Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29th, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her parents were separated, so she lived with her father Vernon Winfrey. At age six she was sent to go live with her mother. Her mother was very poor and a single mother, so a year later, she went back to live with her father. Oprah had a brother called Jeffrey and a sister called Patricia. However, in 2010 Oprah learned from her mother that she had a long-lost half sister also called Patricia. Her mother, Vernita Lee, had another daughter but put her up for adoption in 1963 soon after her birth. At this time, Oprah was eight and was living with her father so she knew nothing about this. Oprah was shocked by this but welcomed Patricia with open arms. Oprah mainly lived in Nashville, Tennessee with her father. While attending Tennessee State University, at age 19, Oprah became the anchorman of a TV news broadcast in Nashville. Oprah Winfrey was the first and youngest African American woman to anchor a newscast in Nashville. This was the beginning of the amazing actress and television host, Oprah Winfrey.
Oprah had her first major success in 1984 when she became the host of “A.M. Chicago,” which was a local talk show. This was soon renamed as “The Oprah Winfrey Show” a year after she joined the show. The show was then broadcast nationally in 1986. In 2000 she cofounded O, the Oprah Magazine. This is a woman-friendly lifestyle magazine. She then started a talk radio channel called Oprah & Friends. In 2009 it was changed to Oprah Radio. The channel ended a year ago. Lastly, in 2011, she launched OWN. OWN stands for Oprah Winfrey Network. It is on cable television. This lady has also won many awards such as numerous Daytime Emmy Awards for best talk show host, the Spingarn Medal for her TV show and publishing, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Oprah also became a Kennedy Center Honoree in 2010. On top of all this, she has created a Leadership Academy for girls in South Africa. This woman must be busy! And even though she does all this, Oprah Winfrey managed to become an actress as well. Her first film was called The Color Purple and it was released in 1985. This film won her an Academy Award for best supporting actress. She also produced a musical version of the film on Broadway. She has also acted in The Butler and Selma. Oprah is now 62. As you can see, Oprah Winfrey does amazing work for her community and is an awesome TV show host. Despite her tough childhood, Oprah Winfrey was determined to follow her dreams. This really shows how much you can do if you set your mind to it. Oprah Gail Winfrey is so cool!
References: Feder, Robert. "Winfrey, Oprah." World Book Student. World Book, 2016. Web. 9 May 2016.
By: Zanna Ahmad