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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. She currently
portrays Veronica Palmer on the ABC sitcom Better Off Ted.
Born Amanda Lee Rogers in Horsham, Victoria, Australia, the daughter of
Margaret, a medical receptionist, and Barry Rogers, de Rossi was raised in
Grovedale, a suburb of Geelong. 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. ”
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.
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.
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. 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.
De Rossi is openly lesbian. 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. 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. 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. 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. They were married on August 16, 2008 at
their home, with 19 guests including their respective mothers. They are
both vegan.
She struggled with the eating disorder anorexia nervosa for four years
while filming Ally McBeal.
De Rossi supports a variety of charitable organizations, including Locks
of Love, a group that donates human hair wigs to children with complete
alopecia. She has also supported fundraising efforts for FXB
International, an African AIDS relief organization; and The Art of
Elysium, an art foundation for terminally ill children. |
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On how she found her artist
name:“When I was 15, I changed it 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).
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.” |
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Arrested Development (2011)
.... Lindsay Bluth Fünke
"Better Off Ted" .... Veronica Palmer / ... (24 episodes, 2009-2010)
- Mess of a Salesman (2010) TV episode .... Veronica Palmer
- Lust in Translation (2010) TV episode .... Veronica Palmer
- The Impertence of Communicationizing (2010) TV episode ....
Veronica
- The Long and Winding High Road (2010) TV episode .... Veronica
- Beating a Dead Workforce (2010) TV episode .... Veronica
(19 more)
"Nip/Tuck" .... Olivia Lord (10 episodes, 2007-2009)
- Roxy St. James (2009) TV episode .... Olivia Lord
- Candy Richards (2008) TV episode .... Olivia Lord
- August Walden (2008) TV episode .... Olivia Lord
- Duke Collins (2007) TV episode .... Olivia Lord
- Dr. Joshua Lee (2007) TV episode .... Olivia Lord
(5 more)
Ambition to Meaning: Finding Your Life's Purpose (2009) (V) ....
Denise Moore
... aka The Shift (USA: new title)
"Arrested Development" .... Lindsay Bluth Fünke (53 episodes,
2003-2006)
- Development Arrested (2006) TV episode .... Lindsay Bluth Fünke
- Exit Strategy (2006) TV episode .... Lindsay Bluth Fünke
- Fakin' It (2006) TV episode .... Lindsay Bluth Fünke
- Family Ties (2006) TV episode .... Lindsay Bluth Fünke
- S.O.B.s (2006) TV episode .... Lindsay Bluth Fünke
(48 more)
Cursed (2005) .... Zela
... aka Verflucht (Germany)
... aka Wes Craven's Cursed (USA: complete title)
Dead & Breakfast (2004) .... Kelly
The Night We Called It a Day (2003) .... Hilary Hunter
... aka All the Way (USA: DVD title)
... aka All the Way: The Kidnapping of a Music Legend (USA: DVD
title)
I Witness (2003) (as Portia De Rossi) .... Emily Thompson
... aka Nur tote Zeugen schweigen - I Witness (Germany: DVD title)
"Mister Sterling" .... Lauren Barnes (2 episodes, 2003)
- Final Passage (2003) TV episode .... Lauren Barnes
- Wish List (2003) TV episode .... Lauren Barnes
America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story (2003) (TV) ....
Carolyn Bessette Kennedy
Two Girls from Lemoore (2003)
"The Twilight Zone" .... Laurel Janus (1 episode, 2002)
- Dead Man's Eyes (2002) TV episode .... Laurel Janus
The Glow (2002) (TV) .... Jackie Lawrence
"Ally McBeal" .... Nell Porter (89 episodes, 1998-2002)
- Bygones (2002) TV episode .... Nell Porter
- All of Me (2002) TV episode .... Nell Porter
- What I'll Never Do for Love Again (2002) TV episode .... Nell
Porter
- Another One Bites the Dust (2002) TV episode .... Nell Porter
- Tom Dooley (2002) TV episode .... Nell Porter
(84 more)
Who Is Cletis Tout? (2001) .... Tess Tobias
Women in Film (2001) .... Gina
"Ally" .... Nelle Porter (12 episodes, 1999)
- The Blame Game (1999) TV episode .... Nelle Porter
- Boy to the World (1999) TV episode .... Nelle Porter
- Fool's Night Out (1999) TV episode .... Nelle Porter
- Cro-Magnon (1999) TV episode .... Nelle Porter
- The Dirty Joke (1999) TV episode .... Nelle Porter
(7 more)
Stigmata (1999) .... Jennifer Kelliho
American Intellectuals (1999) .... Sarah
The Invisibles (1999) .... Joy
Perfect Assassins (1998) (TV) .... Lana Collins
... aka A Breed Apart (UK)
Girl (1998) (as Portia Di Rossi) .... Carla Sparrow
Astoria (1998) (TV)
Scream 2 (1997) .... Sorority Sister Murphy
"Veronica's Closet" .... Carolyn (1 episode, 1997)
- Veronica's First Date (1997) TV episode .... Carolyn
"Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher" .... Elana Lewis (22 episodes,
1996-1997)
... aka Nick Freno (Australia)
- Jamapalooza: Part 2 (1997) TV episode .... Elana Lewis
- Jamapalooza: Part 1 (1997) TV episode .... Elana Lewis
- Nick on Wheels (1997) TV episode .... Elana Lewis
- Pain in the Schneck (1997) TV episode .... Elana Lewis
- My Mother the Star (1997) TV episode .... Elana Lewis
(17 more)
"Too Something" .... Maria Hunter (22 episodes, 1995-1996)
... aka New York Daze
- Eric's Book (1996) TV episode .... Maria Hunter
- Donny's Mother (1996) TV episode .... Maria Hunter
- Evelyn's Blouse (1996) TV episode .... Maria Hunter
- Basketball Story (1996) TV episode .... Maria Hunter
- Maria Cooks (1995) TV episode .... Maria Hunter
(17 more)
The Woman in the Moon (1995) .... Shauna
Sirens (1993) (as Portia De Rossi) .... Giddy |
