall and has performed in plays at Seton Hall Prep in West Orange, New Jersey. Three days after her 1999 performance at Carnegie Hall, she was cast in the short-lived Fox television series Get Real at the age of 16.

Hathaway is a trained stage actress and has stated that she prefers performing on stage to film roles. Her acting style has been compared to Judy Garland and Audrey Hepburn. She cites Garland as one of her favorite actresses and Meryl Streep as her idol.

2001–2004: Career development

Hathaway's first role in a motion picture was as Jean Sabin in The Other Side of Heaven, opposite Christopher Gorham. Before production of Heaven began in New Zealand, she auditioned for the lead role of Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries, directed by Garry Marshall. Hathaway auditioned for the role during a flight layover on the way to New Zealand and won the role after only one audition. Marshall claimed that he loved her immediately because she fell off her chair during the audition and believed her clumsiness would make her perfect for the role. (However, in a 2008 conversation with Steve Carell, Hathaway denied that she fell during this audition, although she openly admits to being a "klutz".) The Princess Diaries was released before The Other Side of Heaven in the hopes that its success would increase interest in Heaven. Across the world, The Princess Diaries was a commercial success, and a sequel was planned shortly after. Many critics praised Hathaway's performance in Diaries; a BBC critic noted that "Hathaway shines in the title role and generates great chemistry." The Other Side of Heaven met with mostly negative reviews, but it performed well for a religion-themed film.

In February 2002, Hathaway starred in the City Center Encores! concert production of Carnival! in New York City, receiving positive reviews for her portrayal of Lili. Also in 2002, Hathaway began voicing the audio book releases of The Princess Diaries and has since voiced the first three books of the series. She also provided the voice of the character Haru in the English version of Hiroyuki Morita's The Cat Returns.

Hathaway continued to appear in family-oriented films over the next three years, subsequently becoming known in mainstream media as a children's role model. In 2002, she appeared in Nicholas Nickleby, opposite Charlie Hunnam and Jamie Bell, which opened to positive reviews. The Northwest Herald referred to it as "an unbelievably fun film", and the Deseret News said that the cast was "Oscar-worthy". Despite critical acclaim, the film never entered wide release and failed at the North American box office, totaling less than $4 million in ticket sales.

Hathaway's next film role was as the titular character in Ella Enchanted (2004), the film adaptation of the novel, which opened to mostly indifferent reviews. Hathaway sang two songs in the film as well as three on the soundtrack, including a duet with Jesse McCartney.

In 2004, Hathaway dropped out of her role in The Phantom of the Opera, because the production schedule of the film overlapped with The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement, which she was contractually obligated to make. Disney began production on The Princess Diaries 2 in early 2004, and it was released in August of that year. The film opened to negative reviews, but commissioned $95.1 million against a $40 -million budget.

2005–2007: Career transition

Hathaway at the 2007 Deauville American Film Festival

Hathaway began appearing in dramatic roles after The Princess Diaries 2. She said that "anybody who was a role model for children needs a reprieve", although she noted that "it's lovely to think that my audience is growing up with me". She voiced Little Red Riding Hood in Hoodwinked! (2005), which received generally positive reviews. That same year, Hathaway starred in the R-rated Havoc, in which she played a spoiled socialite, appearing nude in some of its scenes. Although the content of the film was different from her previous films, Hathaway denied that her role was an attempt to be seen as a more mature actress, citing her belief that doing nudity in certain movies is merely a part of what her chosen form of art demands of her; and because of that belief she does not consider appearing nude in appropriate films to be morally objectionable.

After Havoc, Hathaway was in the drama Brokeback Mountain. Havoc was not released in theaters in the United States (but was later released in other countries) because of its weak critical reception, but Brokeback Mountain won rave reviews for its depiction of a homosexual relationship in the 1960s and received several Academy Award nominations. Hathaway would later assert that the content of Brokeback Mountain was more important than its award count and that making the film made her more aware of the kind of stories she wanted to tell as an actress.

Hathaway was in the 2006 comedy The Devil Wears Prada, in which she starred as an assistant to a powerful fashion magazine editor portrayed by Meryl Streep, whom Hathaway described as being "just divine". Hathaway said that working on the film made her respect the fashion industry a great deal more than she had previously, though she claimed that her personal style is something she "still can't get right".In an interview with Us Weekly, Hathaway discussed the weight loss regime she and co-star Emily Blunt followed for the film, she stated, "I basically stuck with fruit, vegetables and fish [to slim down]. I wouldn't recommend that. Emily Blunt and I would clutch at each other and cry because we were so hungry."

Hathaway was cast in the 2007 comedy Knocked Up, but dropped out before filming began and was replaced by Katherine Heigl. Writer/director Judd Apatow stated in a May 2007 issue of The New York Times Magazine that Hathaway dropped out "because she didn't want to allow us to use real footage of a woman giving birth to create the illusion that she is giving birth". In an August 2008 interview with Marie Claire, Hathaway commented that she "didn't believe that it was necessary to the story".

