Oprah Winfrey was born Orpah Gail Winfrey in Kosciusko, Mississippi, to Vernita Lee, a former maid. She was raised as the daughter of Vernon Winfrey, a coal miner, barber, and city councilman. However, according to Kitty Kelley, author of Oprah: A Biography, "The birth certificate for Oprah Gail Lee contained another error, naming Vernon Winfrey as her father. "We found out years later that couldn't possibly have been true, but at the time, Bunny -- that's what the family calls Vernita -- named Vernon as the father because he was the last of the three men she said she had laid down with. And he accepted the responsibility .... He didn't realize the truth until years later, when he checked his service records and saw for sure he couldn't have given life to a baby born in January 1954. But by the time he found out the truth, Oprah had already called him Daddy." Since then, another Mississippi man, Noah Robinson, has claimed he is Oprah's biological father, but no DNA testing has been done.
The wealthiest African-American woman of the 20th-century and the only self-made black woman billionaire in history, Winfrey was born into an economically troubled neighborhood, and then raised by her single, teen-aged mother. Named after a biblical character, Orpah had a name no one could pronounce, so her family and friends starting calling her Oprah. Shortly after Oprah's birth, her mother left and traveled north. Oprah was then raised by her grandmother, Hattie Mae (Presley) Lee, and, reportedly, her only friends were farm animals. She would frequently give the animals dramatic parts and included them in games.
Due to her grandmother's values, Oprah had faith and religion instilled in her at a very young age. She knew how to read and write before the age of three. She would recite poems during church, and verses from the Bible. Soon, the church and the entire neighborhood knew she had a gift and was nicknamed "The Little Speaker". This soon prompted her to become a woman with a strong perspective, which millions across the world later wanted to have insight on, and prepared her for 奥普拉脱口秀 (1986).
Due to her ability to read and write before the age of three, when enrolled in school she was often promoted several grades ahead of her age. At the age of six, Oprah went to live with her mother Vernita. Vernita worked in her maid job often, so Oprah was frequently left alone at home with her cousins. Due to her busy mother, she was paid little attention to at home, prompting her to start misbehaving and talking back to her mother. Vernita then decided it was best Oprah live with her father in Nashville, Tennessee. While living in Tennessee, she found out her mother was pregnant, and her mother then requested for her to come back to Milwaukee to live with her mother and half-sister. She briefly attended Nicolet High School in nearby Glendale, Wisconsin. At age nine, Oprah was reportedly raped by her nineteen year old cousin, who was babysitting her. This was not the only time she was sexually abused, later being abused by her cousin, a family friend, her mother's boyfriend, and her uncle, during her stay in Milwaukee. She never told anyone as the predators swore her to silence. At 13, she ran away from home, and a year later became pregnant. The sickly male child died shortly after birth. Vernita sent her daughter back to live with Vernon Winfrey in Nashville. Very strict, he made education Oprah's #1 priority.
Oprah attended Nashville East High School, when she wasn't precisely certain toward what she wanted to do, but knew it involved speaking or drama. Oprah was also elected school president and met with president 理查德·尼克松, apart of public speaking classes in her high-school. During the last year of high-school, Oprah was rehearsing with her drama class when a local radio station, WVOL spotted her and asked her if she would like to read on radio. She was then given a job reading the news on the radio. Oprah soon entered a public-speaking contest, where the grand prize was a scholarship to Tennessee State University. Oprah won the contest and received a scholarship to Tennessee State University, where she majored in Speech Communications and Performing Arts.
Still in college, she was offered a job as a co-anchor on a CBS television station, but declined several times before she was convinced by her speech professor that it could be the ultimate step to launch her career. She wanted to work outside Nashville, and was soon offered a job in Baltimore, Maryland, a few months before her graduation. She had to choose between the job and graduating, and chose the job. There, she was not a good reporter and was shortly fired. Her boss, however. set her up as a talk show host on a morning talk show, People Are Talking (1978). She carried the talk show for seven years and then decided it was time to move on.
