Oprah Winfrey
By Kristin Boyd
Oprah Winfrey is a multimedia powerhouse who is considered one of the most powerful women in the world. However, she comes from humble beginnings, and she continually uses her life story to serve as an inspiration for others.
Born in Kosciusko, Miss., she endured poverty, abuse and molestation before landing her first media job at age 17 at WVOL Radio in Nashville.
Her star continued to rise when, two years later, she became a reporter-anchor for WTVF-TV in Nashville and later for WJZ-TV in Baltimore. While there, she began co-hosting “People are Talking” in 1978.
In 1984, she moved Chicago, where she hosted WLS-TV’s “AM Chicago.” She quickly turned the program into one of the hottest shows on Chicago-area television, surpassing ratings winner Phil Donahue.
In turn, the show was renamed “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and became nationally syndicated in September 1986. The following year, it became the highest-rated talk show in television history, and Ms. Winfrey received three Daytime Emmy Awards.
Ms. Winfrey also received Best Supporting Actress nominations for both the Golden Globe and Oscar awards for her role as Sofia in 1985’s “A Color Purple,” based on Alice Walker’s classic novel.
Motivated in part by her own childhood abuse, she initiated a campaign to establish a national database of convicted child abusers in 1991; she testified before a U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee on behalf of a National Child Protection Act. In 1993, President Bill Clinton signed the “Oprah Bill” into law, establishing a national database that is available to law enforcement agencies nationwide.
Ms. Winfrey was the first woman in history to own and produce her own talk show, which helped her become the first African-American woman billionaire.
Today, she is still at the top of the ratings heap, thanks to the Oprah Book Club, Angel Network, O, The Oprah Magazine, and Harpo Entertainment Group, which has produced films like “Beloved,” and telefilms, including “Their Eyes Were Watching God” and “Tuesdays with Morrie.”
Last month, she announced a partnership with Discovery Communications for OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network), a cable television channel that will debut in 2009.
Sources: www.learningtogive.orgwww.achievement.org