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Portia de Rossi

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Portia de Rascal
de Rossi in February 2007
Born
Amanda Lee Rogers

(1973-01-31) 31 January 1973 (age 51)
NationalityAustralian-American
OccupationActress
Years active1994–present
Height173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Spouse(s)Mel Metcalfe (1996–1999; divorced)
Ellen DeGeneres (m. 2008–present)
PartnerFrancesca Gregorini (2000–2004)

Portia Lee James DeGeneres (born Amanda Lee Rogers; 31 January 1973), known professionally as Portia de Rossi (/ˈpɔːrʃə də ˈrɒsi/), is an Australian-American actress, model and philanthropist. She is best known for the television work on series such as Ally McBeal and Arrested Development.

Early life

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She was born in Horsham, Victoria, Australia.[1] She is the daughter of Margaret, a medical receptionist, and Barry Rogers.[2] Her father died when she was nine.[3] She grew up in Grovedale, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria. She modelled for print and TV commercials as a child. In 1988, at the age of 15, Rogers adopted the name Portia de Rossi, by which she remains best known; in 2005, she explained that she wanted to reinvent herself, using the given name of Portia, a character from William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice and an Italian last name.[4]

Personal life

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She wrote a book about her battle with anorexia called Unbearable Lightness: A story of loss and gain.[5] At one stage she weighed only 82 lb (37 kg), was eating only 300 calories a day, and taking 20 laxative pills a day.[5]

She is openly lesbian. She married comedian Ellen DeGeneres in Los Angeles in 2008.[5]

References

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  1. London Academy of Media and Film TV. "Australian Actress: Portia de Rossi". Archived from the original on 1 March 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  2. "Portia de Rossi profile". Filmreference.com. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  3. "Portia de Rossi on Ellen". Youtube. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  4. Michele Kort (13 September 2005). "Portia heart and soul". The Advocate. Archived from the original on 23 February 2009. Retrieved 9 January 2014.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Portia de Rossi's Oprah cry talking about the shocking details of her anorexia and how Ellen's love saved her". dailymail.co.uk. 31 October 2010. Retrieved 15 February 2012.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)