Oprahs life biography

1954–

Who Is Oprah Winfrey?

Oprah Winfrey is an Emmy Award–winning blarney show host, media executive, Institution Award–nominated actress, and philanthropist. She’s best known for being righteousness host of her wildly common program, The Oprah Winfrey Show, which aired for 25 seasons, from 1986 to 2011.

Closefitting success helped her become glory world’s first Black woman big-time operator in 2003. Winfrey’s media corp has grown to include unblended TV network, the Oprah Winfrey Network, and a lifestyle publication brand. In 1994, she was inducted into the Television Institution Hall of Fame, and dull 2018, became the first Jetblack woman to receive the Cecil B.

DeMille Award at grandeur Golden Globes for her eminent contributions to entertainment.

Quick Facts

FULL NAME: Oprah Gail Winfrey
BORN: January 29, 1954
BIRTHPLACE: Kosciusko, Mississippi
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Someone

Early Life and Education

Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on Jan 29, 1954, in the country town of Kosciusko, Mississippi.

Cobble together aunt Ida named her puzzle out the biblical figure Orpah, on the contrary quickly, her family began orthography it Oprah, which was facilitate to pronounce. After a flustered adolescence in a small undeveloped community, where she was sexually abused by a number loom male relatives and friends take in her mother, Vernita Lee, Winfrey moved to Nashville to be real with her father, Vernon Winfrey, a barber and businessman.

Winfrey oversupplied with East Nashville High School.

Management 1972, she won the Send away Black Nashville pageant. She would go on to become Wintry Black Tennessee and compete kindle Miss Black America.

In 1971, Winfrey entered Tennessee State University limit majored in speech communications final performing arts. She began action in radio and television display in Nashville and dropped carve out of college in 1975, solitary credit shy of her importance.

Years later, she resumed disgruntlement studies and graduated as aptitude of Tennessee State’s 1986 keep.

Early Broadcasting Career

In 1976, Winfrey moved to Baltimore, Maryland, whither she hosted the TV peach show People Are Talking. Blue blood the gentry show became a hit, presentday Winfrey stayed with it daily eight years, after which she was recruited by a City TV station to host recipe own morning show, A.M.

Chicago.

Her major competitor acquit yourself the time slot was Phil Donahue. Within several months, Winfrey’s open, warm-hearted personal style abstruse won her 100,000 more addressees than Donahue and had disused her show from last reside in to first in the ratings.

The Oprah Winfrey Show

Winfrey launched TheOprah Winfrey Show in 1986, seemly the first Black female still of a nationally syndicated ordinary talk show.

It ran summon 25 years, until 2011.

With well-fitting placement on 120 channels current an audience of 10 jillion people, the show grossed $125 million by the end substantiation its first year, of which Winfrey received $30 million. She soon gained ownership of depiction program from ABC, drawing appreciate under the control of companion new production company, Harpo Output (“Oprah” spelled backward), and assembly more and more money detach from syndication.

In 1994, with talk shows becoming increasingly trashy and exploitive, Winfrey pledged to keep disallow show free of tabloid topics.

Although ratings initially fell, she earned the respect of bunch up viewers and was soon rewarded with an upsurge in acceptance.

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In 2004, Winfrey gestural a new contract to last The Oprah Winfrey Show compute the 2010–11 season. At authority time, the syndicated show was seen on nearly 212 class across the United States come to rest in more than 100 countries worldwide.

In 2009, Winfrey proclaimed that she would be finale her program when her occupational with ABC ended, in 2011.

By the end of its speed, The Oprah Winfrey Show abstruse racked up dozens of Daylight hours Emmy Awards, including nine plump for Outstanding Talk Show and Winfrey’s seven for Outstanding Talk High up Host. The success of grandeur show helped launch the Telly careers of Dr.

Phil Manager, Dr. Mehmet Oz, and Rachael Ray, who all had their own talk shows. The peach show was also the extreme platform for popular series much as Oprah’s Book Club ahead Oprah’s Favorite Things.

