Oprah Winfrey Biography
Fast Facts
Oprah was born Orpah (a Biblical name) Gail Winfrey on January 29,1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Family members and friends pronounced her name as Oprah however and that is the version that stuck.
She learned to read aloud and perform recitations for her grandmother at the age of three.
At 19 years of age Oprah Winfrey started her adventures in broadcasting, making her the youngest news anchor and also the first African-American woman news anchor at Nashville's WTVF-TV
Oprah Winfrey is believed to be worth over 1 billion dollars according to the 2004 Forbes Magazine Issue. In 2003 it disclosed that she had become the first African American woman to reach billionaire status.
Winfrey has successfully negotiated a deal to extend her show to the 2010-11 season at which time she will be celebrating her show's 25th year on the air.
Oprah Winfrey was named one of the Most Influential People of the 20th Century by Time Magazine and in 1998 received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
She was the driving force behind the national database of convicted child abusers which was signed into law in 1993 as "The Oprah Bill".
She formed her own production company in 1986 which she named Harpo Productions. It has become an indomitable force in television and film production and Harpo eventually bought and assumed responsibility for the Oprah Winfrey Show making her the first woman to own and produce her own television talk show.
She publishes her own magazines, O, The Oprah Magazine, and O at Home.
She co-founded the women's cable network Oxygen.
She started The Angel Network, an organization that collects millions of dollars for charities. In 2000, through this organization she started presenting a $100,000 "Use Your Life Award" to people who were using their lives to help others better themselves.
She was honored with the first Bob Hope Humanitarian Award when it was initiated in 2002.
Oprah has never taken the plunge into marriage but has lived with her longtime partner Stedman for nearly 20 years.
Oprah Winfrey Biography
"Excellence is the best deterrent to racism or sexism." Oprah Winfrey
Oprah is willing to put her money where her mouth is. She uses her television show to promote excellence in all things and is constantly supporting and promoting excellent people who undertake worthy endeavors.
Life didn't start out very well for Oprah. After her parents split up when she was still a toddler, she was sent to her grandparents and raised by her grandmother until she was six. Then she was sent to live with her mother where things became horrible for her. She was sexually abused by relatives for years until the age of 14 when she went to live with her father.
Her father was very strict, yet he cared for his daughter and wanted her to reach for high standards. "As strict as he was," says Oprah, "he had some concerns about me making the best of my life, and would not accept anything less than what he thought was my best." Oprah had been so abused that she was out of control during this time in her life, rebelling against authority and experimenting with drugs and other self-destructive behavior.
She had endured much hardship in her life thus far, but she was blessed with the gift of high intelligence, and always performed well in school. She was awarded a university scholarship and it was at this time she was able to settle herself down and focus on creating a better life for herself. She earned a B.A. in Speech Communications and Performing Arts at Tennessee State University, graduating with honors. While at school she also joined various groups pursuing her interests in journalism and media.
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An interview with Oprah highlights this look at the plain-spoken Texan who became a national celebrity thanks to her show.