Hathaway was in the 2007 drama Becoming Jane, in which she portrayed English writer Jane Austen. Tim Burton considered Hathaway for the part of Johanna Barker in his 2007 film Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, but the role went to Jayne Wisener, a then-unknown actress, reportedly because Burton decided he wanted an unknown, younger actress for the part.

2008–present

Hathaway on the red carpet in 2009 at the 81st Academy Awards

In January 2008, Hathaway joined beauty giant Lancôme as the face of their fragrance Magnifique. In October of that year, Hathaway hosted Saturday Night Live. Hathaway's first film of 2008 was a modern adaptation of the 1960s Mel Brooks television series Get Smart, in which she starred opposite Steve Carell, Dwayne Johnson, and Alan Arkin. The film was a hit at the box office, prompting talk of a sequel. She also made a cameo appearance in the corresponding film Get Smart's Bruce and Lloyd: Out of Control. In October 2008, she premiered the drama Passengers, alongside Patrick Wilson, as well as the drama Rachel Getting Married, opposite Debra Winger. Rachel Getting Married premiered at the 2008 Venice and Toronto Film Festivals and garnered her widespread critical acclaim for her performance as Kym, including nominations for both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe. Hathaway stated that the film appealed to her because of its real depiction of relationships and because of the strong emotional connection she felt with her character.

Hathaway appeared in the comedy Bride Wars, released on January 9, 2009. Hathaway described the film as being "hideously commercial – gloriously so". She appeared with co-star Kate Hudson on the February/March 2009 cover of Modern Bride despite her admission that she is "not the type of girl who dreams about her wedding."In addition to providing her voice for episodes of The Simpsons (which garnered her an Emmy in 2010 for outstanding voice-over performance) and Family Guy in 2010,Hathaway also appeared as Viola in the New York Shakespeare Festival's summer 2009 production of Twelfth Night at the Delacorte Theater in New York's Central Park, opposite Audra McDonald as Olivia, Raul Esparza as Duke Orsino, and Julie White as Maria.

Hathaway's 2010 film projects include a Tim Burton-directed adaptation of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass alongside Helena Bonham Carter and Johnny Depp, the romantic comedy The Fiancé, an adaptation of the Julie Buxbaum novel The Opposite of Love, the Garry Marshall-directed ensemble comedy Valentine's Day, and an adaptation of Gerald Clarke's biography Get Happy: The Life of Judy Garland, in which she will play the title role on the stage and screen. It was reported on December 8, 2009 that Hathaway was up for the role of Felicia Hardy in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 4. Hardy would not have transformed into the Black Cat, as in the comics; instead, Raimi’s Felicia was expected to become a brand-new superpowered figure called the Vulturess. On January 5, 2010, it was reported that Spider-Man 4 would be rewritten and Hathaway would not appear in the film, as she was "too expensive". On November 29, 2010, it was announced that Hathaway and James Franco would host the 83rd Academy Awards.

Together with actor Denzel Washington, Hathaway hosted the Nobel Peace Prize Concert in Oslo, Norway on December 11, 2010.

In 2010 she was named one of the sexiest stars of 2010 by EW Magazine, and was ranked #34 in TC Candler's list of "Most Beautiful Faces", along with Nozomi Sasaki as #33 and Olivia Thirlby as #35.

In January 2011, it was announced she had landed the role of Selina Kyle in Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises.

Personal life

Hathaway at the Get Smart premiere in June 2008

Hathaway is involved with charities, including The Creative Coalition, The Step Up Women's Network, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, The Human Rights Campaign, and The Lollipop Theatre Network, an organization that screens films to critically ill children. In 2008, she was honored at Elle magazine's "Women in Hollywood" tribute, and has also been honored for her work with Step Up Women's Network and the Human Rights Campaign.

In early 2007, Hathaway spoke of her experiences with depression during her teenage years, saying that she eventually overcame the disorder without medication.

In a fall 2008 appearance on Late Show with David Letterman, Hathaway noted that she had once again stopped smoking. The actress, who had begun smoking "heavily" while filming Rachel Getting Married, had "quit for a while", but had started again in the wake of her stressful summer and the end of her relationship with Raffaello Follieri. She credited quitting smoking for the subsequent decline in her stress level, and declared her return to being vegetarian.

In November 2008, Hathaway was reported to be in a relationship with actor Adam Shulman.

In regard to personal strife and subsequent media attention, Hathaway uses a mantra that quotes Oscar Wilde: "The less said about life's sores the better."

