Oprah Winfrey!

Oprah Winfrey is considered one of the most powerful women of our time since Madam C.J.Walker. She has replaced the so called glass ceiling with concrete opportunity.

Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is the American multiple-Emmy Award winning host of The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest rated talk show in television history.[1] She is also an influential book critic, an Academy Award-nominated actress, and a magazine publisher. She has been ranked the richest African American of the 20th century,[2] the most philanthropic African American of all time,[3] and the world's only black billionaire for three straight years.[4][5][6][7] She is also, according to several assessments, the most influential woman in the world.[8]

Early life

Oprah Winfrey was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, to a Baptist family. She was originally named Orpah Gail Winfrey, after the Book of Ruth. There are conflicting reports as to how her name became "Oprah." According to a 1991 interview with the Academy of Achievement, Winfrey said that when she was born, people didn't know how to pronounce "Orpah," so they put the "P" before the "R" in every place else other than the birth certificate.[9] However, there is the account that the midwife transposed letters while filling out the newborn's birth certificate.[10] Her parents were unmarried teenagers.[11] Her mother, Vernita Lee, was a housemaid, and her father, Vernon Winfrey, was a coal miner and later worked as a barber before becoming a city councilman. Winfrey's father was in the Armed Forces when she was born. After her birth, Winfrey's mother travelled north and Winfrey spent her first six years living in rural poverty with her grandmother, Hattie Mae. Winfrey's grandmother taught her to read before the age of three and took her to the local church, where she was nicknamed "The Preacher" for her ability to recite Bible verses. When Winfrey was a child, her grandmother would take a switch and would hit her with it when she didn't do chores or if she misbehaved in any way.[12]

At age six, Winfrey moved to an inner city ghetto in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her mother, who was less supportive and encouraging than her grandmother. Winfrey has stated that she was molested by her cousin, uncle, and a family friend, starting when she was nine years old.

Despite her dysfunctional home life, Winfrey skipped two of her earliest grades, became the teacher's pet, and by the time she was 13 received a scholarship to attend Nicolet High School in the Milwaukee suburb of Glendale, Wisconsin. Although Winfrey was very popular, she couldn't afford to go out on the town as frequently as her better-off classmates. Like many teenagers at the end of the 1960s, Winfrey rebelled, ran away from home and ran the streets. When she was 14, she became pregnant, but lost the baby shortly after birth.[13] Also at that age, her frustrated mother sent her to live with her father in Nashville, Tennessee. Vernon was strict, but encouraging and made her education a priority. Winfrey became an honors student, was voted Most Popular Girl, joined her high school speech team, and placed second in the nation in dramatic interpretation. She won an oratory contest, which secured her a full scholarship to Tennessee State University, a historically black institution, where she studied communication. At age 18, Winfrey won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant.

Winfrey's boyfriend from high school, Anthony Otey, would later recall what Winfrey was like during those early years:

"...she knew what she wanted very early in life. She said she wanted to be a movie star. She wanted to be an actress. And I praise God that she's done that. She was willing to put aside a lot of other things. Back in the seventies, drugs had started entering the schools, and that kind of thing. We were involved in integration and those fights in those years. We were actively involved in that, but she knew what she wanted to do. She worked hard at it, and when her ship started to sail, she got aboard.[14]"

Winfrey's grandmother had said that ever since Winfrey could talk, she was on stage. In her youth she played games interviewing her corncob doll and the crows on the fence of her family's property. But her true media career began at age 17, when Winfrey worked at a local radio station while attending Tennessee State University.

Working in local media, she was both the youngest news anchor and the first black female news anchor at Nashville's WLAC-TV. She moved to Baltimore's WJZ-TV in 1976 to co-anchor the six o'clock news. She was then recruited to join Richard Sher as co-host of WJZ's local talk show People Are Talking, which premiered on August 14, 1978. She also hosted the local version of Dialing for Dollars there as well.[15]

At the age of 19, she landed her first broadcasting job as a reporter for radio station WVOL in Nashville, TN. In 1971 she was named Miss Black Nashville AND Miss Black Tennessee. She switched majors her sophomore year to media and becomes the first African-American anchor at WTVF-TV in Nashville.