In 1981, Oprah sent recorded tapes of the show to a talk-show in Chicago called A.M. Chicago. They immediately offered her the job and in September 1985, she changed the name of the show to "The Oprah Winfrey Show". The first broadcast of The Oprah Winfrey Show was on September 8, 1986 and broadcast nationally. It first targeted woman, however soon due to the controversial and intriguing topics Oprah brought on to the show it appealed to people of all genders, ethnicities, and ages. Oprah promoted books and movie releases, and helped broaden the national point of view. From its first broadcast, the Oprah Winfrey Show went on to receive multiple Daytime Emmy Awards and several other prestigious awards. Winfrey expanded the show and started releasing a monthly magazine which was called O: The Oprah Magazine in 2000. The series finale of the Oprah Winfrey Show, in its twenty-fifth season, aired on May 25, 2011, concluding a segment of her career which she used to inspire millions, and help them lead a better life.
Oprah made her debut as a film actress in the period drama film 紫色 (1985). She played a troubled housewife named Sofia, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. This movie went on to become a Broadway musical. In 1998, Oprah starred in the film 真爱 (1998), which she also produced. She played the character Sethe, a former slave. She has appeared in such films as 夏洛特的网 (2006), 蜜蜂总动员 (2007), 公主与青蛙 (2009), and A Wrinkle in Time (2018).
Oprah received an Achievement Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1998. In 2011, Oprah received a Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. Oprah Winfrey will forever be remembered as an innovator through the landmarks she has made, becoming the first female African-American to host a television show, inspiring millions of people across the world, discussing significant issues such as equal rights toward genders, racism, poverty, and others.
She permanently withdrew herself and her show from consideration for a Daytime Emmy Award after being awarded the Lifetime Achievement (1998). She was quoted as saying, "After you've achieved it for a lifetime, what else is there?".
In addition to being a news anchor on WJZ-TV13 in Baltimore, Maryland, Winfrey was co-host with Richard Sher (a reporter) on a local talk show called "People are Talking" on that station.
Attended Nicolet High School (Glendale, Wisconsin) for a short period of time as a teenager but finally graduated from East Nashville High School, where she was voted most popular (Class of 1971). She graduated from Tennessee State University in Nashville, Tennessee, with a degree in Speech and Performing Arts (Class of 1987).
Was sued by Texas cattlemen who claimed that Oprah defamed beef on her talk show. The case went to trial, causing Oprah to have to relocate her show's production to Amarillo, Texas, for the duration of the trial. She was found not liable.
She was ranked first in Entertainment Weekly's 1998 list of the most powerful people in show business, but dropped to sixth in the 1999 list. Still, she was the highest ranking performer, as well as the highest ranking woman, and the only African-American to make the list.
Is the first woman in history to own and produce her own talk show.
Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1985" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol. 37.
Announced that Oprah would receive $130,000,000 for continuing her talk show through the 1999-2000 television season. [September 1997]
Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. [1997]
Inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame in Seneca Falls, New York. [1994]
(Fall 1999) She and Stedman Graham are teaching "Dynamics of Leadership" class at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management.
Given an honorary National Book Award for her "influential contribution to reading and books". [October 1999]
Awarded (last) 50th anniversary medal by the National Book Foundation in New York City. [November 1999]
Her immensely popular television talk show is a Harpo Production. Harpo is Oprah spelled backwards. Harpo is also the name of a character in 紫色 (1985) (Oprah's film debut) played by Willard E. Pugh.
Gave birth to a baby boy when she was just age 14. The baby passed away after two weeks, from complications of being born two months premature.
Over the course of her 25 years hosting 奥普拉脱口秀 (1986), Oprah taped 217 episodes dedicated to sexual abuse, having been a survivor of such abuse herself as a young girl. She was instrumental in the passage of the Oprah Bill, in the early 1990s. The bill was signed into law by President 比尔·克林顿, and is aimed at stopping child abuse.
Raised in abject poverty, she received her first pair of shoes at age 6 (1960). She learned to read at age 2½. In fact, when it was time for her to start kindergarten, she wrote a note to her teacher insisting she should be in first grade. The teacher agreed and after finishing that grade she was then skipped to third grade.
(1986-present) Partner is Stedman Graham.
