OPRAH WINFREY

Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954. Her teenaged parents were unwed. Her mother was an eighteen-year-old housemaid, and her father was a twenty-year-old doing armed forces duty.

Oprah had a mountain of obstacles to overcome: she was born to unwed parents, she was female, she was black, and she was poor. For the first six years of her life, she lived with her grandmother on a farm in Mississippi. It was her grandmother who instilled in her a love of reading. She began her public speaking career at the age of three when she began reading aloud and reciting sermons at her church.

At the age of six, Oprah’s mother decided that she could care for her young daughter. From the age of six to thirteen, she stayed with her mother in Milwaukee. She was raped by a cousin when she was nine years old and later molested by a male friend of her mother’s and by an uncle. The young girl never told anyone about the abuse that she was suffering. Instead, she held her anger and pain inside and she rebelled. She repeatedly ran away and got into trouble.

Her mother decided to put her into a detention home. Oprah was denied admission to the home because there were no openings. So, she was sent to live with her father in Nashville. When she was fourteen she became pregnant and gave birth to a stillborn baby. The death of her baby devastated her and she vowed to turn her life around.

Her father helped her by making her listen to his strict rules and discipline. He made sure she stuck to a curfew and maintained high grades in school. He also encouraged her to do her best. Oprah’s father helped her turn her life around.

At age nineteen, Oprah landed her first job as a reporter for a radio station in Nashville. She entered university to pursue a career in radio and television broadcasting.

In 1976, Oprah Winfrey moved to Baltimore, where she hosted a TV show called People Are Talking. The show was a success and she stayed there for eight years. She was then recruited by a TV station in Chicago to host her own morning show–A.M. Chicago. After several months, Oprah’s warm-hearted style had taken her to first place in the ratings. Her success led to a role in Steven Spielberg’s film, The Color Purple in 1985, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.

In 1986, Oprah started the Oprah Winfrey Show. After more than 20 years on the air, people report that her show’s success seems to be due to her openness to learn, to be honest with herself and others, and to help as many people as she can.

Oprah came from being a poor, black, farm girl from Mississippi to a national celebrity. She is now one of the richest women in the world.