By Peter Sblendorio / New York Daily News
Ellen DeGeneres’ long-running talk show could reach its end in the coming years.
The comedian has considered retiring from “The Ellen DeGeneres Show,” which she’s hosted since 2003, and has received mixed advice from her wife and brother about what to do, she told The New York Times in an interview.
DeGeneres, 60, came close to turning down a contract option to extend her deal through 2020 before ultimately accepting it, and has gone back and forth on what to do moving forward.
Her brother — fellow comic Vance DeGeneres — has urged her to keep doing the show, while her wife, “Arrested Development” actress Portia de Rossi, feels she would remain successful if pursued other options.
“She gets mad when my brother tells me I can’t stop,” DeGeneres told The Times of de Rossi.
De Rossi suggested a podcast or radio gig as other mediums where DeGeneres could go, while DeGeneres expressed interest in doing a movie. She voiced the title character in the 2016 animated flick “Finding Dory,” reprising the role from 2003’s “Finding Nemo.”
“I just think she’s such a brilliant actress and stand-up that it doesn’t have to be this talk show for her creativity,” de Rossi told the newspaper. “There are other things she could tackle.”
Her stand-up career picked up in the 1980s. In 1981, she was the emcee at Clyde’s Comedy Club in New Orleans. She was named Showtime’s funniest person in America in 1984. Two years later, DeGeneres appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.”
Before launching her talk show, DeGeneres starred in two sitcoms “Ellen,” from 1994 to 1998, followed by “The Ellen Show” from 2001 to 2002.
“Ellen” reached its height in popularity in 1997, when DeGeneres came out as a lesbian in an appearance on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Her character, Ellen Morgan, also came out to a therapist played by Winfrey.
This made DeGeneres the first openly lesbian actress to play an openly lesbian character on TV.
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