She and her former personal trainer, Bob Greene, announced they are buying seven shoreline lots from Getty Family Trust to build several homes, including one on 102-acre lot for Oprah. They plan to put conservation first and keep site development low key. [April 2002]
Ranked #1 Pop Culture Icon on VH1's The Greatest: 200 Greatest Pop Culture Icons (2003), beating out Superman and Elvis.
Purchased a house at 3330 Radcliffe Avenue, West Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. This superb 11,000 sq ft waterfront property was on sale for Cdn $18 million, at the time British Columbia's most expensive house, but she paid Cdn $17 million (US$13 million). [June 2004]
Daughter of Vernon Winfrey by Vernita Lee (May 2, 1935 - November 22, 2018). Had two half-siblings from her mother. Her half-brother passed away from AIDS in December 1988 and her half-sister, Patricia Lee, passed away under mysterious circumstances in 2003. Her niece is Chrishaunda Lee Perez, the daughter of her late half-sister Patricia. Oprah walked her niece down the aisle at Chrishaundra's wedding in 2005.
According to Forbes.com, her 2019 net worth is $2.6 billion. In 2003, she became the first African-American woman to make the list of billionaires.
Was a guest at friends 玛利亚·施莱沃 and 阿诺·施瓦辛格's star-studded wedding
First African American woman billionaire in history and first African American female entrepreneur to appear on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
After years of publicly criticizing David Letterman's late-night television show, 大卫·莱特曼晚间秀 (1993), she and Letterman finally settled their differences when she agreed to appear on the December 1, 2005 episode, during which time she was to be in New York to promote her musical of 紫色 (1985). During the Superbowl of 2007, they appeared in an advertisement together for Letterman's show. In the ad, they sat together on a couch watching the Superbowl, wearing opposing team jerseys. [2005]
Has a cameo playing herself in 谋害老妈 (1987). In a "clip" from her show, she interviews a writer (the ex-wife of 比利·克里斯托's character) whose plagiarized and embellished "life story" is at the top of the bestseller lists (foreshadowing the 詹姆斯·弗雷 controversy twenty years later).
Ranked #3 on the annual Forbes magazine Celebrity 100 list. [2006]
Collapsed from heat exhaustion during a recent visit to her birthplace of Kosciusko, Mississippi. [October 2006]
Winfrey's name was originally "Orpah", after the biblical figure in the book of Ruth. Several different stories allude to the fact that either a misspelling on her birth certificate or a struggle with the pronunciation of her name eventually led to "Oprah" being adopted as her given name.
A DNA test on the show African American Lives (2006) stated that Oprah's genetic ancestry is 89% Sub-Saharan African, 8% Native American, and 3% East Asian (which may be Native American markers). Her African genetic roots include Kpelle, Bamileke and Zambian.
Appearing on the annual Time 100 list, Time magazine's ranking of the 100 Most Influential People in the World, in 2007 again, she is the only person who has been on that list five times. [May 2007]
Her two-year-old golden retriever, Gracie, passed away after accidentally choking to death on another dog's ball. [July 2007]
In 2006, she gave $58,300,000 to charity to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy, Oprah's Angel Network, and other groups.
In 2006, she earned an estimated $260 million in salary from her various interests including syndication, cable television, and print magazines. That same year, she gave $58,300,000 to charity to the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy, Oprah's Angel Network, and other groups.
Thanked by 舒恩·科温 in the liner notes of her album "A Few Small Repairs" (1996).
Ranked #3 in 2006 on the annual Forbes Celebrity 100 list. Ranked #1 in the 2008 Forbes Celebrity 100 list.
She received an honorary doctorate from Duke University in Durham, North Carolina and was the commencement speaker. [2009]
Her personal chef until 2007 was Art Smith.
Recipient of the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors; other recipients that year were Jerry Herman, 保罗·麦卡特尼, Merle Haggard and Bill T. Jones.
Her idol is 黛安娜·罗斯. Her favorite album is "Graceland" (1986) by 保罗·西蒙. She was interviewed for the documentary about the album Under African Skies (2012).
Over the 25-year run of her daytime TV talk show, Winfrey never once missed a day through absenteeism.
When Oprah's talk show went independent for the first time, her staff consisted of four personnel including herself. By 2011, her empire had expanded to 464 personnel.
