biography

Oprah Winfrey (Oprah is an accidental misspelling of the biblical name Orpah) was born to unwed, teenage parents in Kosciusko, Mississippi and raised by her grandmother on a farm. Her grandmother taught her to read when most children her age were struggling with the task of walking. Oprahs public speaking career began in 1957, when she was less than four years old. She was touring the churches of Nashville, amazing congregations by reciting the sermons of James Weldon Johnson. The other children sang while Oprah talked, and she's still talking.

From the age of six to thirteen, Oprah lived in Milwaukee with her mother. She suffered abuse and molestation and was a runaway teenager landing her in a juvenile detention home at thirteen. However, she was denied admission because all the beds were filled and as a last resort, she was sent to Nashville to live under her father's strict discipline. Vernon Winfrey made sure his daughter met her midnight curfew and she was required to read a book followed by a book report each week. Oprah recalls "As strict as he was, he had some concerns about me making the best of my life, and would not accept anything less than what he thought was my best." Five years and hundreds of book reports later, Oprah's broadcasting career was officially launched when WVOL radio in Nashville hired her. Two years later she was hired by WTVF-TV in Nashville as a reporter/anchor. She also attended Tennessee State University, where she majored in Speech communications and Performing Arts.

In 1976, she moved to Baltimore to sign on with WJZ-TV news as a co-anchor. In 1978 she became the co-host of the stations "People Are Talking" where she discovered her talent for hosting talk shows. She moved to Chicago in January of 1984 to host WLS-TV's faltering talk show "AM Chicago" and in less than a year turned it into the hottest show in town. The format was expanded to one hour and in September, 1985 it was renamed "The Oprah Winfrey Show."

Seen nationally since September of 1986, the talk show has seen unparalleled success. It attained the rank of number on talk show in national syndication in less than a year and by 1987 (it's 1st year of eligibility) received three Daytime Emmy Awars in the categories of Outstanding Host, Outstanding Talk/Service Program and Outstanding Direction.

Before we fell in love with Oprah the talk show host, she captured the nation's attention and won its praise in 1985 with her poignant portrayal of Sofia in Steven Speilberg's "The Color Purple." Oprah's performance earned her nominations for a Golden Globe and an Academy Award in the Best Supporting Actress category. She wowed audiences and critics again in her role as Mrs. Thomas in "Native Son", a movie adaptation of Richard Wright's 1940 classic novel.

In 1988 television history was made when HARPO (Oprah spelled backwards) Productions, Inc. assumed ownership and all production responsibilities for "The Oprah Winfrey Show" from Capitol Cities/ABC, making Oprah Winfrey the first woman in history to produce and own her own talk show.

Oprahs next media battlefield will be in the form of a woman's magazine. It is set to be launched in the spring of 2000 and will be titled "O."