Relationship with Raffaello Follieri

In 2004, Hathaway began a relationship with Italian real estate developer Raffaello Follieri. During their relationship, Hathaway took part in the development of the charitable Follieri Foundation, serving as a financial donor as well as a member of the foundation's board of directors until 2007.A Manhattan-based charity founded in 2003 focusing on programs such as providing vaccinations for children in Third World nations, the organization had come under investigation in June 2008 by the IRS, for failing to file tax papers required from non-profit organizations. Citing the fear that this and other ongoing legal issues involving Follieri would become detrimental to her acting career, Hathaway ended her relationship with him in mid-June 2008.

Follieri was arrested in June 2008 on fraud charges for allegedly fleecing investors out of millions of dollars in a scheme in which Follieri posed as the Vatican's point man on real estate investing. It was reported that the FBI confiscated Hathaway's private journals from Follieri's New York City apartment as part of their ongoing investigation into Follieri's activities; however, Hathaway was not charged with any crime. On October 23, 2008, after earlier pleading guilty, Follieri was sentenced to four and a half years in prison.

In the October 2008 issue of W Magazine, Hathaway spoke for the first time of the break-up and Follieri's subsequent arrest. She related that she "spent a week in shock" after Follieri's arrest, and credited the kindness of friends for her ability to keep working during such difficult times. That same month, during her turn as host of Saturday Night Live, Hathaway joked about the experience in her opening monologue.

Filmography

Film and television

Year Title Role Notes

1999 Get Real Meghan Green 1999–2000 (13 episodes)

Nominated—Teen Choice Award for TV – Choice Actress

Nominated—Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Series – Young Ensemble

2001 The Princess Diaries Princess Mia Thermopolis Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance

Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Film – Choice Actress, Comedy

2001 The Other Side of Heaven Jean Sabin

2002 The Cat Returns Haru Yoshioka Voice (for English version only)

2002 Nicholas Nickleby Madeline Bray National Board of Review Award for Best Cast

2004 Ella Enchanted Ella of Frell

2004 The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement Princess Mia Thermopolis

2005 Hoodwinked! Red Puckett Voice

2005 Havoc Allison Lang Direct-to-video (United States)

DVDX Award for Best Actress (in a DVD Premiere Movie)

2005 Brokeback Mountain Lureen Newsome Twist Nominated—Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast

Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture

2006 The Devil Wears Prada Andy Sachs Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Movies – Choice Chemistry (Shared with Meryl Streep)

2007 Becoming Jane Jane Austen Nominated—British Independent Film Award for Best Actress

2008 Get Smart Agent 99 Blimp Award for Favorite Movie Actress

2008 Passengers Claire Summers

2008 Rachel Getting Married Kym Buchman Austin Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress

Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress (tied with Meryl Streep for Doubt)

Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress

Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress

National Board of Review Award for Best Actress

Palm Springs International Film Festival — Desert Palm Achievement Award

Prism Award for Best Performance in a Feature Film

Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress

Nominated—Academy Award for Best Actress

Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama

Nominated—Gotham Award for Best Ensemble Cast

Nominated—Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female

Nominated—London Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress

Nominated—Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress

Nominated—Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama

Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role - Motion Picture

2009 Bride Wars Emma Allen Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Actress: Comedy

Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Performance

Nominated—MTV Movie Award for Best Fight

Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Rockstar Moment

Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Choice Movie Rumble

2009 The Simpsons Jenny Season 20, Episode 17: The Good, the Sad and the Drugly

2009 PoliWood Herself Documentary

2010 The Simpsons Princess Penelope Season 21, Episode 10: Once Upon a Time in Springfield

Emmy Award for Outstanding Voice-Over Performance

2010 Valentine's Day Liz Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Scene Stealer – Female

2010 Alice in Wonderland White Queen Nominated—Teen Choice Award for Scene Stealer – Female

2010 Family Guy Mother Maggie / Herself Season 8, Episode 13: Go Stewie Go / Season 8, Episode 16: April in Quahog

2010 Love and Other Drugs Maggie Murdock Satellite Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy

Nominated—Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy

Nominated—Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress

2011 Rio Jewel Voice; post-production

2011 Glee TBA

2011 One Day Emma Post-production

2012 The Dark Knight Rises Selina Kyle/Catwoman Pre-Production

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(source:wikipedia)

Friday, December 17

Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres, born January 26, 1958) is an American stand-up comedian, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and was also a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season.

DeGeneres has hosted both the Academy Awards and the Primetime Emmys. As a film actress, she starred in Mr. Wrong, appeared in EDtv and The Love Letter, and provided the voice of Dory in the Disney-Pixar animated film Finding Nemo, for which she was awarded a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress, the first and only time a voice performance won a Saturn Award.

She also starred in two television sitcoms, Ellen from 1994 to 1998 and The Ellen Show from 2001 to 2002. During the fourth season of Ellen in 1997, Degeneres came out publicly as a lesbian in an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Shortly afterwards, her character Ellen Morgan also came out to a therapist played by Winfrey, and the series went on to explore various LGBT issues including the coming out process.

She has won twelve Emmys and numerous other awards for her work and charitable efforts.

