Date of Birth: January 29, 1954
Place of Birth: Kosciusko, Mississippi, USA
Died: N/A
Place of Death: N/A
Classification: Artists & Entertainers
At the age of three, Oprah began showing signs of being a whiz kid as she could read and recite from her favorite childhood books and even the Bible. Being a prodigy child allowed her to skip a few levels in grade school. And, after some rough years and in high school, she moved to the Tennessee where she graduated with honors. During that time, she won a full academic scholarship to university.
In 1976, after spending some time in Nashville’s local media circle as a news anchor, she moved to Baltimore. Then, seven years later, she moved to Chicago to host a show called AM Chicago. When the show moved from last place in the rankings to first nationwide, overtaking other top talk-show hosts, her success was only beginning. In a field dominated by white male hosts, other networks were in a dire need to keep up with Oprah’s avalanche-like success.
In the mid to late 90s, when other shows began doing more tacky material, she forced her show to stay on track with what it had always been successful delivering – honest stories of triumph or despair. With such a reputation, she was able to interview top celebrities about their real-life trials and tribulations on her show. Oprah allowed such idolized stars time to to share and show the public that they are in fact human too.
Oprah is more than just one of America’s most adored talk-show hosts. In 1985, she was a main character in a movie based on the novel The Color Purple. For her role, she was nominated for an Academy Award. More recently, in 1998-1999, she worked on the acclaimed novel-to-film adaptation of Beloved, where she also played the protagonist. In 2005, she was involved in the film-television making of Their Eyes Were Watching God. Additionally, she published two magazines, one called O and another called O at Home. In 2006, she will release her sixth book, not a biography or autobiography, but a book about weight loss. Furthermore, she will be doing a talk show with XM Radio, currently titled Oprah and Friends, where she will do a 30-minute show once per week.
In her early thirties, Winfrey became a millionaire. Today, she is the only African- American billionaire and one of the richest people in the world. Her charity work is never-ending and she has won numerous awards for her philanthropy. She has donated more money and worked for more causes than many of the richest people in the world. She has even been adorned with the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award
