Portia De Rossi

Portia de Rossi was born as Amanda Lee Rogers in Horsham, Victoria, Australia. Her father suffered an early death when Portia was just nine years old. As a child, she did print as well as TV commercials. Portia felt the need to create a new identity for herself, and because of this reason, she took the name Portia de Rossi. She got inspiration for the name ‘Portia’ from Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. She used an Italian last name to go along with it. She received her education in Australia in the Melbourne Girls Grammar. She studied law at the University of Melbourne.

She has had struggles with anorexia during her teenage years and young adulthood. However, she claims to have been through with those. The first movie she acted in was an Australian film ‘Sirens’. Later she moved to Los Angeles and started a career in Hollywood subsequently. She earned herself guest spots in many different TV shows. She also starred in the show Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher. Her first film role after entering Hollywood was in ‘Scream 2’.

When she got cast as Nelle Porter in Ally McBeal, she gained international fame. The character Porter, was one of the main characters. She played the role till the show ended in 2002. During her time in Ally McBeal, she also acted in the movie Who Is Cletis Tout? alongside Christian Slater He joined the ranks with Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt >> Read More... . De Rossi’s next major role was that of Lindsay Bluth Fünke in the comedy series Arrested Development. It had a run from 2003 to 2006 before the show got cancelled.

Other roles played by her include that of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, wife of John F. Kennedy, Jr. in the TV movie in America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story, and also as an Australian reporter who protests against Frank Sinatra in The Night We Called It a Day. She had a minor role as a fortune-teller in the thriller ‘Cursed’. She also portrayed Julia McNamara’s girlfriend in the TV show ‘Nip/Tuck’, first appearing in its fifth season. She starred in yet another series called Better Off Ted, but the show got cancelled after having run for two whole years.

There were rumours of De Rossi starring in a new drama series, The Smart One. It was to be executive produced by De Rossi’s partner Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres is an American comedienne. She >> Read More... . However, the show never got renewed for another season after the pilot aired. The comedy series Arrested Development, which got cancelled was revived for a fourth season and De Rossi reprised her portrayal of Lindsay Bluth Fünke. Her latest role is that of Elizabeth North, appearing in the fourth season of the hit TV series ‘Scandal’.

Rossi was first married to Mel Metcalfe. However, the marriage was fake as she just did it to gain a green card to the United States. They soon got a divorce, and De Rossi started dating director Francesca Gregorini. During her time in Ally McBeal, she was uncomfortable with the idea of discussing her sexual orientation in public. Because of this, neither her family nor her Ally McBeal cast-mates had any idea that she was a lesbian. However, after her break up with Gregorini when she started dating DeGeneres, she opened up about her sexual orientation by way of interviews.

Subsequently, she got engaged to DeGeneres, and they married at their home in Beverly Hills. De Rossi then changed her name legally to Portia Lee James DeGeneres, and also became a US citizen. Rossi wrote and published an autobiography which depicted her struggles with anorexia and bulimia and other kinds of eating disorders. The book’s name was Unbearable Lightness and to promote the same, she appeared as a guest on both The Oprah Winfrey Show and The Ellen DeGeneres Show.