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DeGeneres was raised in Metairie, Louisiana, the daughter of Betty Jane DeGeneres (née Pfeffer), a speech therapist, and Elliott DeGeneres, an insurance agent. She has one brother, Vance DeGeneres, who is a producer and musician. She is of French, English, German and Irish descent. DeGeneres was raised as a Christian Scientist until the age of thirteen. In 1973 DeGeneres' parents filed for separation and were divorced the following year. Shortly after, Betty Jane remarried Roy Gruessendorf, who worked as a salesman. Betty Jane and Ellen moved with Gruessendorf from the New Orleans area to Atlanta, Texas. Vance stayed with their birth father.

DeGeneres graduated from Atlanta High School in May 1976, after completing her first years of high school at Grace King High School in Metairie, Louisiana. She moved back to New Orleans to attend the University of New Orleans, where she majored in communication studies. After one semester, she left school to do clerical work in a law firm with her cousin Laura Gillen. She also held a job selling clothes at the chain store the Merry-Go-Round at the Lakeside Shopping Center. Other working experiences included being a waitress at TGI Friday's and another restaurant, a house painter, a hostess, and a bartender. She relates much of her childhood and career experiences in her comedic work.

DeGeneres started performing stand-up comedy at small clubs and coffee houses. By 1981 she was the emcee at Clyde's Comedy Club in New Orleans. Degeneres cites Woody Allen and Steve Martin as her main influences at this time. In the early 1980s she began to tour nationally, being named Showtime's Funniest Person in America in 1982. In 1986 she appeared for the first time on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, who likened her to Bob Newhart. When Carson invited her over for an onscreen chat after her performance, she became the first female comedian in the show's history to be treated this way.

Early screen work

Television and film work in the late 1980s and early 1990s included roles on television in Open House and in the film Coneheads.

Ellen (sitcom, 1994–1998)

At the Governor's Ball after the 46th Annual Emmy Awards telecast,
Sept. 1994

DeGeneres' comedy material became the basis of the successful 1994–1998 sitcom Ellen, named These Friends of Mine during its first season. The ABC show was popular in its first few seasons due in part to DeGeneres' style of observational humor; it was often referred to as a "female Seinfeld."

Ellen reached its height of popularity in February 1997, when DeGeneres made her homosexuality public on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Subsequently her character on the sitcom came out of the closet in April to her therapist, played by Oprah Winfrey, revealing that she was gay.The coming out episode, titled "The Puppy Episode", was one of the highest-rated episodes of the show. Later episodes of the series did not match its popularity, and after declining ratings, the show was canceled. DeGeneres returned to the stand-up comedy circuit, and later re-established herself as a successful talk show host.

DeGeneres starred in a series of films for a show named Ellen's Energy Adventure, which is part of the Universe of Energy attraction and pavilion at Walt Disney World's Epcot. The film also featured Bill Nye, Alex Trebek, Michael Richards and Jamie Lee Curtis. The show revolved around DeGeneres falling asleep and finding herself in an energy-themed version of Jeopardy!, playing against an old rival, portrayed by Curtis, and Albert Einstein. The next film had DeGeneres hosting an educational look at energy, co-hosted with Nye. The ride first opened on September 15, 1996, as Ellen's Energy Crisis but was quickly renamed to the more positive-sounding Ellen's Energy Adventure.

DeGeneres received wide exposure on November 4, 2001 when she hosted the televised broadcast of the Emmy Awards. Presented after two cancellations due to network concerns that a lavish ceremony following the September 11, 2001 attacks would appear insensitive, the show required a more somber tone that would also allow viewers to temporarily forget the tragedy. DeGeneres received several standing ovations for her performance that evening which included the line: "What would bug the Taliban more than seeing a gay woman in a suit surrounded by Jews?"

In August 2005, DeGeneres hosted the 2005 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony held on September 18, 2005. This was three weeks after Hurricane Katrina, making it the second time she hosted the Emmys following a national tragedy. She also hosted the Grammy Awards in 1996 and in 1997.

Voice acting

DeGeneres lent her voice to the role of Dory, a fish with short-term memory loss, in the summer 2003 hit animated Disney/Pixar film Finding Nemo. The film's director, Andrew Stanton, claimed that he chose Ellen because she "changed the subject five times before one sentence had finished" on her show. For her performance as Dory, DeGeneres won the Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for "Best Supporting Actress"; "Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie" from the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards; and the Annie Award from the International Animated Film Association for "Outstanding Voice Acting". She was also nominated for a Chicago Film Critics Association Award in the "Best Supporting Actress" category. She also provided the voice of the dog in the prologue of the Eddie Murphy feature film Dr. Dolittle. Her win of the Saturn Award marked the first and only time the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films has given the acting award for a voice performance.

