de Rossi in 2015, photo by Prphotos

Birth Name: Amanda Lee Rogers

Place of Birth: Horsham, Victoria, Australia

Date of Birth: 31 January, 1973

Ethnicity: English, possibly other

Portia de Rossi is an Australian and American actress, model, and philanthropist. She starred on the television series Ally McBeal and in the film Sirens.

Portia is the daughter of Margaret and Barry Rogers. She is married to American comedian, actress, and television personality Ellen DeGeneres. Her birth name is Amanda Lee Rogers. It does not appear that she has Italian ancestry. Portia has changed her legal name to Portia Lee James DeGeneres.

Of her name, she has said:

I picked Portia because I was a Shakespeare fan [Portia is the character in The Merchant of Venice who famously declaims, “The quality of mercy is not strain’d / It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven.”]. 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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