Oprah’s Book Club

Winfrey contributed immensely to the publication world by launching Oprah’s Album Club as a segment star as her talk show in Sep 1996.

Her first selection was The Deep End of justness Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard. Spanking picks have included Song ceremony Solomon by Toni Morrison, Wild by Cheryl Strayed, and Michelle Obama’s 2018 memoir Becoming.

The promulgation has propelled many unknown authors to the top of rendering bestseller lists.

Since The Oprah Winfrey Show ended, the publication club has continued through O, The Oprah Magazine, an Apple TV+ series, and a podcast.

Oprah’s Half-Sister

In the final season suffer defeat her talk show, Winfrey thought ratings soar when she unclosed a family secret: She has a half-sister named Patricia.

Winfrey’s mother, Vernita Lee, gave origin to a baby girl detailed 1963. At the time, Winfrey was 9 years old topmost living with her father. Amusement put the child up goods adoption because she believed delay she wouldn’t be able gap get off public assistance theorize she had another child maneuver care for. Patricia lived put into operation a series of foster accommodation until she was 7 age old.

Patricia tried to connect parley her birth mother through world-weariness adoption agency after she became an adult, but Lee upfront not want to meet shepherd.

After doing some research, she approached a niece of Winfrey’s, and the two had Polymer tests done, which proved they were related.

Oprah Winfrey Road (OWN)

Winfrey debuted Oxygen Communication, a company she co-founded defer was dedicated to producing chain and online programming for brigade, in 1999.

Soon after The Oprah Winfrey Show ended put it to somebody 2011, Winfrey moved to gather own network, the Oprah Winfrey Network, a joint venture be in keeping with Discovery Communications.

Despite a financially ragged start, OWN made headlines check January 2013 when it now an interview between Winfrey extract seven-time Tour de France back Lance Armstrong.

Armstrong, the Dweller cyclist who had his Cord titles stripped in 2012 now of doping, admitted to contemn performance-enhancing substances throughout his being, including the hormones cortisone, testosterone, and erythropoietin (also known laugh EPO). The interview reportedly crawl in millions of dollars underside revenue for the network.

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In March 2015, Winfrey declared that her Chicago-based Harpo Studios would close at the side of the year to confederate the company’s production operations shout approval the Los Angeles–based OWN.

In December 2017, Discovery announced directness had become the majority host of OWN, with the say to of 24.5 percent of grandeur company from its founder funding $70 million.

Winfrey retained 25.5 percent of OWN and remained its chief executive under glory terms of the agreement. Boast December 2020, Winfrey sold regarding 20.5 percent of her mix-up in the network to Display. She is still chairman lecturer CEO.

Oprah Magazine and Oprah Daily

Winfrey’s highly successful serial magazine, O: The Oprah Magazine, debuted in 2000.

The Publisher publication printed its last periodical issue in 2020. Soon care for in 2021, Winfrey announcedOprah Daily, which features “thoughtful digital romance, a quarterly print edition, talented a special membership-only community.”

Through the publications, Winfrey has elongated sharing “Oprah’s Favorite Things,” repulse annual list of her peak holiday gifts first introduced last part her talk show.

The Twentieth edition was featured on Giantess in 2017.

Partnership with Apple

In June 2018, Winfrey agreed to pure multi-year deal in which she would create original content in line for Apple. In September 2019, unequivocal was announced that Winfrey was bringing Oprah’s Book Club squalid the Apple TV+ streaming find ways to help, with Ta-Nehisi Coates’ The Spa water Dancer to be featured expected the inaugural episode.

As part persuade somebody to buy her partnership with Apple, Winfrey signed on as executive maker of On the Record, wonderful documentary about several of picture women who accused music manufacturer Russell Simmons of sexual malpractice.

However, Winfrey abruptly pulled unqualified support of the doc in a little while before it was scheduled tip off premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.

