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Introduction
Born on January 29, 1954, Oprah Winfrey is best known as a daytime talkshow host, one of the best, to be exact. She was the youngest person and the first African-American woman to anchor a news show in Nashville. To add to her other accomplishments, Oprah is also known for acquiring her own television network called OWN ("Oprah Winfrey's Biography"). -
The Color Purple
Oprah is well-known for her role in "The Color Purple", as she played a troubles housewife named Sofia. As a result of the film, Oprah was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The film was so inspirational and well-liked that it became a Broadway musical. In 1998, Oprah's film career continued as she starred in the movie "Beloved", which she also produced ("Biography"). -
The Oprah Winfrey Show Airs
The Oprah Winfrey Show first aired on September 8, 1986. For the first ten years on air, the theme of her talkshow was about men: cheating, finding, and hanging onto one. It wasn't until the late 1990's that she started to stand out among the crowd of talkshow hosts. She still talked about her old topics, but more in depth. She started to make spirituality a large part of her show in the last years ("An Overview"). -
Interview with Barbara Walters
In 2010, Oprah sat down with well-known journalist Barbara Walters. While she was getting a tour of Barbara's apartment and answering and asking questions, she kept a thought in the back of her head: "I want to be like Barbara Walters." Oprah seemed to admire Barbara for her hard work and consistency in the workforce. Barbara showed her that Oprah could achieve her biggest dream, which was to have her own talk show. And fortunately for Oprah, she achieved this goal. -
School Founded
In Johannesburg, South Africa, Oprah founded a female boarding school called "The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls-South Africa". She wanted to provide educational and leadership opportunities for gifted girls from impoverished backgrounds. The goal of the academy is to provide disadvantaged girls with academic talent with opportunities to make a difference in the world. Oprah felt it was her duty to help as many poverty-stricken girls as she could ("Oprah Winfrey Leadership"). -
OWN Begins
After quiting her daytime talkshow, Oprah Winfrey started her own television netwrok called "OWN", which stands for the Oprah Winfrey Network. In an interview with Susan Casey, Oprah stated that her goal in life was to "live out the truest expression of myself as a human being" ("Oprah Winfrey Network"). Oprah believed that she should help people and give them advice, as she does in her magazine, but she thought a TV network would reach more of the population. She was right.
