she is often called the most powerful
and influential woman in the world
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’ll
be exploring the life and career of
Oprah Oprah Gayle Winfrey was born
January 29th 1954 in rural Mississippi
much of her turbulent youth was spent in
poverty and she was constantly moved
around the country to live with various
family members before she had even
reached her teens
Oprah displayed great intelligence and
speaking abilities early on and these
were encouraged by her grandmother and
father she went on to win a full
scholarship to Tennessee State
University where she studied
communications when free worked at a
local radio station and moved to a local
Nashville television station where she
became the youngest news anchor and the
first black female news anchor
she finally relocated to Illinois and
took over hosting duties of AM Chicago
good morning everybody
I’m Oprah Winfrey new host of AM Chicago
real to be here just months later the
show had overtaken Phil Donahue’s
talk-show in the ratings she quickly
signed a syndication deal and on
September 8th 1986 the first countrywide
hour-long Oprah Winfrey Show debuted it
was also around this time that Harpo
Productions was founded with Winfrey as
president as a host Winfrey was credited
with being better attuned to her
audience than other talk-show
personalities of the day and with
changing the tabloid format she was able
to connect with her audience and
interviewees by revealing stories about
her past for example in 1986 she
disclosed that she had been molested in
her youth she was also vocal about her
weight and relationship problems in fact
this type of public confessional therapy
was dubbed the Oprah fication
of television Oprah also helped raise
the profile of gay bisexual transsexual
and transgender people and this helped
those groups gain mainstream acceptance
aside from addressing the issues on her
talk show Winfrey also guest-starred as
a therapist who helped Ellen DeGeneres
come out of the closet on her sitcom in
1997 your
so what are you gonna do now I’m going
to Disneyland
by the 1990s her show had broaden its
format
she discussed health spirituality
literature and social issues in addition
to the celebrity interviews for which
she had become famous part of happiness
comes from having great vision and
having a passion and great sex in 1993
Oprah made television history once again
her primetime interview with Michael
Jackson became the most-watched
interview ever and boasted a worldwide
audience of over 100 million Oprah also
made memories when she wheeled a wagon
full of fat onto her set in 1988 and
when Tom Cruise infamously jumped on her
couch in 2005 Winfrey’s talk show also
resulted in something called The Oprah
effect this was the suggestion that
Oprah Winfrey and her show were powerful
enough to influence the American public
in terms of book sales religion
spirituality and even political opinions
in 2000 Winfrey helped found the oxygen
television network and in January 2008
Oprah announced she would be starting
her own specialty television channel
called own Oprah Winfrey Network and it
launched in 2011 that same year after 25
years on the air the Oprah Winfrey Show
aired its last new episode on may 25th
2011 despite a fallen ratings the show
had remained the number one talk show
since it first aired in 1986
Oprah spent much of her career in front
of the camera but not all as hosts of
her talk show in 1985 she starred in the
Steven Spielberg film the color purple
and this role garnered her an Academy
Award nomination for Best Supporting
Actress
I love habul God knows I do but I can’t
afford that you in 1998 she produced and
starred in the film adaptation of the
novel beloved she went on to produce
films and lend her voice to a number of
children’s features Winfrey has also
found success in the magazine industry
with her booming Oh magazine which
debuted in 2000 she further proved her
influence by transforming a number of
television personalities into household
names including dr. Phil dr. oz Rachael
Ray Nate Berkus and her longtime best
friend Gayle King with a net worth that
approaches three billion dollars Oprah
can count herself as the world’s first
black female billionaire as well as the
United States richest self-made woman
she is considered the most influential
African American of her generation and
the most influential American woman in
history she also donates more of her
money to charity than anyone else in
show business as an extremely active
philanthropist while Oprah has not been
immune to controversy she has always
faced her detractors head-on after
building an empire from nothing Oprah
Winfrey has indelibly influenced and
will long be remembered for
contributions to popular culture