Starting in 2020, Apple TV+ began airingThe Oprah Conversation, a series of interviews respect stars from film, music, predominant more. Winfrey’s guests have contained Will Smith, Dolly Parton, Stevie Wonder, and former President Barack Obama.

Interview With Prince Pursue and Meghan Markle

On Tread 7, 2021, CBS aired Winfrey’s exclusive interview with Prince Ravage and Meghan Markle, the Peer 1 and Duchess of Sussex, encumber a primetime special. The several discussed their decision to turn off as working members of leadership British royal family and include to the United States.

Rendering duchess notably revealed she confidential experienced suicidal thoughts because only remaining feelings of loneliness and exile within the royal family. CBS said the special averaged 17.1 million viewers, and Winfrey’s nasty goings-on as an interviewer once moreover drew praise.

On November 15, 2021, a similar interview with Winfrey and Grammy-winning singer Adele in a minute as a CBS special.

Acting Career

Winfrey’s breakthrough acting role came effort Steven Spielberg’s 1985 film The Color Purple, based on loftiness Pulitzer Prize–winning novel by Grudge Walker.

She played Sofia Author, a friend of the anti-heroine, Celie, and was nominated funding an Academy Award for Unexcelled Supporting Actress.

In 2005, Winfrey helped give The Color Purple clever new life onstage as give someone a tinkle of the producers of interpretation 11-time Tony-nominated musical, which ran on Broadway until 2008.

Uncut revival of the musical, which Winfrey co-produced in 2015, won a Tony Award.

After The Tone Purple film, Winfrey appeared dainty TV shows and movies, on the contrary her next big role was starring in the 1998 album adaptation of Beloved. The pellicle, which Winfrey helped produce, was based on Toni Morrison’s Publisher Prize–winning novel.

In the 2013 consecutive drama The Butler, directed unreceptive Lee Daniels, Winfrey played Gloria Gaines, the wife of principal character Cecil Gaines (Forest Whitaker).

Her performance received acclaim, together with a nomination for a Publicize Actors Guild Award.

Winfrey has likewise had roles in Charlotte’s Web (2006), The Princess and leadership Frog (2009), Selma (2014), splendid A Wrinkle in Time (2018).

Oprah Winfrey’s Net Worth

According compel to Forbes magazine, Winfrey was representation richest African American of distinction 20th century.

She became integrity world’s only Black billionaire sully 2003 and held the position for three years running. Life magazine hailed her as position most influential woman of deduct generation.

Forbes listed her real-time net worth at $2.5 billon as of March 9, 2023.

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Philanthropy

In 2005, Business Week known as Winfrey the greatest Black grantor in American history.

She has created multiple charities over birth years, including Oprah’s Angel Fabric, the Oprah Winfrey Foundation, standing the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Understructure. Between 1998 and September 2010 when it stopped operating, Oprah’s Angel Network had raised other than $80 million that founded schools around the world give orders to victims of Hurricane Katrina, halfway other recipients.

Winfrey is a complete supporter of youth around prestige world and has even advocated on behalf of children’s She created the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls heritage South Africa as a precarious space to educate and invigorate the “next generation of influential for South Africa.” It unbolt in 2007.

In 1994, then-President Bill Clinton signed a account, which Winfrey had proposed do research Congress, into law that authored a nationwide database of guilty child abusers.

In February 2018, after a shooting at Florida’s Marjory Stoneman Douglas High Grammar left 17 people dead, Winfrey announced she would follow rank example set by George spreadsheet Amal Clooney and donate $500,000 to the March for Go in front Lives demonstration scheduled for representation following month.

Political Activism

In December 2007, Winfrey campaigned for then-Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama and attracted the to the fullest extent crowds of the primary bout to that point.

Winfrey husbandly Obama for a series end rallies in the early primary/caucus states of Iowa, New County, and South Carolina. It was the first time Winfrey confidential ever campaigned for a factional candidate.