The Ellen DeGeneres Show

DeGeneres launched a daytime television talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show in September 2003. Amid a crop of several celebrity-hosted talk shows surfacing at the beginning of that season, such as those of Sharon Osbourne and Rita Rudner, her show has consistently risen in the Nielsen ratings and received widespread critical praise. It was nominated for 11 Daytime Emmy Awards in its first season, winning four, including Best Talk Show. The show has won 25 Emmy Awards in its first three seasons on the air. DeGeneres is known for her dancing and singing with the audience at the beginning of the show and during commercial breaks. She often gives away free prizes and trips to her studio audience with the help of her sponsors.

DeGeneres celebrated her thirty-year class reunion by flying her graduating class to California to be guests on her show in February 2006. She presented Atlanta High School with a surprise gift of a new electronic LED marquee sign.

In May 2006, DeGeneres made a surprise appearance at the Tulane University commencement in New Orleans. Following George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton to the podium, she came out in a bathrobe and furry slippers. "They told me everyone would be wearing robes," she said. Ellen then went on to make another commencement speech at Tulane in 2009.

The show broadcast for a week from Universal Studios Orlando in March 2007. Skits included DeGeneres going on the Hulk Roller Coaster Ride and the Jaws Boat Ride.

In May 2007 DeGeneres was placed on bed rest due to a torn ligament in her back. She continued hosting her show from a hospital bed, tended to by a nurse, explaining "the show must go on, as they say." Guests sat in hospital beds as well.

On May 1, 2009, DeGeneres celebrated her 1000th episode, featuring celebrity guests such as Oprah, Justin Timberlake, and Paris Hilton, among others.

79th Academy Awards

Ellen DeGeneres at the Emmy Awards, 1997,

On September 7, 2006, DeGeneres was selected to host the 79th Academy Awards ceremony, which took place on February 25, 2007. This makes her the first openly gay or lesbian person to have hosted the event. During the Awards show DeGeneres said, "What a wonderful night, such diversity in the room, in a year when there's been so many negative things said about people's race, religion and sexual orientation. And I want to put this out there: if there weren't blacks, Jews and gays, there would be no Oscars, or anyone named Oscar, when you think about that." Reviews of her hosting gig were positive, with one saying, "DeGeneres rocked, as she never forgot that she wasn't just there to entertain the Oscar nominees but also to tickle the audience at home." Regis Philbin said in an interview that "the only complaint was there's not enough Ellen."

DeGeneres was nominated for an Emmy Award as host of the Academy Awards broadcast.

2007 Writers Guild strike

DeGeneres, like many actors who are also writers, is a member of both the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA). Thus, although DeGeneres verbally supported the 2007 WGA strike she did not support it when she crossed the picket line the day after the strike began. Her representatives said she was competing with other first-run syndicated shows during the competitive November sweeps period, and that she could not break her contracts or risk her show losing its time slot. As a show of solidarity with the strikers, DeGeneres omitted her monologue during the strike, typically written by WGA writers. The WGA condemned her while the AFTRA defended her.

In November 2004, DeGeneres appeared, dancing, in an ad campaign for American Express. Her most recent American Express commercial, a two-minute black-and-white spot where she works with animals, debuted in November 2006 and was created by Ogilvy and Mather. In 2007, the commercial won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial.

DeGeneres began working with Cover Girl Cosmetics in September 2008, for which she has been criticized, as her animal-friendly values clash with Procter and Gamble's (the maker of Cover Girl Cosmetics) animal testing. Her face is the focus of new Cover Girl advertisements starting in January 2009. The beauty campaign will be DeGeneres' first.

American Idol

On September 9, 2009, it was confirmed that DeGeneres would replace Paula Abdul as a judge of the ninth season of American Idol. Her role started after the contestant auditions, at the beginning of 'Hollywood Week'. DeGeneres also reportedly signed a contract to be a judge on the show for at least five seasons. She made her American Idol debut on February 9, 2010.

On July 29, 2010, DeGeneres and Fox executives announced that the comedienne would be departing from the series after one season. In a statement, DeGeneres said that the series "didn't feel like the right fit for me".

Eleveneleven

On May 26, 2010, Ellen announced on her show that she was starting her own record label entitled "eleveneleven". She mentioned that she had been looking for videos of performances on YouTube to start her label. Her first act to be signed is Greyson Chance, a 12-year-old who gained fame after his cover of Lady Gaga's Paparazzi went viral. Ellen explained her choice of name, claiming that she often sees the number 11:11 when looking at her clocks, that she found Greyson on the 11th, and that the singer's soccer jersey has the number 11.

Some months later, on September 16, 2010, Ellen announced her label's second signed artist, 16-year old Tom Andrews, from the United Kingdom.

Also as of 2010, pop singer Jessica Simpson has joined the label.

DeGeneres was in a relationship (1997–2000) with former Another World actress Anne Heche, who went on to marry cameraman Coley Laffoon. From 2001 to 2004, DeGeneres and actress/director/photographer Alexandra Hedison were in a relationship. They appeared on the cover of The Advocate after their separation had already been announced to the media.

