Portia de Rossi

Portia de Rossi
De Rossi in February 2007
Born	Amanda Lee Rogers (1973-01-31) 31 January 1973 (age 44) Horsham, Victoria, Australia
Other names	Portia Lee James DeGeneres
Occupation	Actress, model, philanthropist
Years active	1994–present
Spouse(s)	Mel Metcalfe (m. 1996; div. 1999) Ellen DeGeneres (m. 2008)
Partner(s)	Francesca Gregorini (2000–04)

Portia Lee James DeGeneres (born Amanda Lee Rogers; 31 January 1973) also known professionally as Portia de Rossi (/ˈpɔərʃə də ˈrɒsi/), is an Australian–American actress, model, and philanthropist. She currently appears as a regular cast member on the American political thriller television series Scandal in the role of Elizabeth North, the Vice President's Chief of Staff. She is also known for her roles as lawyer Nelle Porter on the American television series Ally McBeal—for which she won a Screen Actors Guild Award in 1999—and as Lindsay Fünke on the American television sitcom Arrested Development. She also portrayed Veronica Palmer on the ABC television sitcom Better Off Ted, and as Olivia Lord on the television drama Nip/Tuck. De Rossi is married to comedian and television host Ellen DeGeneres.

De Rossi, born Amanda Lee Rogers in Horsham, Victoria, Australia, is the daughter of Margaret, a medical receptionist, and Barry Rogers. Her father died when she was nine years old. She grew up in Grovedale, a suburb of Geelong, Victoria, and 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 had intended to reinvent herself, using the given name of Portia, a character from William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, and an Italian last name. She was educated at Melbourne Girls Grammar School and the University of Melbourne, where she studied law.