Biographical Chart: Oprah Winfrey

● Full Name: ​Oprah Gail Winfrey

● Lifespan: ​January 29, 1954 - present

● Early Family Background and Created Family Structure

- She was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi to a single teenage mother.
- Her mother was a housemaid and her biological father was in the
Armed Forces when she was born.
- She spent her first six years of life in poverty with her grandmother.
- At the age of 9, Oprah was sexually abused by her cousin, uncle and a
family friend but stayed silent but after years of keeping this abuse a
secret, she ran away from home at age 13 and became pregnant at the
age of 14.
- Oprah began her successes after living with her father in Nashville
because he made sure that her education was the most important
thing in her life. Soon after she began going to school, she joined the
drama club and a local radio station asked her to join them and read
the news every day.

● Personality Characteristics and Areas of Aptitude, Talent,

and Interest
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- Philanthropy: helping others through charity - established
non-profit organizations such as: The Oprah Winfrey
Leadership Academy for Girls, Oprah's Angel Network and the
Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation
- Writing: mostly writes autobiographies
- Reading: At a young age, Oprah told her kindergarten teacher
that she belonged in the first grade because her grandmother
taught her how to read at such a young age of 2 ½ years old.
- Farming: In Oprah’s early life, she lived with her grandmother
and she used to act in front of the farm animals.
- Radio: Oprah first began her career at 17 years old working for
a on-air radio show and that was the start of what got her to
where she is today with her own talk show.
● Major Career/Professional Events and Accomplishments
- At age 17, she won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant and was
then offered a job on air with the WVOL which was a radio station
meant to serve the African American community in Nashville.
 - In 1976, she co-hosted her first show after joining WJZ-TV called
People are Talking. ​She found this area to be the best fit for her, in
1984, she was invited to be the host of a morning show in Chicago a
little over a half of year later in 1985, it was renamed to ​The Oprah
Winfrey Show.
- In 1986, she formed her own production company called Harpo
Productions which has all ownership for ​The Oprah Winfrey Show.
- Oprah Winfrey was the first African American woman to become a
billionaire.
- When Barack Obama was running for president, Oprah would go with
him to fundraisers and it was said that because of Oprah being at
these events, she helped him win.

● Personal Life Themes/Beliefs

- She was raised as a Baptist.
- She spoke at local African American churches that were very religious.
- She strongly believed in her religion as a Baptist and although she was
sexually assaulted, she still spoke about religion.
- She stood up for women who were sexually abused because as a child
she was told to not say anything to anyone about being abused and
she said for these women to speak up.

● Selected Quotations (at least two)

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otes-that-will-empower-you/
- “When you undervalue what you do, the world will undervalue who you are”.
- “Turn your wounds into wisdom”.
- “You can have it all. Just not all at once”.

● Awards and Recognition

- Academy Awards
- Herself - Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award
- Golden Globe
- Herself - Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award
- Primetime Emmy Award
- Tuesdays with Morrie - Outstanding Made for Television Movie
- Bob Hope Humanitarian Award
- Tony Awards
- The Color Purple - Best Music Revival