Television Producer, Talk Show Host, Film Actress, Actress, Producer,

Philanthropist, Film Actress

Submitted by: Patrice P. Maranan

The show became a hit and Winfrey stayed

with it for eight years, after which she was
recruited by a Chicago TV station to host her
own morning show, A.M. Chicago. Within
several months, Winfrey's open, warm-hearted
personal style had won her thousands of
viewers. Her success led to nationwide fame
and a role in Steven Spielberg's 1985 film The
Color Purple, for which she was nominated for
an Academy Award for Best Supporting
Actress.

Who Is Oprah Winfrey?

Oprah Winfrey (born Orpah Gail

Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an
American media proprietor, talk show host,
actress, producer, and philanthropist. She is best
known for her talk show The Oprah Winfrey
Show, which was the highest-rated television
program of its kind in history. Dubbed the
"Queen of All Media", she is the richest African-
American and North America's first multi-
billionaire black person and has been ranked
the greatest black philanthropist in American
'The Oprah Winfrey Show'
history. Several assessments rank her as the
most influential woman in the world. Winfrey launched The Oprah Winfrey Show in
1986 as a nationally syndicated program. With
Winfrey was born into poverty in its placement on 120 channels and an audience
rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother and of 10 million people, the show grossed $125
later raised in Milwaukee neighborhood. She million by the end of its first year, of which
has stated that she was molested during her Winfrey received $30 million. She soon gained
childhood and early teens and became ownership of the program from ABC, drawing
pregnant at 14; her son died in infancy. She it under the control of her new production
landed a job in radio company, Harpo Productions ('Oprah' spelled
while still in high school
backwards) and making more and more
and began co-anchoring
the local evening news at money from syndication.
the age of 19. In 1976,
Oprah Winfrey moved to Oprah's Book Club, O Magazine, & More
Maryland, where she
hosted the TV chat The media giant contributed immensely to the
show People Are Talking. publishing world by launching her "Oprah's
Oprah Winfrey in her high school yearbook in 1971 Book Club," as part of her talk show. The
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey, https://www.biography.com/people/oprah-
winfrey
program propelled many unknown authors to
the top of the bestseller lists and gave pleasure
reading a new kind of popular prominence.
Her highly successful monthly, O: The Oprah
Magazine debuted in 2000, and in 2004, she
signed a new
contract to
continue The
Oprah Winfrey
Show through the
2010-11 season. At
the time, the
syndicated show
was seen on nearly
212 U.S. stations
and in more than
100 countries
worldwide.
In 2005, Winfrey helped give The Color
Purple a new life onstage as one of the
producers of the 11-time Tony-nominated
musical, which ran on Broadway until 2008. A
revival of the musical, which Winfrey co-
produced in 2015, won a Tony Award.
OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network
In 2009, Oprah Winfrey announced that she
would be ending her program when her
contract with ABC ended, in 2011. Soon after,
she moved to her own network, the Oprah
Winfrey Network, a joint venture with
Discovery Communications.
Despite a financially rocky start, the network
made headlines in January 2013, when it aired
an interview between Winfrey and Lance
Armstrong, the American cyclist and seven-
time Tour de France winner who was stripped
of his Tour titles in 2012 due to doping charges.
During the interview, Armstrong admitted to
using performance-enhancing substances
throughout his cycling career, including the
hormones cortisone, testosterone and
erythropoietin.
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey, https://www.biography.com/people/oprah-
winfrey
In March 2015, Winfrey announced that her
Chicago-based Harpo Studios would close at
the end of the year to consolidate the
company’s production operations to the Los
Angeles-based OWN headquarters. "The time
had come to downsize this part of the business
and to move forward. It will be sad to say
goodbye," said Winfrey, "but I look ahead with
such a knowing that what the future holds is
even more than I can see."
In December 2017, it was announced that
Discovery had become the majority owner of
OWN with the purchase of 24.5 percent of the
company from its founder for $70 million.
Winfrey retained 25.5 percent of OWN and
remained its chief executive under terms of the
agreement.
Activism, Charity and Awards
According to Forbes magazine, Oprah was the
richest African American of the 20th century
and the world's only Black billionaire for three
years running. Life magazine hailed her as the
most influential woman of her generation. In
2005, Business Week named her the greatest
Black philanthropist in American history.
Oprah's Angel Network has raised more than
$50 million for charitable programs, including
girls' education in South Africa and relief to the
victims of Hurricane Katrina.
Winfrey is a
dedicated
activist for
children's
rights; in
1994,
President Clinton signed a bill into law that
Winfrey had proposed to Congress, creating a
nationwide database of convicted child
abusers. She founded the Family for Better
Lives foundation and also contributes to her
alma mater, Tennessee State University. In
September 2002, Oprah was named the first
recipient of the Academy of Television Arts &
Sciences' Bob Hope Humanitarian Award.
Campaigning for Barack Obama
Winfrey campaigned for Democratic
presidential hopeful Barack Obama in
December 2007, attracting the largest crowds
of the primary season to that point. Winfrey
joined Obama for a series of rallies in the early
primary/caucus states of Iowa, New
Hampshire, and South Carolina. It was the first
time Winfrey had ever campaigned for a
political candidate.
"Dr. (Martin Luther) King dreamed the dream.
But we don't have to just dream the dream
anymore," Oprah told the crowd. "We get to
vote that dream into reality by supporting a
man who knows not just who we are, but who
we can be."
In November 2013, Winfrey received the
nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential
Medal of Freedom. President Barack Obama
gave her this award for her contributions to her
country.
2018 Golden Globes Speech: #MeToo,
Female Empowerment
In January 2018, Winfrey became the first
African-American woman to be honored with
the Golden Globes' Cecil B. DeMille Award, for
lifetime achievement. In a powerful speech, she
recalled
being
inspired
by seeing
Sidney
Poitier
honored
at the
Globes
decades
earlier, before emphasizing the importance of a
free press and the power of speaking the truth
in a "culture broken by brutally powerful men."
Sources: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey, https://www.biography.com/people/oprah-
winfrey
Famous Oprah Winfrey/Quotes
Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up
having more. If you concentrate on what you
don't have, you will never, ever have enough.
Surround yourself with only people who are
going to lift you higher.
The biggest adventure you can ever take is to
live the life of your dreams.
The more you praise and celebrate your life,
the more there is in life to celebrate.
Think like a queen. A queen is not afraid to
fail. Failure is another steppingstone to
greatness.
Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes
from focusing on what excites you.
Turn your wounds into wisdom.
Breathe. Let go. And remind yourself that this
very moment is the only one you know you
have for sure.
Oprah Winfrey as an Inspiration
Oprah is indeed a successful business woman
who is created by God with perseverance,
strong personality, deep love for children, and
kind heart that is unselfish to anyone. She
deserves as my inspiration as I look up to her
that despite her difficulties in family and
poverty, she used her God given talent and
calling to move forward every single day and
leave the people who abused her and
mistreated her. For her, nothing is impossible,
you just have to live the life of your dreams. In
life, no limit can hinder us from attaining the
dreams that God planted in our hearts.