Actors - Oprah Winfrey

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	Actors - Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is an African American Emmy Award-winning talk show host and magazine publisher. She is the first African American female to become a billionaire and is considered one of the most powerful and influential celebrities in the world.

Youth and early life

Winfrey was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi on January 29, 1954 to an impoverished Baptist family. She was originally named Orpah Gail Winfrey, after the Bible's Book of Ruth. The midwife switched the "r" and the "p" around when she was writing the birth certificate so .Her Mother,Vernita Lee, was a housemaid, and her father, Vernon Winfrey, was a coal miner and, later, a barber; then, city councilperson. When Oprah was born, Vernon was in the Armed Forces. Her parents were unmarried teenagers when Oprah was born. After Winfrey was born, her mother travelled north for better job opportunities, and Winfrey spent her first six years living with her Grandma Haitee Mae. Winfrey's grandmother taught her to read and took her to the local church, where she was nicknamed "The Preacher" for her ability to recite Bible verses. Her grandmother helped her succeed. When Oprah was little her grandmother would take a switch (in the South, that custom meant the thin green leafless shoot from certain trees — more for psychological effect than for pain) and would hit her with it when she didn't do chores or if she misbehaved in any way.

As a child, Oprah showed signs of extraordinary intelligence and drive, such as learning to read at age two. At age six, Winfrey moved to Milwaukee with her mother, who was less supportive and encouraging than her grandmother. While there, she suffered abuse for her comparatively darker skin, such as being forced to sleep on the porch in the cold, and verbal abuse based on her features. Oprah claims that she was raped at age 9, and repeatedly molested by her mother's cousin's boyfriend. After that she had to turn for support to her best friend, Amanda Oser. Oprah became progressively sexually promiscuous, and at age 14 her 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 and received a full scholarship to Tennessee State University, a historically Black institution, where she studied communications. At age 18, Winfrey won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant.

Winfrey's grandmother has said that ever since Oprah 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 seventeen, working at her high school radio show.

Working in local media, she was both the youngest news anchor and the first black female news anchor at Nashville's WTVF-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.

Career and success

Television

In 1983, Winfrey relocated to Chicago, Illinois to host WLS-TV's low-rated half-hour morning talk show, AM Chicago. Her first episode aired on January 2, 1984. The show became successful and was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show, expanded to a full hour and broadcast nationally beginning September 8, 1986. In the mid-1990s the shows adopted a more serious format, addressing issues that Winfrey thought were of importance to women, such as infidelity, child abuse and cosmetic surgery. Often interviews celebrities on issues that directly involve them in some way, such as cancer, charity work, or substance abuse. In addition, she interviews ordinary people who have done extraordinary things or been involved in important current issues. One of the show's features in recent years has been the "Wildest Dreams" tour, which fulfills the dreams of many deserving people reported to her producers by friends and family, be the dream a new house, an encounter with a favourite performer, or a guest role on a popular TV show. Informal discussions or Q&A sessions with celebrity guests after the show are broadcast as Oprah After The Show on her Oxygen network.

During a lawsuit against Winfrey (see Influence), she hired Dr. Phil McGraw's company Courtroom Sciences, Inc. to help her analyze and read the jury. Dr. Phil made such an impression on Winfrey that she invited him to appear on her show. He accepted the invitation and was a resounding success. McGraw appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show for several years before launching his own show, Dr. Phil, in 2004, which is produced by Winfrey's production company, Harpo Productions.

Perhaps Oprah's most famous recent show was the first episode of the nineteenth season of The Oprah Winfrey Show in the fall of 2004. During the show each member of the audience received a new Pontiac G6 Sedan; the 276 cars were donated by Pontiac as part of a publicity stunt.

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Actors - Oprah Winfrey

Youth and early life

Career and success

Television

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