DeGeneres is an experienced hand at hosting awards ceremonies

The decision makes DeGeneres only the second woman after Whoopi Goldberg to single-handedly present the annual Oscars show.

But producers of the world's best-known film awards have found a pair of safe hands in the 48-year-old performer.

DeGeneres has twice hosted America's top television awards, the Primetime Emmys, and is the recipient of a number of Daytime Emmys for her critically acclaimed talk show.

In April she won titles for best talk show and best host for the second year running for The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

Early career

DeGeneres's early career should stand her in good stead for Oscar night.

The comic started out in the early 1980s in her hometown of New Orleans, as an MC at a comedy club.

DeGeneres has found a new audience with her chat show

A videotape of her performances saw her win the title of America's Funniest Person on cable channel Showtime in 1982.

She went on to perform in various TV specials and made an appearance on the Tonight Show - where she became the first and only comedian to be summoned by host Johnny Carson to sit down with him after her performance.

She was subsequently named best female stand-up at the 1991 American Comedy Awards.

DeGeneres began her TV acting career in sitcoms Open House and Laurie Hill.

She next went on to star in These Friends of Mine, which was renamed Ellen at the end of the first season - and remains the show for which she is probably best known.

Love life

Running from 1994 to 1998, Ellen was a huge success.

The landmark episode when her character came out as a gay woman in 1997 reached 46 million viewers, despite some sponsors withdrawing their advertisements over the show's content.

DeGeneres has frequently been the focus of media attention for her love life and her acknowledged homosexuality, rather than her career.

Her relationship with actress Anne Heche in the late '90s made headlines around the world.

After revealing their relationship, which lasted for more than three years, the pair maintained the Hollywood establishment turned against them.

DeGeneres' chat show has attracted stars including Justin Timberlake

Ellen was cancelled a year after DeGeneres's character came out, with broadcaster ABC blaming the decision on poor ratings.

DeGeneres's next venture, The Ellen Show, only ran for one series but she remained in the spotlight, not least because of her memorable hosting of the Emmy Awards two months after the terrorist attacks in the US in 2001.

Her role in Disney's Finding Nemo, as the voice of Dory, won her further plaudits and her second book, The Funny Thing Is... topped the New York Times best-sellers list in 2003.