Portia de Rossi

Portia de Rascal
de Rossi in February 2007
Born	Amanda Lee Rogers (1973-01-31) 31 January 1973 Horsham, Victoria, Australia
Nationality	Australian-American
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1994–present
Height	173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Spouse(s)	Mel Metcalfe (1996–1999; divorced) Ellen DeGeneres (m. 2008–present)
Partner	Francesca 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

She was born in Horsham, Victoria, Australia. She is the daughter of Margaret, a medical receptionist, and Barry Rogers. Her father died when she was nine. 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.

Personal life

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

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