Who is Oprah Winfrey?
Oprah Winfrey is a well-known American talk show host, actress, producer, and also a philanthropist. She is most renowned for ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’. Read the following biography of the celebrity to discover more about her childhood, profile, career, and timeline.
Hometown, Childhood & Early Life
Oprah Gail Winfrey, aka Oprah Winfrey, was born on January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her mother Vernita Lee didn’t marry Vernon Winfrey, who was Oprah’s biological father. He was a soldier and stationed at a nearby base when he met Oprah’s mother. Oprah was grown up by her grandmother, Hattie Mae Lee. Oprah tells that in her childhood, her “only friends” were the young animals on her family farm. She was only three years old when she gave her first public recital at a local church. Oprah had to live with two of her close relatives, therefore she shuttled between different caregivers throughout her childhood. She completed her initial schooling at Nashville East High School in Nashville, Tennessee. After a few years, Oprah got an opportunity to be an anchor, and read the news on a local radio station. She was also chosen as the Miss Black Tennessee contest.
Some Incredible Facts About the Outstanding Talk Show Host
She is known as an internationally influential self-made billionaire African-American woman. Winfrey rose above hardship, and misfortune to focus on her primary and high school education. After winning a local beauty pageant, and making a close relationship with a young man, she got a chance to shine at a local radio station. She had always dreamt to be a shining star in the broadcast industry. In her journey to be a legend all over the country, she faced many failures, but she persevered and moved across the country to secure a job as a television anchor, and reporter.
A glance on Oprah’s Career, & Major Works
Oprah was offered a job as a co-anchor from the local CBS television station in Nashville, Tennessee. She was still a teenager when she refused this great offer, yet she accepted it at the age of nineteen It was the fourth time when the channel had invited her to accept the post. Though she failed the interview to be the anchor, she was instead offered a job as a full-time reporter at the Baltimore television news channel. She could not perform well as a reporter, and by age 22 she was fired from the news division.
In her long time career, she has collected success, and love from her fans from all over the world. She has been an active media personality for more than fifty years, and in this period, she has worked with many channels, but the best of hers is ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’. She hosted the show at first in 1986 and ran 25 successful seasons.
Awards & Achievements
She has been a winner of People’s Choice Awards for Favorite Talk Show Host for many years. This talented artist had been awarded the ‘Spingarn Medal’ from the NAACP in 2000. In 2013, she was awarded the ‘Presidential Medal of Freedom’. She has also won dozens of awards and recognitions for her broadcasting and acting career. Some of them are mentioned as under:-
Year Nominated work Category Result
1989 The Women of Brewster Place – Nominated
1994 Michael Jackson Talks… To Oprah – Nominated
2000 Tuesdays with Morrie – Won
2013 Oprah’s Master Class – Nominated
2014 Running from Crazy – Nominated
2017 The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks – Nominated
2019 When They See Us – Nominated
A Few Words for Her Personal Life
Winfrey has always proven to be a broad-minded celebrity and has never concealed any secret from her lovers. She has publicly made known that she had been raped by a family relative at the age of 9 years. She also disclosed that she had become a mother when she was still immature and was only 14 years old and that her baby died in infancy. She has openly accepted the truth and used her personal experience to run the campaign for support groups to help survivors of sexual assaults.
Dating, & Relationships
Oprah now lives on a property named ‘The Promised Land’ in California. In her prime times, she has dated many celebrities, including Roger Ebert, & John Tesh, but has never married. Officially, she has officially been in a close relationship with her long-time boyfriend Stedman Graham for over thirty years.
Oprah As A Symbol Of Philanthropic Works
The internationally famous talk show host has donated over 400 scholarships to Morehouse College, and for many charity works, she has been ranked as among the 50 most generous Americans.
Net Worth
Oprah Winfrey is known as one of the richest self-made women in America and also one of the most powerful, and influential women in the world. In 2018, this media proprietor was reported to own net worth of over 2.9 billion dollars.
