Ellen DeGeneres: Career in pictures

Ellen DeGeneres was honored with the Mark Twain Prize, the top award in comedy, in Washington.

“Washington, D.C., is so different from where I grew up,” tweeted the New Orleans native ahead of being honored. “When you take your top off, no one throws beads.”

Lily Tomlin, a past Mark Twain Prize recipient, praised DeGeneres on stage, as did Sean Hayes of “Will and Grace” and Jane Lynch of “Glee” who both credited the trailblazing comedian for making their shows possible.   (Chris Pizzello / AP)

One Million Moms called for a boycott on JCPenney after DeGeneres became the retailer’s spokesperson.

One Million Moms put out a statement saying, “The majority of JC Penney shoppers will be offended and choose to no longer shop there.”

JCPenney stood by DeGeneres, as did Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, who called the campaign a “witch hunt.”

One Million Moms later dropped the campaign.   (Gus Ruelas / AP)

DeGeneres scored the fourth judge’s seat “American Idol” as a replacement for singer Paula Abdul. But DeGeneres left after only one season.

While some fans enjoyed her quips, others critized DeGeneres’ lack of experience in the music business.

DeGeneres said she “didn’t feel like the right fit” for the show because it was “hard to judge people and sometimes hurt their feelings.”

Above, “Idol” judges, Simon Cowell, left, DeGeneres, Kara DioGuardi and Randy Jackson.   (Michael Becker / AP)

DeGeneres first started dating actress Portia de Rossi in 2004. The couple wed in 2008 during the four-month window gay marriage was legal in California.

DeGeneres continues to advocate for marriage equality.

She contributed $100,000 to oppose Prop. 8 when it was on the ballot in 2008, and in 2011 penned a letter along with Jane Lynch and Anne Hathaway asking President Obama to support same-sex marriage.   (Chris Carlson / AP)

For such a creative comedian, DeGeneres is pretty uncreative when it comes to naming her shows.

After starring on “Ellen” and “The Ellen Show,” she launched a talk show called “The Ellen DeGeneres Show.”

It raked in 15 Daytime Emmys in its first three seasons.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

After 9/11, DeGeneres was set to host the Emmys, but it was canceled twice.

When the Emmys finally aired, DeGeneres touched on the attacks, saying, “What would bother the Taliban more than seeing a gay woman in a suit surrounded by Jews?”

In 2005, the awards show looked to Ellen for disaster relief again after Hurricane Katrina and chose the Louisiana native to host.  (Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press)

DeGeneres started doing stand-up comedy in coffeehouses. With a style reminiscent of Bob Newhart’s, DeGeneres spent the ‘80s touring and even appeared on “The Tonight Show” with Johnny Carson.  (Doug Kanter / AFP)