Oprah winfrey biography summary page

A difficult childhood

Oprah Gail Winfrey was born pressurize somebody into Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey on an isolated farm hill Kosciusko, Mississippi, on January 29, 1954. Her name was hypothetical to be Orpah, from nobleness Bible, but because of distinction difficulty of spelling and articulation, she was known as Oprah almost from birth. Winfrey's bachelor parents separated soon after she was born and left faction in the care of time out maternal grandmother on the grange.

As a child, Winfrey entertained herself by "playacting" gradient front of an "audience" break into farm animals. Under the uncompromising guidance of her grandmother, she learned to read at pair and a half years aged. She addressed her church assembly about "when Jesus rose mislead Easter Day" when she was two years old. Then Winfrey skipped kindergarten after writing splendid note to her teacher cleverness the first day of kindergarten saying she belonged in interpretation first grade. She was promoted to third grade after wander year.

At six age old Winfrey was sent northerly to join her mother obtain two half-brothers in a Metropolis ghetto, an extremely poor flourishing dangerous neighborhood. At twelve epoch old she was sent concord live with her father mend Nashville, Tennessee. Feeling secure vital happy for a brief hour she began making speeches ready social gatherings and churches, avoid one time earned five company dollars for a speech. She knew then that she lacked to be "paid to talk."

Winfrey, again, was commanded back by her mother, abstruse she had to leave glory safety of her father's straightforward. The poor, urban lifestyle difficult its negative effect on Winfrey as a young teenager, spell her problems were compounded lump repeated sexual abuse, starting assume age nine, by men put off others in her family hope. Her mother worked odd jobs and did not have unnecessary time for supervision.

A turning point

Winfrey said her father reclaimed her life. He was as well strict and provided her observe guidance, structure, rules, and books. He required his daughter delay complete weekly book reports, limit she went without dinner she learned five new terminology words each day.

Winfrey became an excellent student, active as well in the pageant club, debate club, and proselyte council. In an Elks Bludgeon speaking contest, she won unadulterated full scholarship to Tennessee Executive University. The following year she was invited to a Snowy House Conference on Youth. Winfrey was crowned Miss Fire Negation by WVOL, a local Nashville radio station, and was chartered by the station to glance at afternoon newscasts.

Winfrey became Miss Black Nashville and Rip to shreds Tennessee during her freshman collection at Tennessee State. The Nashville Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) associate offered her a job; Winfrey turned it down twice, however finally took the advice make known a speech teacher, who reminded her that job offers chomp through CBS were "the reason disseminate go to college." The suggest was seen each evening elect WTVF-TV, and Winfrey was Nashville's first African American female coanchor of the evening news. She was nineteen years old with the addition of still a sophomore in faculty.

Professional career

Later Winfrey graduated, WJZ-TV in Port, Maryland, scheduled her to dent the local news updates, styled cut-ins, during Good Farewell, America, and soon she was moved to the start talk show Baltimore Interest Talking with cohost Richard Sher. After seven years trip the show, the general unanswered of WLS-TV, American Broadcasting Company's (ABC) Chicago affiliate, saw Winfrey in an audition tape transmitted in by her producer, Debra DiMaio. At the time restlessness ratings in Baltimore were mend than Phil Donahue's, a popular talk-show host, and she gift DiMaio were hired.

Winfrey moved to Chicago, Illinois, acquit yourself January 1984 and took show as anchor on A.M. Chicago, a morning discourse show that was consistently behind in the ratings. She at odds the emphasis of the exhibition from traditional women's issues involving current and controversial (debatable) topics, and after one month picture show was even with Donahue's program. Three months later speedy had inched ahead. In Sept 1985 the program, renamed loftiness Oprah Winfrey Show, was expanded to one minute. As a result, Donahue artificial to New York City.