In 1977 she moved to Baltimore to co-anchor the six o'clock news. She was also recruited to co-host Baltimore's WJZ-TV's local talk show, People are Talking.

In 1984 she relocated to Chicago to host WLS-TV's morning talk show, AM Chicago. Within one month she becomes the number one talk show. In less than a year, the show expands and is renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show.

In 1985 she debut's in Steven Spielberg's, The Color Purple as Sofia. The movie is based on the novel by Alice Walker. Oprah receives nominations for a Golden Globe and the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 1986, The Oprah Winfrey Show enters syndication and remains the number one talk show for fourteen consecutive seasons. The Oprah Winfrey Show would receive 32 Emmys - seven that are for the Oprah Winfrey She also Plays the role of "Mrs. Thomas" in Native Son.

In 1987, she hosts the 14th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards and makes a cameo appearance in the movie Throw Momma from the Train.

In 1988, Oprah Winfrey's, Harpo Productions, Inc. renovates a gigantic production facility and builds itself a home.

In 1989, she produces and stars as "Mattie Michael" in the miniseries,The Women of Brewster Place, which recounts the lives of the female denizens of an inner-city brownstone.

In 1990, she hosts the 17th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards and makes a cameo appearance on TV's The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. That same year she executive produces and performs in the TV Series Brewster Place

In 1991, Oprah initiates the National Child Protection Act, testifying in front of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to establish a national database of convicted child abusers.

In 1992, she hosts The Essence Awards. This same year, she produces and hosts a TV Special, Oprah: Behind the Scenes.

In 1993, As a direct result of her efforts, President Clinton signs the national "Oprah Bill" into law, establishing a national database of convicted child abusers. Since then, Oprah has joined the President the the Presidents' Summit, a call to action for volunteerism in our communities. She hosts One Child, One Dream: The Horatio Alger Awards. Produces and stars as "LaJoe Rivers" in the TV movie There Are No Children Here.

A turning point came in 1994 when she pledges to refocus the show on uplifting, meaningful subjects, departing from degrading talk show topics.

After all these accomplishments, Oprah decided to do something for herself. For her 40th birthday in 1995, Oprah runs the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington D.C.; finishes at 4:29:20.

In 1996 saw the beginning of Oprah's Book Club, an on-air reading club, intended to get the country excited about literature again. All Oprah Book Club selections to date have become instant bestsellers. This was the same year that she received the George Foster Peabody Individual Achievement Award and the International Radio and Television Society's Gold Medal Award. This was also the year that she signed a contract with ABC to provide prime-time programming beginning with the 1996-97 season.

In 1997 things were looking up for Oprah. She was named Newsweek's most important person in books and media and TV Guide's Television Performer of the Year. This same year she also launched Oprah's Angel Network, a campaign to encourage people to open their hearts and help those in need. Projects include "The World's Largest Piggy Bank," a collection of small change to help send fifty students to college and building homes in every market The Oprah Winfrey Show airs with Habitat for Humanity. Even with all these commitments, she finds the time to play "Ellen's Shrink" on the TV series Ellen. She also produced and performed as "Miss Zora" in the TV movie Before Women Had Wings with Ellen Barkin.

In 1998, she saw even more recognition by being named one of the 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century by Time Magazine. She also received the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Lifetime Achievement Award. Her beauty was put on display when she graced the cover of Vogue. 1998 also was the year that Beloved premiered. In Beloved, Oprah plays "Sethe", a woman who escapes from slavery but is haunted by its heritage. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Toni Morrison, the film is directed by Academy Award®-winner Jonathan Demme.

In 1998, She announces she will join producers Marcy Carsey and Tom Warner (Cosby, Roseanne) and Nickelodeon founder Geraldine Laybourne to launch Oxygen Media, Inc. - a cable channel and interactive network for women.

In 1999, she becomes "Professor Winfrey" teaching along with Stedman Graham at Northwestern University's J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management. She is also presented with the National Book Foundation's 50th anniversary gold medal for all that Oprah's Book Club has done for books and authors.

Oprah Winfrey's Biography

Through the power of media, Oprah Winfrey has created an unparalleled connection with people around the world. As supervising producer and host of the top-rated, award-winning The Oprah Winfrey Show, she has entertained enlightened and uplifted millions of viewers for the past two decades. Her accomplishments as a global media leader and philanthropist have established her as one of the most respected and admired public figures today.