Since 2004, DeGeneres has had a relationship with former Ally McBeal and Arrested Development star Portia de Rossi. After the overturn of the same-sex marriage ban in California, DeGeneres announced on a May 2008 show that she and de Rossi were engaged, and gave de Rossi a three-carat pink diamond ring. They were married on August 16, 2008 at their home, with nineteen guests including their mothers. The passage of Proposition 8 cast doubt on the legal status of their marriage but a subsequent Supreme Court judgment validated it because it occurred before November 4, 2008.

DeGeneres and de Rossi live in Beverly Hills, with three dogs and four cats, and both are vegan.

On August 6, 2010, de Rossi filed a petition to legally change her name to Portia Lee James DeGeneres. The petition was granted on September 23, 2010.

In her book, Love, Ellen, DeGeneres' mother, Betty DeGeneres, describes being initially shocked when her daughter came out as a lesbian, but has become one of her strongest supporters, an active member of Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign's Coming Out Project.

In 2007, Forbes estimated DeGeneres' net worth at US$65 million.

Larry King

Lawrence Harvey "Larry" King (November 19, 1933) is an American television and radio host.

He is recognized in the United States as one of the premier broadcast interviewers. He has won an Emmy Award, two Peabody Awards, and ten Cable ACE Awards.

King began as a local Florida journalist and radio interviewer in the 1950s and '60s. He became prominent as an all-night national radio broadcaster starting in 1978, and then, in 1985, began hosting the nightly interview TV program Larry King Live on CNN.

On June 29, 2010, it was announced that he would step down as host of the show but would continue to host specials for CNN. In early September, CNN confirmed that he would be replaced by Piers Morgan. King's last show aired on December 16.

Early life

King was born in Brooklyn, New York City, to Edward Zeiger, a restaurant owner and defense plant worker, and his wife Jennie Gitlitz, a garment worker, who emigrated from Belarus. King grew up in a religious and observant Jewish home, but in adulthood became an agnostic. King's father died at 44 of heart disease, and his mother had to go on welfare to support her two sons. His father's death greatly affected King, and he lost interest in school. After graduating from high school, he worked to help support his mother. From an early age, however, he had wanted to go into radio. His last show was aired on December 16th 2010 at 10:00 PM EST.

Career

Miami radio and television

A CBS staff announcer, whom King met by chance, told him to go to Florida, a growing media market where openings still existed for inexperienced broadcasters. King rode a bus to Miami. After initial setbacks, King persisted and got his first job in radio. The manager of a small station, WAHR (now WMBM) in Miami Beach, hired him to clean up and perform miscellaneous tasks. When one of their announcers quit, they put King on the air. His first broadcast was on May 1, 1957, when he worked as the disc jockey from 9 a.m. to noon. He also did two afternoon newscasts and a sportscast. He was paid $55 a week. He acquired the name Larry King when the general manager Martial Cemen said that Zeiger was too ethnic and difficult to remember, so Larry chose the surname King, which he got from an ad in The Miami Herald for King's Wholesale Liquor, minutes before air. He started interviewing on a midmorning show for WIOD, at Pumpernik's Restaurant in Miami Beach. He would interview anyone who walked in. His first interview was with a waiter at the restaurant. Two days later, singer Bobby Darin, in Miami for a concert later that day, walked into Pumpernick's as a result of coming across King's show on his radio; Darin became King's first celebrity interview guest.

His Miami radio show launched him to local stardom. A few years later, in May 1960, he hosted Miami Undercover, airing Sunday nights at 11:30 p.m. on WPST-TV Channel 10 (now WPLG). On the show, he moderated debates on important issues of the time. King credits his success on local TV to the assistance of another showbiz legend, comedian Jackie Gleason, whose national TV variety show was being filmed in Miami Beach during this period. "That show really took off because Gleason came to Miami," King said in a 1996 interview he gave when inducted into the Broadcasters' Hall of Fame. "He did that show and stayed all night with me. We stayed till five in the morning. He didn't like the set, so we broke into the general manager's office and changed the set. Gleason changed the set, he changed the lighting, and he became like a mentor of mine." Jackie Gleason was instrumental in getting Larry a hard-to-get on air interview with Frank Sinatra during this time.

During this period, WIOD gave King further exposure as a color commentator for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League, during their 1970 season and most of their 1971 season. However, he was dismissed by both WIOD and television station WTVJ as a late-night radio host and sports commentator as of December 20, 1971, when he was arrested after being accused of grand larceny by a former business partner. Other staffers covered the Dolphins' games into their 24–3 loss to Dallas in Super Bowl VI. King also lost his weekly column at the Miami Beach Sun newspaper. The charges were dropped on March 10, 1972, and King spent the next several years in reviving his career, including a stint as the color announcer in Louisiana for the Shreveport Steamer of the World Football League in 1974–75. For several years during the 1970s in South Florida, he hosted a sports talk-show called "Sports-a-la-King" that featured guests and callers.

