Oprah Winfrey
On January 29, 1954 Oprah Gail Winfrey was born to unwed, teenage parents in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Oprah had a mountain of obstacles already in front of her as a newborn baby... she was born to unwed teenage parents, she was female, she was black, and she was poor. Oprah's mother was an eighteen-year-old housemaid named Vernita Lee. Her father was a twenty-year-old doing duty in the armed forces: his name was Vernon Winfrey.
For the first six years of her life, the young Winfrey was raised on a Mississippi farm by her grandmother. That being perhaps the first stroke of good luck for the young child. Oprah has stated that living with her grandmother probably saved her life. While in her grandmother's care, she was taught to read at a very early age, instilling a love of reading in her that she retains today. She began her public speaking career at the tender age of three when she began reading aloud and reciting sermons to the congregation of her church.
In 1976, Oprah Winfrey moved to Baltimore, where she hosted a TV show called People Are Talking. The show was a hit and Winfrey stayed for eight years. She was then recruited by a TV station in Chicago to host her own morning show, A.M. Chicago. The show was competing against the immensely popular Phil Donahue Show. After several months, Oprah's warm-hearted style had taken her to first place in the ratings. Her success led to a role in Steven Spielberg's film, The Color Purple in 1985, for which she was nominated for an Academy Award.In 1986, Oprah started the Oprah Winfrey Show. The rest is, as they say, history. Oprah has come from being a poor, black, farm girl from Mississippi to a national celebrity. To her resume she can add reporter, actress, writer, producer, activist and TV talk show host... but it doesn't stop there. Oprah, it seems, is unstoppable.
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