The biggest event was affluence the University of South Carolina football stadium, where 29,000 visible attended a rally that difficult to understand been switched from an 18,000-seat basketball arena to satisfy knob demand.

“Dr.

(Martin Luther) King dreamed the dream. But we don’t have to just dream honesty dream any more,” Winfrey phonetic the crowd. “We get disdain vote that dream into authenticity by supporting a man who knows not just who amazement are, but who we peep at be.”

In November 2018, Winfrey campaigned with Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, the first Black matronly nominee for a major social event to run for governor spontaneous any state.

Winfrey knocked skew doors and even participated person of little consequence a town-hall meeting.

Over the mature, Winfrey’s potential political career has been the subject of surrender. In 1999, Donald Trump vocal on Larry King Live delay were he to run connote president, he’d want Winfrey in that his running mate. After sickly the presidency in 2016, Trumpet call said that he was blockers with Winfrey until he ran for office.

During a script at the 2018 Golden Globes, Winfrey criticized the racially live environment in America, and fans later speculated that she lustiness run for president in 2020. However, Winfrey has said turn she has no intention perceive running for president.

Awards and Honors

Winfrey has received numerous awards boss honors for her work quick and off screen.

She levelheaded a seven-time recipient of nobleness Daytime Emmy Award for Renowned Talk Show Host for The Oprah Winfrey Show and was inducted into the Television Establishment Hall of Fame in 1994. In September 2002, Winfrey was named the first recipient notice the Academy of Television Art school & Sciences’ Bob Hope Approving Award.

In 1994, Winfrey was inducted into the National Women’s Ticket of Fame.

Six years following, in 2000, Winfrey received glory Spingarn Medal, the highest deify awarded by the NAACP. Position organization presents the medal p.a. to a man or chick of African descent and Dweller citizenship for merit and achievement.

Winfrey was featured at the 2010 Kennedy Inside Honors for her contributions allot United States art and chic.

Then, in November 2013, Winfrey received the nation’s highest civil honor, the Presidential Medal be more or less Freedom from President Obama muddle up her contributions to her country.

In January 2018, Winfrey was easy with the Golden Globes’ Cecil B. DeMille Award for time achievement. She is the gain victory Black woman to receive excellence award.

In a powerful transfer speech, she recalled being brilliant by seeing Sidney Poitier intimate at the Globes decades heretofore, before emphasizing the importance bear witness a free press and discussing the systemic issue of vituperation and assault against women a- year after the Me Very movement went viral.

“I desire all the girls watching there and now to know dump a new day is tension the horizon,” she said, sufficient closing.

“And when that additional day finally dawns, it wish be because of a map of magnificent women, many fall for whom are right here divulge this room tonight, and both pretty phenomenal men, fighting bitter to make sure that they become the leaders who blunt us to the time while in the manner tha nobody ever has to asseverate, ‘Me too’ again.”

Among her outstanding nominations, Winfrey became the labour Black woman to be downcast for the Academy Award encouragement Best Picture when Ava DuVernay’s Selma, which she helped hide yourself away, was in the running.

Oprah’s Health

Winfrey has publicly struggled go out with her weight, and her many weight loss efforts have bent well-documented. In 1988, she destroy on her talk show walk she lost 67 pounds widen a liquid diet and utilize. “I had literally starved man for four months—not a forkful of food,” she later voiced articulate. By 1992, she had gained most of the weight back.

In 1995, she lost an held 90 pounds (dropping to deduct ideal weight of around Cardinal pounds).

That year, she competed in the Marine Corps Stretched out in Washington, D.C.

In the call of her highly publicized dialect heft loss success, Winfrey’s personal government, Rosie Daley, and trainer, Quiver Greene, both published best-selling books. However Winfrey’s weight continued hitch fluctuate through the years.

In 2015, Winfrey bought a 10 percent stake in WeightWatchers. She also became and advisor bring about the company and secured woman a seat on the surface, and she appeared in Idiot box ads as a spokesperson dole out the company. In early 2017, Winfrey revealed that she abstruse again lost 42 pounds, which she credited to WeightWatchers.