King managed to get back into radio by becoming the color commentator for broadcasts of the Shreveport Steamer of the World Football League on KWKH. Eventually, King was rehired by WIOD in Miami.

National radio

Interviewing Vladimir Putin,

In 1978, he went national, inheriting the nightly talk show slot on the Mutual Broadcasting System, broadcast coast-to-coast, that had been "Long John" Nebel's until his death, and had been pioneered by Herb Jepko. One reason King got the Mutual job is that he had once been an announcer at WGMA-AM in Hollywood, Florida, which was then owned by C. Edward Little. Little went on to become president of Mutual and was the one who hired King when Nebel died. King's Mutual show developed a devoted audience.

It was broadcast live Monday through Friday from midnight to 5:30 a.m. Eastern Time. King would interview a guest for the first 90 minutes, with callers asking questions that continued the interview for another 90 minutes. At 3 a.m., he would allow callers to discuss any topic they pleased with him, until the end of the program, when he expressed his own political opinions. That segment was called "Open Phone America". Some of the regular callers used the pseudonyms "The Portland Laugher", "The Miami Derelict", "The Todd Cruz Caller", "The Scandal Scooper", "Mr. Radio" and "The Water Is Warm Caller". "Mr. Radio" made over 200 calls to King during Open Phone America. The show was successful, starting with relatively few affiliates and eventually growing to more than 500. It ran until 1994.

For its final year, the show was moved to afternoons, but, because most talk radio stations at the time had an established policy of local origination in the time-slot (3 to 6 p.m. Eastern Time) that Mutual offered the show, a very low percentage of King's overnight affiliates agreed to carry his daytime show and it was unable to generate the same audience size. The afternoon show was eventually given to David Brenner and radio affiliates were given the option of carrying the audio of King's new CNN evening television program. The Westwood One radio simulcast of the CNN show continues.

CNN

Larry King Live

He started his Larry King Live CNN show in June 1985, hosting a broad range of guests from controversial figures of UFO conspiracy theories and alleged psychics, to prominent politicians and leading figures in the entertainment industry, often doing their first or only interview on breaking news stories on his show.

Unlike many interviewers, King has a direct, non-confrontational approach. His reputation for asking easy, open-ended questions has made him attractive to important figures who want to state their position while avoiding being challenged on contentious topics. His interview style is characteristically frank, but with occasional bursts of irreverence and humor. His approach attracts some guests who would not otherwise appear. King, who is known for his general lack of pre-interview preparation, once bragged that he never read the books of authors before making an appearance on his program.

In a show dedicated to the surviving Beatles King asked George Harrison's widow about the song "Something", which was written about George Harrison's first wife. He seemed surprised when she did not know very much about the song.

Throughout his career King has interviewed many of the leading figures of his time. CNN claimed during his final episode that he had performed 60,000 interviews in his career.

King also wrote a regular newspaper column in USA Today for almost 20 years, from shortly after that newspaper's origin in 1982 until September 2001. The column consisted of short "plugs, superlatives and dropped names" but was dropped when the newspaper redesigned its "Life" section. The column was resurrected in blog form in November 2008 and on Twitter in April 2009.

Departure

On June 29, 2010, King announced that after 25 years, he would be stepping down from his nightly job hosting Larry King Live. However, he stated that he would remain with CNN to host occasional specials. The announcement came in the wake of speculation that CNN had approached Piers Morgan, the British television personality and journalist, as King's primetime replacement.

On September 8, 2010, CNN confirmed that Morgan would occupy King's 9:00 pm timeslot from January 2011 onward.

The final edition of Larry King Live aired on December 16.

Heart disease

On February 24, 1987, King suffered a major heart attack and then had quintuple-bypass surgery. King has written two books about living with heart disease. Mr. King, You're Having a Heart Attack: How a Heart Attack and Bypass Surgery Changed My Life (1989, ISBN 0-440-50039-7) was written with New York's Newsday science editor B. D. Colen. Taking On Heart Disease: Famous Personalities Recall How They Triumphed over the Nation's #1 Killer and How You Can, Too (2004, ISBN 1-57954-820-2) features the experience of various celebrities with cardiovascular disease including Peggy Fleming and Regis Philbin.

On February 12, 2010, Larry King revealed that he had undergone surgery 5 weeks earlier to place stents in his coronary artery to remove plaque from his heart. During the segment on Larry King Live which discussed Bill Clinton's similar procedure, King said he was "feeling great" and had been in hospital for just one day.

Charitable works

As a result of heart attacks, he established the Larry King Cardiac Foundation, an organization to which David Letterman, through his American Foundation for Courtesy and Grooming, has also contributed. King gave $1 million to George Washington University's School of Media and Public Affairs for scholarships to students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

On September 3, 2005, following the devastation to the Gulf Coast by Hurricane Katrina, King aired "How You Can Help", a three-hour special designed to provide a forum and information clearinghouse for viewers to understand and join nationwide and global relief efforts. Guest Richard Simmons, a native of New Orleans, told him, "Larry, you don't even know how much money you raised tonight. When we rebuild the city of New Orleans, we're going to name something big after you."

