Ellen DeGeneres

If you’re looking for DeGeneres to add some much-needed Jewish representation to Hollywood’s upper echelon, you'll be sorely disappointed. Her ancestry is a delightful, if unremarkable, stew of English, German, and Irish, with a dash of French. Not a single matzo ball in sight.

DeGeneres, famous for her upbeat persona, has been publicly Christian for much of her life. While she has explored various spiritual paths, none have veered into the synagogue. Her public identity has always been rooted firmly in mainstream American culture, far from any Jewish community.

Her biggest contribution to the world of kvell-worthiness for non-Jews was probably her coming out in 1997, a major cultural moment for LGBTQ+ rights. For us? Not so much. Unless you count being a highly successful, non-Jewish woman as kvell-worthy, then… well, that's a stretch.

So, while she’s certainly a household name, Ellen DeGeneres remains firmly outside the tribe. Unless there’s some hidden Sephardic lineage she’s been keeping secret, she's just another gentile with a talk show.