Oprah Winfrey

Television Producer, Talk Show Host, Film Actress, Philanthropist, Actress, Film Actress, Producer, Beauty Queen

Hello Golden Divas!

There are some powerful women in the world, and then there’s  a Golden Diva called “LADY O!” This week I would like to pay homage to our FIRST LADY OF TELEVISION, America’s first African American lady of talk shows. Oprah Winfrey is well known for surpassing her competition to become the most watched daytime show host on television from 1986 to 2011. Her natural style with guests and audiences on the Oprah Winfrey Show earned her widespread popularity, as well as her own production company, Harpo, Inc.

I had the pleasure to attend ten tapings of the “Oprah Winfrey Show” when she was ruling the morning talk show airwaves. To meet her in person was phenomenal, to see an African American woman living out her dreams right before us on the television every day was an engaging experience.

Each time I was mesmerized and inspired to see this Black woman with all odds against her propel into a stratosphere of a world dominated by men, white men to be exact. However, Oprah had the magic touch, which touched not only the African American race but a variety of different races who embraced her for her warmth, knowledge and inconspicuous way to get people to talk and sometimes cry on national television. 

Oprah Winfrey receives Cecil B. de Mille Award at the Golden Globes

Oprah Winfrey, who received the Cecil B. DeMille award for lifetime achievement this year praised the legions of women who have come forward with their #MeToo stories. In rousing remarks that earned her a standing ovation, Winfrey told viewers that…

“Speaking your truth is the most powerful tool you all have.  For too long, women have not been heard or believed if they dared to speak the truth to the power of those men. But their time is up. Their time is up!”

Her speech catapulted her even further into the stratosphere where she is now being asked to run for Presidency in 2020. Her statement along with ’60 Minutes’ Interview has caused Trump to lash out at Oprah via tweet. 

Donald J. Trump 

✔@realDonaldTrump

Just watched a very insecure Oprah Winfrey, who at one point I knew very well, interview a panel of people on 60 Minutes. The questions were biased and slanted, the facts incorrect. Hope Oprah runs so she can be exposed and defeated just like all of the others!

10:28 PM – Feb 18, 2018

Hummm…who seems insecure here?

Luckily, Oprah says she doesn’t have “the DNA” for a presidential bid, dismissing the possibility of a 2020 run as “not something that interests me,” according to a new magazine profile.

OPRAH, THE VISIONARY, INFLUENCER, MOTIVATOR and MOMENTUM MAKER

Oprah Winfrey is an internationally influential self-made billionaire African-American woman. Born to an unwed mother who had a short relationship with a soldier stationed nearby, Oprah grew up in dire poverty and was primarily raised by her grandmother. Sexually abused and mistreated as a child, Winfrey rose above adversity to focus on her primary and high school education. After developing a close relationship with a young man and winning a local beauty pageant got her a chance to shine at a local radio station, Winfrey knew that she wanted to work in the broadcast industry. Despite failing one key interview, she persevered and moved across the country to secure a job as a television reporter. Although she never quite adapted to the position and was later fired, she gained enough experience to be given her own morning talk show. After Winfrey delivered solid ratings, she moved across the country to host a new talk show. After the ratings exploded, she was given control over her own show, which soon became a wildly popular national phenomenon. Winfrey rapidly expanded her media network, launching a magazine, television channel, and radio network, and is now considered to be one of the most influential and powerful women on the planet.

Childhood & Early Life

  • Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her mother was Vernita Lee, who lived on a small family farm. Oprah’s biological father, Vernon Winfrey, was a soldier temporarily stationed at a nearby base. Oprah was raised by her grandmother, Hattie Mae Lee.
  • Oprah stated that as a child her “only friends” were the animals on her family farm. She gave her first public recital at a local church when she was just three years old.
  • She shuttled between different caregivers throughout her childhood and attended Nashville East High School in Nashville, Tennessee. In her senior year, Oprah was chosen to read the news on a local radio station. In the same year, she won the Miss Black Tennessee contest.