Oprah's broadcasting career began in the late 1960s as a teenage intern at WVOL, an African-American radio station in Nashville, Tennessee.
Received the 琪恩·汉旭特 Humanitarian Award - a special Academy Award for her charity work - on November 12, 2011 in Los Angeles, California.
Teenage crushes were Beatle 保罗·麦卡特尼 and the Jackson 5's 杰基·杰克逊.
Ever since she was 15 years old, Oprah has kept a journal of every day of her life.
Since the inception of the "Book Club" segment on her show, an estimated 30 million books were sold as a direct result of the worldwide publicity.
Oprah has become the first African-American woman to own a cable network. It is called OWN, which stands for Oprah Winfrey Network.
She was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President 巴拉克·奥巴马. [2013]
Subject of the song "Oprah Winfrey" by Wesley Willis.
Longtime friend with 琼·里弗斯. Winfrey attended her funeral, when the comedienne passed away on September 7, 2014.
She is good friends with 泰勒·派瑞 and 罗茜·欧唐内.
She is left-handed.
Last person to interview Liberace on television before his death - The Oprah Winfrey Show: Episode dated 25 December 1986 (1986).
Friends with T.D. Jakes, 迈克·华莱士, 琼·里弗斯, 里吉斯·菲尔宾, 罗杰·伊伯特, Rachael Ray, 大卫·奥伊罗, 比尔·考斯比, 威尔·史密斯, 艾伦·德杰尼勒斯, 艾娃·德约列 and 凯丽·华盛顿, 盖尔·金, 昆西·琼斯, and 泰勒·派瑞.
Has five dogs: Luke and Layla (golden retrievers), Sadie (cocker spaniel) and Sunny and Lauren (springer spaniels). Ivan, another cocker spaniel died in 2009 of Parvovirus, a virus common to dogs which is fatal roughly 80 percent of the time. In July 2007, her two-year-old golden retriever, Gracie, died after accidentally choking to death on a ball.
Best friends with 盖尔·金 and 昆西·琼斯.
Was invited to the premiere of 夜访吸血鬼 (1994). She walked out of the showing in disgust due to the film's gore, specifically the scene where Lestat is bleeding profusely after having his throat slit by Claudia.
One of her favorite films is 艺伎回忆录 (2005).
Due to Oprah's immense popularity on television, audiences tended to think that she was the first African-American woman to host her own TV talk show, when that distinction actually belonged to 戴拉·里斯 with her short-lived Della (1969).
On January 7, 2018, she received the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the at the at the Golden Globe Award; it was presented to her by 瑞茜·威瑟斯彭.
Is mentioned by name in Travie McCoy's 2010 song "Billionaire" (feat. 布鲁诺·马尔斯).
On May 19, 2018, she attended the Royal Wedding of 哈里王子 and 梅根·马克尔, bedecked in a Stella McCartney-designed pale pink dress and sporting a flowered hat designed for her by Irish milliner Philip Treacy.
Civil rights activist/poet and memoirist 玛雅·安吉洛 took Winfrey under her wing, when she was 22. The friendship lasted nearly 40 years, until Angelou's passing in 2014. Winfrey frequently remembers her late mentor and friend 玛雅·安吉洛, whom she has credited for her her stardom as a television personality.
玛丽安娜·威廉森 is her spiritual advisor.
She is most widely known to be a social butterfly.
Has highly praised 玛雅·安吉洛 for her stardom as a television personality and talk show hostess.
Attended the funeral of her mentor 玛雅·安吉洛 when the civil rights activist and poet passed away on 28 May 2014.
Credits 玛雅·安吉洛 as her favorite mentor/best friend.
As a television personality (and later) talk show hostess, she was highly influenced by 玛雅·安吉洛.
Her mentor is the late 玛雅·安吉洛.
As an unfamiliar television personality and talk show hostess, she was mentored in the business by civil rights activist and poet 玛雅·安吉洛. Angelou met the college dropped out, Winfrey in 1976, when Winfrey worked as a TV anchor at WJZ-TV , in Baltimore, Maryland.
Her self-deprecating humor
Her repeated dramatic weight loss and gain
Often sings her words when presenting.
