Ellen DeGeneres Receives Star On Walk Of Fame

HOLLYWOOD (CBS) — Ellen DeGeneres received the 2,477th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Tuesday, being honored for entertaining audiences as a talk show host, comedian, prime-time television star and the voice of Dory, a regal tang with short-term memory loss in the Pixar animated film "Finding Nemo."

"American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest and ABC late-night talk show host Jimmy Kimmel joined DeGeneres in speaking in the 11:30 a.m. ceremony in front of the W Hollywood Hotel on Hollywood Boulevard.

"I'm so excited to be inducted into the Walk of Fame," DeGeneres wrote on her show's Facebook page on June 26, four days after it was announced she would be receiving a star. "I always thought people liked my dancing best. I guess my walk is pretty good too."

The ceremony comes six days before the start of the 10th season of her nationally syndicated afternoon talk show, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," which has six Daytime Emmy Awards as outstanding talk show while DeGeneres has won four as outstanding talk show host.

DeGeneres' career began as an emcee at a comedy club in her hometown of New Orleans. Her videotaped club performances won her Showtime's "Funniest Person in America" honor in 1982.

DeGeneres then moved to Los Angeles, taping her first HBO special, "The Young Comedians All-Star Reunion" in 1986. Also in 1986, DeGeneres became the first female comedian to be summoned by Johnny Carson to come to the guest couch after making her debut stand-up performance on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson."

DeGeneres began her acting career portraying a man-hungry receptionist on the Fox comedy "Open House," which ran in the 1989-90 season.

In 1992, DeGeneres played flaky nurse Nancy MacIntyre on the ABC comedy "Laurie Hill," which aired for four episodes before being canceled. Its creators Neal Marlens and Carol Black, went on to create "These Friends of Mine," which debuted in 1994 and starred DeGeneres. It was retitled "Ellen" in its second season and ran until 1998.

The series made television history in 1997 when DeGeneres' character came out as a lesbian shortly after she did the same in real life.

DeGeneres received four Primetime Emmy nominations as outstanding lead actress in a comedy series for "Ellen," and shared an Emmy for outstanding writing for a comedy series for "The Puppy Episode" when her character came out as a lesbian.

DeGeneres also starred in the CBS comedy "The Ellen Show," which ran in the 2001-2002 season, hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2001 and 2005, the Academy Awards in 2007 and was a judge on the Fox singing competition "American Idol" for the 2010 season.

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