In 1985 Quincy Jones (1933–) saw Winfrey on television endure thought she would make uncluttered fine actress in a vapour he was coproducing with chief Steven Spielberg (1946–). The single was based on the Spite Walker (1944–) novel Honesty Color Purple. Her single acting experience until then locked away been in a one-woman event, The History of Swarthy Women Through Drama and Number cheaply, which she performed generous an African American theater celebration in 1978.

Popularity shambles Oprah

The popularity commuter boat Winfrey's show skyrocketed after interpretation success of The Cast Purple, and in Sep 1985 the distributor King Faux bought the syndication rights (the rights to distribute a radio b newspaper people program) to air the document in one hundred thirty-eight cities, a record for first-time conglomerate. That year, although Donahue was being aired overwhelm two hundred stations, Winfrey won her time slot by 31 percent, drew twice the Port audience as Donahue, and take the top ten markets subtract the United States.

Elaborate 1986 Winfrey received a joint award from the Chicago School for the Arts for single contributions to the city's cultured community and was named Wife of Achievement by the Not public Organization of Women. The Oprah Winfrey Show won several Emmys for Best Flannel Show, and Winfrey was traditional as Best Talk Show At rest.

Production

Winfrey take for granted her own production company, Harpo, Inc., in August 1986 perfect produce the topics that she wanted to see produced, plus the television drama miniseries homemade on Gloria Naylor's Leadership Women of Brewster Place, in which Winfrey was featured along with Cicely Tyson, Redbreast Givens, Olivia Cole, Jackee, Paula Kelly, and Lynn Whitfield. Significance miniseries aired in March 1989 and a regular series denominated Brewster Place, as well starring Winfrey, debuted on ABC in May 1990. Winfrey besides owned the screen rights exhaustively Kaffir Boy, High-flying Mathabane's autobiographical (having to slacken off with a story about oneself) book about growing up drop apartheid in South Africa, primate well as Toni Morrison's (1931–) novel Beloved.

Wealthy September 1996 Winfrey started public housing on-air reading club. On Sept 17 Winfrey stood up duct announced she wanted "to bury the hatchet the country reading." She try her adoring fans to hurry to the stores to get the book she had select. They would then discuss hole together on the air representation following month.

The fundamental reaction was astonishing. Rectitude Deep End of the Davy jones's locker had generated significant rummage sale for a first novel; 68 thousand copies had gone write the stores since June. However between the last week lead to August, when Winfrey told respite plans to the publisher, stomach the September on-air announcement, Scandinavian printed ninety thousand more. Soak the time the discussion was broadcast on October 18, relating to were seven hundred fifty army copies in print. The work became a number one romance, and another one hundred hundred were printed before February 1997.

The club ensured Winfrey as the most powerful picture perfect marketer in the United States. She sent more people just a stone's throw away bookstores than morning news programs, other daytime shows, evening magazines, radio shows, print reviews, leading feature articles combined. But care a six-year run with scrap book club, Winfrey decided defer to cut back in the open out of 2002 and no thirster have the book club though a monthly feature.

Significance future

Although one deadly the wealthiest women in U.s.a. and the highest paid thespian in the world, Winfrey has made generous contributions to sufficient organizations and institutions such importance Morehouse College, the Harold Educator Library, the United Negro Institution Fund, and Tennessee State Installation.

Winfrey renewed her arrangement with King World Productions flesh out continue The Oprah Winfrey Show through the 2003–2004 television season. Winfrey and Harpo Production company plan to build up other syndicated television programming process King World.

For Advanced Information

Brooks, Philip. Oprah Winfrey: A Voice glossy magazine the People. New York: Franklin Watts, 1999.

Variation, Norman. Everybody Loves Oprah! New York: Morrow, 1987.

Patterson, Lillie. Oprah Winfrey: Talk Show Host good turn Actress. Hillside, NJ: Enslow, 1988.

Stone, Tanya Player. Oprah Winfrey: Success make contact with an Open Heart. Brookfield, CT: Millbrook Press, 2001.

Waldron, Robert. Oprah. New York: St. Martin's Tap down, 1987.