TELEVISION PIONEER

Oprah began her broadcasting career at WVOL radio in Nashville while still in high school. At the age of 19, she became the youngest person and the first African-American woman to anchor the news at Nashville's WTVF-TV. She then relocated to Baltimore's WJZ-TV to co-anchor the Six O'Clock News and later went on to become co-host of its local talk show, People Are Talking.

In 1984, Oprah moved to Chicago to host WLS-TV's morning talk show, AM Chicago, which became the number one local talk show-surpassing ratings for Donahue-just one month after she began. In less than a year, the show expanded to one hour and was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show. It entered national syndication in 1986, becoming the highest-rated talk show in television history. In 1988, she established Harpo Studios, a production facility in Chicago, making her the third woman in the American entertainment industry (after Mary Pickford and Lucille Ball) to own her own studio.

The Oprah Winfrey Show has remained the number one talk show for 20 consecutive seasons*. Produced by her own production company, Harpo Productions, Inc., the show is seen by an estimated 48 million viewers a week in the United States** and is broadcast internationally in 132 countries.

MAGAZINE FOUNDER AND EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

In April 2000, Oprah and Hearst Magazines introduced O, The Oprah Magazine, a monthly magazine that has become one of today's leading women's lifestyle publications. It is credited as being the most successful magazine launch in recent history and currently has a circulation of 2.3 million readers each month. In April 2002, Oprah launched the first international edition of O, The Oprah Magazine in South Africa, extending her live your best life message to another broad audience.

In 2004, O at Home, a newsstand-only quarterly shelter magazine designed to help readers create a home that reflects their personal style, made its debut.

PRODUCER/ACTRESS

Through her company's film division, Harpo Films, she has produced projects based on classic and contemporary literature that have garnered the highest industry honors for quality acting and production. Telefilms under the Oprah Winfrey Presents banner have included the award-winning Tuesdays With Morrie, based on the best-selling novel by Mitch Albom and starring Academy Award®-winner Jack Lemmon and Emmy Award®-winner Hank Azaria; David and Lisa, an updated version of a 1962 film, re-written for television by Lloyd Kramer and Theodore Isaac Rubin and starring Academy Award®-winner Sidney Poitier; and Their Eyes Were Watching God, based on the Zora Neale Hurston novel and starring Academy Award®-winner Halle Berry.

In 1998, Harpo Films produced the critically acclaimed Beloved, a Touchstone Pictures feature film based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Toni Morrison, which co-starred Oprah Winfrey and Danny Glover and was directed by Jonathan Demme.

Oprah made her acting debut in 1985 as "Sofia" in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple, for which she received both Academy Award® and Golden Globe nominations. She also has been lauded for her performances in the made-for-television movies Before Women Had Wings (1997), There Are No Children Here (1993), and The Women of Brewster Place (1989).

ONLINE LEADER

Oprah.com is a premiere women's lifestyle website, offering advice on everything from the mind, body and spirit to food, home and relationships. It provides comprehensive resources related to The Oprah Winfrey Show, O, The Oprah Magazine and Oprah & Friends. In addition, the website has unique original content, including Oprah's Book Club, which offers free in-depth reading guides for each book selection, online discussion groups and Q&A sessions with literary experts. Within its first year, Oprah's Book Club quickly became the largest book club in the world, attracting approximately 1 million members. In 2003, Oprah.com also launched Live Your Best Life, an interactive multimedia workshop based on her sold-out national speaking tour that features Oprah's personal life stories and life lessons along with a workbook of thought-provoking exercises.

Oprah.com averages 68 million page views and more than 4 million users per month and receives approximately 20,000 e-mails each week.

PHILANTHROPIST

Oprah has long believed that education is the door to freedom, offering a chance at a brighter future. Through her private charity, The Oprah Winfrey Foundation, she has awarded hundreds of grants to organizations that support the education and empowerment of women, children and families in the United States and around the world. Amongst her various philanthropic contributions, she has donated millions of dollars toward providing a better education for students who have merit but no means. She also has developed schools to educate thousands of underserved children internationally and created "The Oprah Winfrey Scholars Program," which gives scholarships to students determined to use their education to give back to their communities in the United States and abroad.