Career

  • When she was still a teenager, the local CBS television station in Nashville, Tennessee offered her a job as a co-anchor. She turned it down three times. At age 19, Oprah Winfrey said yes after the fourth offer.
  • She failed the interview but instead was offered a job as a full-time reporter for a Baltimore television news channel. She did poorly as a reporter, and by age 22 she was fired from the news division.
  • The director of the station gave Winfrey a boost by selecting her to anchor a morning talk show entitled ‘People are Talking.’ For the next seven years, her talk show enjoyed excellent ratings.
  • In 1981, she moved to Chicago to host a talk show entitled ‘A.M. Chicago.’ Four years later, after a tremendous boost in the ratings, the producers changed the name to ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show.’
  • In 1985, Oprah Winfrey performed as an actress in the movie ‘The Color Purple.’
  • On September 8, 1986, ‘Oprah Winfrey became the first black female host of a nationally syndicated daily talk show with the premiere of The Oprah Winfrey Show.
  • In June of 1987, her show won three ‘Daytime Emmy Awards.’ The following year, it won an additional ‘Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show.’
  • In 1989, she produced and co-starred in the miniseries ‘The Women of Brewster Place’ and ‘Brewster Place.’ In the same year, her company ‘Harpo Productions’ began producing ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show.’
  • In 1993, she conducted an interview with Michael Jackson. The episode became the most watched interview ever, and fourth most watched event in American television.
  • In 1996, she launched ‘Oprah’s Book Club,’ a talk show meant for book discussions. Books recommended by Winfrey sold millions of additional copies.
  • In 1997, she played the role of a therapist in an episode of the sitcom ‘Ellen.’
  • In 1998, she produced and starred in the movie ‘Beloved.’ In the same year, she was sued by Texas cattlemen for allegedly making defamatory remarks about hamburgers.
  • The same year this talk show host started ‘Oprah’s Angel Network’ which provided funds to charitable and non-profit organizations.
  • In 2002, she launched ‘O, the Oprah Magazine’. It was later confirmed as the most successful start-up ever in the magazine industry.
  • In 2002, Oprah Winfrey was named the first recipient of the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences’ Bob Hope Humanitarian Award.
  • Oprah Winfrey became the first black female billionaire in the United States in 2003
  • On December 1, 2005, she was a guest on the ‘Late Show with David Letterman’, which some critics proclaimed was the ‘television event of the decade.’
  • In 2006, she provided the voice for the animated film ‘Charlotte’s Web.’ In the same year, she launched ‘Oprah Radio,’ a channel on ‘XM Satellite Radio.’
  • In 2007, she provided the voice for Judge Bumbleden in the film ‘Bee Movie.’
  • In 2007 Oprah opens school for girls in South Africa
  • In 2008, the talented artist endorsed Barack Obama in the presidential election. Her public support was considered a key factor in Obama’s ultimate victory.
  • In 2009, she provided the voice for Eudora in the film ‘The Princess and the Frog.’
  • In 2017, Oprah debuts her first food line O, That’s Good!

Major Works

  • Oprah Winfrey is the richest self-made woman in America and one of the most influential and powerful women in the world.

Awards & Achievements

  • In 2000, this talented artist was honored with the ‘Spingarn Medal’ from the NAACP.
  • In 2013, she was awarded the ‘Presidential Medal of Freedom.’ She has also won dozens of awards and recognition for her broadcasting and acting career.
  • In 2018 Oprah Winfrey receives Cecil B. de Mille Award at the Golden Globes.

Personal Life & Legacy

  • Winfrey had publicly disclosed that she was raped by a family relative when she was nine years old. She also disclosed that she gave birth at age 14 and that her child died in infancy. Winfrey has used her personal experience to campaign for support groups to help survivors of sexual abuse.
  • She lives on a property named ‘The Promised Land’ in California. She has dated several celebrities, including John Tesh and Roger Ebert, but has never married. She has officially been in a relationship with her long-time boyfriend Stedman Graham since 1986.
  • The philanthropic talk show host has given over 400 scholarships to Morehouse College. She has also been ranked as among the 50 most generous Americans.

Net Worth

  • Forbes estimates Winfrey’s net worth as $3.1 billion, putting her in 660th place on its list of billionaires (she was the first black woman billionaire in world history). 

Oprah is now considered to be the wealthiest African-American woman in the United States and the highest paid entertainer in the world. Winfrey has made generous contributions to charitable organizations and institutions such as Morehouse College, the Harold Washington Library, the United Negro College Fund, and Tennessee State University.

Golden Divas I salute “Lady O! Thank you for being so transparent to show the way that we can be transparent in our sisterhood with one another.

Sources:

https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/oprah-winfrey-2484.php

http://www.delish.com/food-news/news/a54763/oprah-debuts-food-line/

http://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-power/a12808751/oprah-winfrey-net-worth/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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