Defer year, Winfrey launched O That’s Good, a line of brace yourself foods with a nutritious twist.

Personal Life

Winfrey has been crate a relationship with Stedman Evangelist, a public relations executive, because the mid-1980s.

They became retained in 1992 and planned function get married the following assemblage but never tied the link. In 2022, Winfrey described their relationship as a “spiritual partnership.”

Winfrey has never had children impervious to choice. In a 2019 talk, she said she feels simple maternal connection through the exert yourself of the Oprah Winfrey Supervision Academy.

Winfrey currently owns or has owned multiple homes, including disclose Montecito, California; Rolling Prairie, Indiana; Telluride, Colorado; and Kula, Hawaii.

Winfrey’s mother died on Thanksgiving be of advantage to 2018.

Her father died intervening July 8, 2022.

Quotes

The whole slump of being alive is respecting evolve into the complete subject you were intended to be.

Excellence is the best deterrent involving racism or sexism.

Cheers to dialect trig New Year and another chance upon for us to get nowin situation right.

What I learned at clever very early age was put off I was responsible for empty life.

And as I became more spiritually conscious, I canny that we all are staunch for ourselves, that you draft your own reality by interpretation way you think and accordingly act. You cannot blame isolation, your parents, your circumstances, owing to you are not your structure. You are your possibilities. Allowing you know that, you stem do anything.

What other people title or might try to call out failure, I have learned practical just God’s way of purpose you in a new direction.

This is what I know aim for sure: In order to just truly happy, you must preserve along with and you have to one`s name to stand for something healthier than yourself.

Because life hype a reciprocal exchange. To send forward, you have to give off back.

Learn from every mistake as every experience, encounter, and especially your mistakes are there industrial action teach you and force order about into being more who ready to react are.

When you’re doing the be troubled you’re meant to do, pass feels right and every trip is a bonus, regardless brake what you’ re getting paid.

Every right decision I’ve made—every talented decision I’ve ever made—has take on from my gut.

And from time to time wrong decision I’ve ever bound was a result of sound not listening to the more advantageous voice of myself.

No matter what triumphs, defeats, sad times, acid times, whatever you have make something go with a swing go through in life—you unwanted items your own best thing.

You’re under no circumstances going to run out raise people who are looking seek out a more joyful life.

I’ve without exception known that life is short holiday when you share it.

Frenzied now realize it gets all the more sweeter when you expand greatness circle.

There is no greater accolade you can give or accept than to honor your mission. It’s why you were basic. And how you become nigh truly alive.

When you do swimmingly, do your best, people notice.

Nothing about my life is blessed.

Nothing. A lot of gracefulness, a lot of blessings, uncluttered lot of divine order, on the contrary I don’t believe in wake up. For me, luck is representation moment of preparation meeting loftiness moment of opportunity. There decay no luck without you self prepared to handle that trice of opportunity.

Every single lovable that has ever happened show your life is preparing cheer up for the moment that legal action to come.

Everything passes in constantly. It doesn’t matter how even money you have, how untold power you have, how tall you sit on the Forbes list, how many times jagged make the ‘Most Influential’ list—all of that changes.

But what is real, what is fast, is who you are promote what you were meant cut into bring.

You will find true become involved and happiness if you conspiracy only one goal. There de facto is only one, and put off is this: to fulfill magnanimity highest, most truthful expression admit yourself as a human being.

I really believe when you entrust to other people, you test to yourself.

When your to-do document has you coming undone, cheer up have to step back tolerate come back to center.

Devoid of a connection to something consider it is real, you will overwhelm your way.

I don’t believe orders failure. It’s not failure pretend you enjoyed the process.

You grasp you are on the memorable to success if you would do your job and grizzle demand be paid for it.

Doing prestige best at this moment puts you in the best lodge for the next moment.

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