Vance Elliott DeGeneres (born September 2, 1954) is an American actor, comedian, musician, film producer and screenwriter, known for his work in television and movies.

Early life

DeGeneres was born at

Touro Infirmary Touro Infirmary is a non-profit hospital located in New Orleans, Louisiana. Founded by Judah Touro in 1852, it is a part of the LCMC Health System. Organization Touro Infirmary is affiliated with the Louisiana State University Health Science ...

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

Betty Betty or Bettie is a name, a common diminutive for the names Bethany and Elizabeth. In Latin America, it is also a common diminutive for the given name Beatriz, the Spanish and Portuguese form of the Latin name Beatrix and the English name Beat ...

and Elliott DeGeneres. He is the older brother of comedian

Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( ; born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom ''Ellen'' from 1994 to 1998, which earned her a Primetime Emmy Award for " The Puppy Episode". Sh ...

Career

After a two-year period in the

Marine Corps Marines, or naval infantry, are typically a military force trained to operate in littoral zones in support of naval operations. Historically, tasks undertaken by marines have included helping maintain discipline and order aboard the ship (refl ...

, during which he reached the rank of

corporal Corporal is a military rank in use in some form by many militaries and by some police forces or other uniformed organizations. The word is derived from the medieval Italian phrase ("head of a body"). The rank is usually the lowest ranking non- ...

, DeGeneres hosted a radio program called ''New Wave New Orleans'' in the late 1970s, broadcast on

WQUE-FM WQUE-FM (93.3 FM, ''"Q93.3"'') is a Mainstream Urban radio outlet in New Orleans, Louisiana. The station, which is owned by iHeartMedia, Inc., operates at 93.3 MHz with an ERP of 100 kW. Its current slogan is "#1 for Hip-Hop & R&B". I ...

. He played bass guitar and was a songwriter in the band The Cold, a new-wave band founded in New Orleans in the late 1970s. The Cold was inaugurated into the

Louisiana Music Hall of Fame The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame (LMHOF) is a non-profit hall of fame based in Baton Rouge, the capital of the U.S. state of Louisiana, that seeks to honor and preserve the state's music culture and heritage and to promote education about the state ...

in 2018. He was the original "Mr. Hands" of " The Mr. Bill Show." In 1991, DeGeneres was a staff writer on '' Eerie, Indiana'', on NBC. In 1993, DeGeneres co-created, with Karl Schaefer, a pilot script for ABC called ''Lost Angels'', he wrote an episode for ''

Diagnosis Murder ''Diagnosis: Murder'' is an American action-comedy-mystery-medical crime drama television series starring Dick Van Dyke as Dr. Mark Sloan, a medical doctor who solves crimes with the help of his son Steve, a homicide detective played by Van Dyk ...

''. In 1994–95, DeGeneres wrote and produced ''9 Line''. In 1995, he and Emily Cutler co-created and co-hosted ''Movies Schmoovies'', a movie review pilot. In 1995, DeGeneres and Alex Herschlag co-created and co-hosted a comedy show called ''The 4th Floor Show'', a mock talk show. The pilot episode aired on E! In 1996/97, DeGeneres was a writer on ''Ellen''. In 1998, DeGeneres was a writer on the UPN sitcom ''Hits''. DeGeneres has been a writer on The Academy Awards, The Emmy Awards, and The Grammy Awards. In the mid-1980s, DeGeneres co-founded the rock band House of Schock with

The Go-Go's The Go-Go's are an American Rock music, rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1978. Except for short periods when other musicians joined briefly, the band has had a relatively stable lineup consisting of Charlotte Caffey on lead guitar and keyboar ...

drummer

Gina Schock Regina Ann Schock (born August 31, 1957) is an American musician, best known as the drummer for the rock band The Go-Go's. Schock was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in October 2021 as a member of The Go-Go's. Career Schock's ...

on Capitol Records. In 1998, he played keyboards and guitar for the

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans

-based band

Cowboy Mouth Cowboy Mouth is an American band based in New Orleans, Louisiana known for fusing alternative rock with album-oriented rock, roots rock, and jam band influences. Formed in 1992, the band saw early mainstream success in the 1990s, including th ...

. In March 2006, he appeared on ''

The Ellen DeGeneres Show ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'' (often shortened to ''Ellen'' or ''The Ellen Show'') is an American daytime television variety comedy talk show that was created and hosted by its namesake Ellen DeGeneres. Debuting on September 8, 2003, it was pro ...

'' with Cowboy Mouth to perform their song "The Avenue". DeGeneres was a correspondent on ''

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' from 1999 to 2001. In 2002, he co-created, with Andy Lassner at Fox, a comedy pilot called ''Your Local News''. DeGeneres also hosted. DeGeneres was co-president of Carousel Productions at Warner Bros. for six years,

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott in ''The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the British series created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, where Ca ...

's production company, developing comedy movies, including ''Crazy Stupid Love'' and ''The Incredible Burt Wonderstone''. He was an executive producer on both films. DeGeneres was an executive producer on the Showtime series ''Inside Comedy'', hosted by

David Steinberg David Steinberg (born August 9, 1942) is a Canadian comedian, actor, writer, director, and author. At the height of his popularity, during the late 1960s and mid 1970s, he was one of the best-known comics in the United States. He appeared on ...

, for four seasons. He currently has a television development deal at Telepictures Productions, a division of Warner Bros. During the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identifie ...

of 2020, DeGeneres and

Rick Springfield Richard Lewis Springthorpe (born 23 August 1949), known professionally as Rick Springfield, is an Australian-American musician and actor. He was a member of the pop rock group Zoot from 1969 to 1971, then started his solo career with his debut ...

created the online series, ''Rick Springfield & Vance DeGeneres Present the Miniseries: the 60 Second Guide to Songwriting with a Partner''. The comedic series resulted in two songs: "The Wall Will Fall" and "Welcome to Your Bright New World", with proceeds benefitting

Feeding America Feeding America is a United States–based nonprofit organization that is a nationwide network of more than 200 food banks that feed more than 46 million people through food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and other community-based agencies. ...

. He was an executive producer on ''Ellen's Game of Games'', which aired on NBC in 2020.

Personal life

DeGeneres married his wife Joanna in 2013 in a small ceremony at the Ojai Valley Inn & Spa. Ellen DeGeneres,

Portia de Rossi Portia Lee James DeGeneres (born Amanda Lee Rogers; 31 January 1973), known professionally as Portia de Rossi, is an Australian-American former actress. She played Nelle Porter on the American drama series '' Ally McBeal'' (1998–2002), for w ...

, and actor

were among the guests.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Degeneres, Vance Living people 1954 births 20th-century American bass guitarists American alternative rock musicians American film producers American male television actors American male television writers American television writers Cowboy Mouth members Game show announcers Male actors from New Orleans Musicians from New Orleans Writers from New Orleans United States Marine Corps non-commissioned officers