On January 18, 2010, in the wake of the devastation caused by the 2010 Haiti earthquake, King aired "Haiti: How You Can Help", a special two-hour edition designed to show viewers how to take action and be a part of the global outreach.

King serves as a member of the Board of Directors on the Police Athletic League of New York City, a nonprofit youth development agency serving inner-city children and teenagers.

On August 30, 2010, King served as the host of Chabad's 30th annual "To Life" telethon, in Los Angeles.

Controversial positions

On September 10, 1990, while on The Joan Rivers Show, Rivers asked King which contestant in the Miss America pageant was "the ugliest". King responded, "Miss Pennsylvania. She was one of the 10 finalists and she did a great ventriloquist bit The dummy was prettier." King was a judge for the September 8, 1990 pageant. King later sent Miss Pennsylvania, Marla Wynne, a dozen long-stemmed roses and a telegram apologizing for saying she was the ugliest contestant in the pageant that year.

In 1997, King was one of 34 celebrities to sign an open letter to then-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, published as a newspaper advertisement in the International Herald Tribune, which protested the treatment of Scientologists in Germany, comparing it to the Nazis' oppression of Jews in the 1930s. Other signatories included Dustin Hoffman and Goldie Hawn.

Personal life

King has been married eight times, to seven women. He married high-school sweetheart Freda Miller in 1951 at age 18. The union ended the following year at the behest of their parents, who reportedly had the marriage annulled. King was later briefly married to Annette Kaye who gave birth to his son, Larry Jr., in November 1961. King did not meet Larry Jr. until the son was in his thirties. Larry Jr. and his wife, Shannon, have three children.

In 1961, King married his third wife, Alene Akins, a Playboy bunny at one of the magazine's titular nightclubs. The couple had son Andy in 1962, and divorced the following year. In 1963, King married his fourth wife, Mary Francis "Mickey" Sutphin, who divorced King. He remarried Akins, with whom he had a second child, Chaia, in 1969. The couple divorced a second time in 1972. In 1997, Dove Books published a book written by King and Chaia, Daddy Day, Daughter Day. Aimed at young children, it tells each of their accounts of his divorce from Akins.

On September 25, 1976, King married his fifth wife, math teacher and production assistant Sharon Lepore. The couple divorced in 1983.

King met businesswoman Julie Alexander in summer 1989, and proposed to her on the couple's first date, on August 1, 1989. Alexander became King's sixth wife on October 7, 1989, when the two were married in Washington, D.C. The couple lived in different cities, however, with Alexander in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and King in Washington, D.C., where he worked. The couple separated in 1990 and divorced in 1992. He became engaged to actress Deanna Lund in 1995, after five weeks of dating, but they never married.

He married his seventh wife, Shawn Southwick, born in 1959 as Shawn Oro Engemann, a former singer and TV host , in King's Los Angeles, California, hospital room three days before King underwent heart surgery to clear a clogged blood vessel. The couple has two children: Chance, born March 1999, and Cannon, born May 2000. He is stepfather to Danny Southwick. On King and Southwick's 10th anniversary in September 2007, Southwick boasted she was "the only [wife] to have lasted into the two digits". On April 14, 2010, both Larry and Shawn King filed for divorce. but have since stopped the proceedings, claiming "We love our children, we love each other, we love being a family. That is all that matters to us".

Shawn attempted suicide in May 2010 when she overdosed on prescription pills.

In July 2009, King appeared on The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien, where he told host O'Brien about his wishes to be cryogenically preserved upon death, as he had revealed in his book My Remarkable Journey.

Awards

King has received many broadcasting awards. He won the Peabody Award for Excellence in broadcasting for both his radio (1982) and television (1992) shows. He has also won 10 CableACE awards for Best Interviewer and for Best Talk Show Series.

In 1989, King was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame,[ and in 1996 to the Broadcasters' Hall of Fame. In 2002, the industry magazine Talkers named King both the fourth-greatest radio talk show host of all time and the top television talk show host of all time.

in June 1998, King received an Honorary Degree from Brooklyn College, City University of New York, for his life achievements.

King was given the Golden Mike Award for Lifetime Achievement in January 2009, by the Radio & Television News Association of Southern California.

King is an honorary member of the Rotary Club of Beverly Hills. He is also a recipient of the President's Award honoring his impact on media from the Los Angeles Press Club in 2006.

King is the first recipient of the Arizona State University Hugh Downs Award for Communication Excellence, presented April 11, 2007, via satellite by Downs himself. Downs sported red suspenders for the event and turned the tables on King by asking "very tough questions" about King's best, worst and most influential interviews during King's 50 years in broadcasting.