and influential woman in the world
welcome to watchmojo.com and today we’ll
be exploring the life and career of
Oprah Oprah Gayle Winfrey was born
January 29th 1954 in rural Mississippi
much of her turbulent youth was spent in
poverty and she was constantly moved
around the country to live with various
family members before she had even
reached her teens
Oprah displayed great intelligence and
speaking abilities early on and these
were encouraged by her grandmother and
father she went on to win a full
scholarship to Tennessee State
University where she studied
communications when free worked at a
local radio station and moved to a local
Nashville television station where she
became the youngest news anchor and the
first black female news anchor
she finally relocated to Illinois and
took over hosting duties of AM Chicago
good morning everybody
I’m Oprah Winfrey new host of AM Chicago
real to be here just months later the
show had overtaken Phil Donahue’s
talk-show in the ratings she quickly
signed a syndication deal and on
September 8th 1986 the first countrywide
hour-long Oprah Winfrey Show debuted it
was also around this time that Harpo
Productions was founded with Winfrey as
president as a host Winfrey was credited
with being better attuned to her
audience than other talk-show
personalities of the day and with
changing the tabloid format she was able
to connect with her audience and
interviewees by revealing stories about
her past for example in 1986 she
disclosed that she had been molested in
her youth she was also vocal about her
weight and relationship problems in fact
this type of public confessional therapy
was dubbed the Oprah fication
of television Oprah also helped raise
the profile of gay bisexual transsexual
and transgender people and this helped
those groups gain mainstream acceptance
aside from addressing the issues on her
talk show Winfrey also guest-starred as
a therapist who helped Ellen DeGeneres
come out of the closet on her sitcom in
1997 your
so what are you gonna do now I’m going
to Disneyland
by the 1990s her show had broaden its
format
she discussed health spirituality
literature and social issues in addition
to the celebrity interviews for which
she had become famous part of happiness
comes from having great vision and
having a passion and great sex in 1993
Oprah made television history once again
her primetime interview with Michael
Jackson became the most-watched
interview ever and boasted a worldwide
audience of over 100 million Oprah also
made memories when she wheeled a wagon
full of fat onto her set in 1988 and
when Tom Cruise infamously jumped on her
couch in 2005 Winfrey’s talk show also
resulted in something called The Oprah
effect this was the suggestion that
Oprah Winfrey and her show were powerful
enough to influence the American public
in terms of book sales religion
spirituality and even political opinions
in 2000 Winfrey helped found the oxygen
television network and in January 2008
Oprah announced she would be starting
her own specialty television channel
called own Oprah Winfrey Network and it
launched in 2011 that same year after 25
years on the air the Oprah Winfrey Show
aired its last new episode on may 25th
2011 despite a fallen ratings the show
had remained the number one talk show
since it first aired in 1986
Oprah spent much of her career in front
of the camera but not all as hosts of
her talk show in 1985 she starred in the
Steven Spielberg film the color purple
and this role garnered her an Academy
Award nomination for Best Supporting
Actress
I love habul God knows I do but I can’t
afford that you in 1998 she produced and
starred in the film adaptation of the
novel beloved she went on to produce
films and lend her voice to a number of
children’s features Winfrey has also
found success in the magazine industry
with her booming Oh magazine which
debuted in 2000 she further proved her
influence by transforming a number of
television personalities into household
names including dr. Phil dr. oz Rachael
Ray Nate Berkus and her longtime best
friend Gayle King with a net worth that
approaches three billion dollars Oprah
can count herself as the world’s first
black female billionaire as well as the
United States richest self-made woman
she is considered the most influential
African American of her generation and
the most influential American woman in
history she also donates more of her
money to charity than anyone else in
show business as an extremely active
philanthropist while Oprah has not been
immune to controversy she has always
faced her detractors head-on after
building an empire from nothing Oprah
Winfrey has indelibly influenced and
will long be remembered for
contributions to popular culture
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