In December 2002, The Oprah Winfrey Foundation expanded its global humanitarian efforts with her ChristmasKindness South Africa 2002 initiative that included visits to orphanages and rural schools in South Africa where 50,000 children received gifts of food, clothing, athletic shoes, school supplies, books and toys. Sixty-three rural schools received libraries and teacher education.

During a December 2000 visit with Nelson Mandela, Oprah pledged $10 million to build a school in South Africa. As that commitment broadened, she established The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy Foundation, to which she has contributed more than $40 million toward the creation of the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls-South Africa, which opens in January 2007. Located in a 28-building campus in Henley-on-Klip, the Leadership Academy is a state-of-the-art independent school that will engender high standards of academic achievement and service leadership for girls. Its first 152 accepted 7th and 8th grade students, who show outstanding promise despite their impoverished backgrounds and social circumstances, represent all nine South African provinces. By 2011, the Leadership Academy will accommodate approximately 75 learners per grade, for a total of approximately 450 learners, grades 7 through 12. Her vision is that the Leadership Academy will help develop the future women leaders of South Africa.

In a 1997 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show, Oprah encouraged viewers to use their lives to make a difference in the lives of others, which led to the creation of the public charity Oprah's Angel Network in 1998. To date, Oprah's Angel Network has raised more than $50 million, with 100% of audience donations going to non-profit organizations across the globe. Oprah's Angel Network has helped establish scholarships and schools, support women's shelters and build youth centers and homes-changing the future for people all over the world.

Oprah's commitment to children also led her to initiate the National Child Protection Act in 1991, when she testified before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee to establish a national database of convicted child abusers. On December 20, 1993, President Clinton signed the national "Oprah Bill" into law.

TELEVISION PROGRAMMING CREATOR

In September 2002, Harpo Productions, Inc. created Dr. Phil, a syndicated daytime talk show produced by Paramount Domestic Television. Dr. Phil, which had the highest-rated talk show launch since The Oprah Winfrey Show, consistently ranks second among all U.S. talk shows.

Dynamic television personality and best-selling author Rachael Ray announced a partnership with Harpo Productions, Inc., King World Productions, and Scripps Networks to host a daily, one-hour, talk show that will begin airing in September 2006.

SATELLITE RADIO PROGRAMMER

Through a recent joint venture, Oprah announced the launch of Oprah & Friends, a new channel on XM Satellite Radio, which launched in September 2006. Oprah & Friends will feature a broad range of original daily programming from Harpo Radio, Inc., including regular segments hosted by popular personalities from The Oprah Winfrey Show and O, The Oprah Magazine and an exclusive 30-minute listener call-in weekly radio show, "Talk to Me" with Oprah Winfrey.

BROADWAY PRODUCER

Twenty years after she made her movie debut as "Sofia" in The Color Purple, Oprah made her Broadway debut as a producer for the musical The Color Purple, which opened on December 1, 2005, at the Broadway Theatre in New York City.

HONORARY ACHIEVEMENTS

In recognition of her extraordinary achievements and contributions, Oprah has received numerous honors, including the most prestigious awards and highest industry acknowledgments.

2006

• Time Magazine-100 Most Influential People in the World
• The New York Public Library-Library Lion 2006

2005

• National Civil Rights Museum - 2005 National Freedom Award
• National Association for the Advancement of Colored People - Hall of Fame
• Time Magazine - 100 Most Influential People in the World
• International Academy of Television Arts & Sciences - 2005 International Emmy Founders Award

2004

• United Nations Association of the United States of America - Global Humanitarian Action Award
• National Association of Broadcasters - Distinguished Service Award
• Time Magazine - 100 Most Influential People in the World

2003

Association of American Publishers - AAP Honors Award

2002

• 54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards® - Bob Hope Humanitarian Award
• Broadcasting & Cable - Hall of Fame

1999

• National Book Foundation - 50th Anniversary Gold Medal

1998

• National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences® - Lifetime Achievement Award

Sources:

Wikipedia, free encyclopedia

Oprah.com

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