Jump to content

Portia de Rossi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by 69.7.37.70 (talk) at 08:57, 2 February 2010 (→Filmography). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Portia de Rossi
Portia de Rossi, February 2007
Born
Amanda Lee Rogers
OccupationActress
Years active1994–present
Spouse(s)Mel Metcalfe (1996–1999)
Ellen DeGeneres (2008–present)

Portia de Rossi (born 31 January 1973), born Amanda Lee Rogers, is an Australian actress, best known for her roles as lawyer Nelle Porter on the television series Ally McBeal and Lindsay Bluth Fünke on the sitcom Arrested Development.[1][2] She currently portrays Veronica Palmer on the ABC sitcom Better Off Ted.

Early life

Born Amanda Lee Rogers in Horsham, Victoria, Australia, the daughter of Margaret, a medical receptionist, and Barry Rogers,[3] de Rossi was raised in Grovedale, a suburb of Geelong.[4] As a child, she modelled for print and TV commercials. She adopted the name Portia de Rossi at a young age:

When I was 15, I changed my name legally. In retrospect, I think it was largely due to my struggle about being gay. Everything just didn’t fit, and I was trying to find things I could identify myself with, and it started with my name. I picked Portia because I was a Shakespeare fan (Portia is the character in The Merchant of Venice who comes to the rescue of Antonio and Bassanio in their time of need). De Rossi because I was Australian and I thought that an exotic Italian name would somehow suit me more than Amanda Rogers. When you live in Australia, Europe is so far away and so fascinating, so stylish and cultured and sophisticated.[5]

She studied at Geelong Grammar School and Melbourne Girls Grammar School, then the University of Melbourne Law School, but left before finishing the course to pursue an acting career.

Career

Her first significant role was playing a young and impressionable model in the Australian 1994 film Sirens. Soon afterwards she moved to Los Angeles and had guest roles on several TV shows, and a permanent role in Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher, before landing a role in the film Scream 2.

She attracted international attention when she joined the main cast of the Ally McBeal TV series in 1998 playing lawyer Nelle Porter. She remained with the show until its end in 2002.

In 2001, she starred in Who is Cletis Tout? with Christian Slater.

From 2003–2006, de Rossi starred as Lindsay Bluth Fünke on Fox Television's critically acclaimed, Emmy-winning series Arrested Development.

She also portrayed John F. Kennedy, Jr.'s wife, Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, in the made for tv movie America's Prince: John F. Kennedy Jr. Story in 2003. And in 2005 she portrayed a fortune-teller named Zela in the Wes Craven thriller "Cursed".

From 2007-2008, de Rossi appears in Nip/Tuck's fifth season as Julia McNamara's girlfriend Olivia Lord.

She will reprise her role as Lindsay Bluth Fünke in 2010's film adaptation of Arrested Development.[6]

De Rossi was named number 69 in Stuff's 100 Sexiest Women, 31 in Femme Fatales' Sexiest Women of 2003 list, 24 in Maxim's 100 Sexiest Women List in 2004, and in late 2006, the magazine Blender listed her as one of the hottest women of film and TV.[7] In May 2007, she was featured as one of 100 Most Beautiful in People Magazine special edition. TV Guide included de Rossi and DeGeneres in their Power A-List couples in 2007.

Personal life

De Rossi is openly lesbian.[8] She was married to a man, documentary filmmaker Mel Metcalfe, from 1996 to 1999, as part of a plan to get a green card, but says that "it just obviously wasn't right" for her.[5] From 2000 to 2004, de Rossi dated singer Francesca Gregorini, daughter of actress Barbara Bach and stepchild of Ringo Starr. De Rossi says most of her family and Ally McBeal cast mates did not know she was gay until tabloid pictures of the couple were published.[5] She declined to publicly discuss the relationship or her sexual orientation at the time.

De Rossi and Gregorini broke up in late 2004 as de Rossi began dating talk show host and comedian Ellen DeGeneres, whom she met backstage at an awards show.[9] In 2005, de Rossi opened up publicly about her sexual orientation in interviews with Details and The Advocate. She became engaged to DeGeneres after the talk show host proposed to her with a three-carat pink diamond ring.[10] They were married on August 16, 2008 at their home, with 19 guests including their respective mothers.[10] They are both vegan.[11]

She struggled with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa for four years while filming Ally McBeal.[9][12]

De Rossi supports a variety of charitable organizations, including Locks of Love, a group that sells human hair wigs to children with complete alopecia. She has also supported fundraising efforts for FXB International,[13] an African AIDS relief organization; and The Art of Elysium,[14] an art foundation for terminally ill children.

Filmography

References

  1. ^ "Celebrity Bios: Portia de Rossi". Us Magazine. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  2. ^ "Geelong's Portia Marries Ellent". Geelong Advertiser. August 18, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2009.
  3. ^ Portia de Rossi Biography (1973-)
  4. ^ Sacha Molitorisz (2003-05-09). "The very private Portia". The Age. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  5. ^ a b c Michele Kort (2005-09-13). "Portia heart and soul". The Advocate.
  6. ^ Arrested Development (2009), Internet Movie Database
  7. ^ Errico, Mike (02/01/2007). "Hottest Women of ... Film and TV!". {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  8. ^ [1]
  9. ^ a b Van Meter, Jonathan. "Disappearing Act: How did Portia de Rossi withstand the pressures of Hollywood". Vogue. Archived from the original on 2006-04-01. Retrieved 2009-03-22.
  10. ^ a b Television presenter Ellen DeGeneres marries lesbian lover Portia de Rossi - Telegraph
  11. ^ Setoodeh, Ramin (September 6, 2008). "Ellen's Big Gay Wedding". Newsweek.
  12. ^ Freydkin, Donna (November 13, 2007). "Portia de Rossi nips at new TV challenges". USA Today.
  13. ^ "Portia de Rossi Helps FXB to Rebuild Uganda". Celebrity Halo. July 2006. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
  14. ^ "Portia de Rossi supports The Art of Elysium". Celebrity Halo. January 2008. Retrieved 2008-12-29.
Wikinews has related news:
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Portia de Rossi.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Portia_de_Rossi&oldid=341440682"