September 24, 2010
Portia de Rossi takes wife Ellen Degeneres' name
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 1 MIN.
Portia (POR'-shuh) de Rossi has officially taken wife Ellen Degeneres' last name.
A Los Angeles Superior Court commissioner granted De Rossi's request to take the last name of her partner during a closed hearing Thursday. The television star will now legally be known as Portia Lee James DeGeneres.
The couple was married in August 2008. The 37-year-old Australian-born actress asked for the name change last month.
Neither woman attended the hearing. They married during the five-month window in which gay marriage was legal in California.
Portia DeGeneres is well-known for her roles on several television series, including "Ally McBeal," ''Arrested Development" and "Better Off Ted."
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
