Name Betty DeGeneres Role Activist | Awards Bridge Builder Award | |
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Full Name Elizabeth Jane Pfeffer Born May 20, 1930 (age 93) ( 1930-05-20 ) Violet, Louisiana,United States Children Ellen DeGeneres, Vance DeGeneres Books Love, Ellen: A Mother/Daughter Journey, Just a Mom Spouse Elliott DeGeneres (m. 1952–1974), Roy Gruessendorf Similar People Ellen DeGeneres, Vance DeGeneres, Portia de Rossi, Anne Heche, Alexandra Hedison | ||
Betty degeneres on her continued support of the lgbtq community
Elizabeth Jane DeGeneres (née Pfeffer; born May 20, 1930) is an American LGBT rights activist and former speech therapist. She is the mother of Ellen and Vance DeGeneres and the first straight spokeswoman for the Human Rights Campaign's National Coming Out Project and an active member of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG). She gained notability following her daughter Ellen's highly publicized coming out in 1997.
Contents
- Betty degeneres on her continued support of the lgbtq community
- Betty degeneres on ellen part 2 of 3
- Life and career
- References
Betty degeneres on ellen part 2 of 3
Life and career
The youngest of three daughters, DeGeneres was born in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1930, during the height of the great depression. Her father was German and her mother was Irish.
Her sisters (Helen and Audrey) were not involved in day-to-day family life while DeGeneres was in her late teens, but the sisters did become close in adulthood. She attended Louisiana State University (LSU) for two years, studying speech. While in college she performed in a number of plays with Joanne Woodward, who would go on to be an Academy Award winning actress. She married Elliott DeGeneres in 1952. The couple divorced in 1971. DeGeneres returned to LSU after the age of 50 to complete her Masters degree in speech pathology. She is now married to Roy Gruessendorf.
DeGeneres is the author of two books: Love, Ellen: A Mother Daughter Journey and Just a Mom. In Love, Ellen: A Mother Daughter Journey, Betty describes her reaction to her daughter coming out as a lesbian, and her path from passive acceptance to becoming a passionate advocate for LGBT rights. She also describes the media scrutiny she received after Ellen came out. Her second book, Just a Mom, continues these themes. She also wrote a column for the (now defunct) website PlanetOut called "Ask Betty."
DeGeneres appeared as an extra in the episode "The Puppy Episode" of the television sitcom Ellen, in which her daughter Ellen's character comes out. DeGeneres appears in many episodes of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, sitting in the audience.
DeGeneres is a breast cancer survivor and discusses this during public appearances.