Contents
Oprah Winfrey
Hosting The Oprah Winfrey Show and building her own media company.
The Color Purple · The Oprah Winfrey Show
- Born
- 29 January 1954
- Birthplace
- Kosciusko, USA
More people
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American broadcaster, producer and actor. Her talk show combined personal interviews, public issues and cultural recommendations, while ownership of its production helped her become a major media executive.
Early life
Mississippi childhood
Born in rural Mississippi and later lived in Milwaukee and Nashville.
Early broadcasting
Worked in local radio while still at school and studied at Tennessee State University.
Career
- 1970s
Local news
Worked in television news before moving into talk programming in Baltimore.
- 1984
Chicago host
Took over AM Chicago and transformed its audience.
- 1986–2011
National talk show
Hosted and produced The Oprah Winfrey Show.
- 2011 onward
Television network
Launched OWN and continued interviewing, producing and acting.
Selected work
The Color Purple
Played Sofia in Steven Spielberg’s film adaptation.
The Oprah Winfrey Show
A nationally syndicated daytime programme.
Oprah’s Book Club
A reading initiative that brought selected books to a large audience.
Beyond work
Education
Founded the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.
Production ownership
Created Harpo Productions, taking control of the business behind her programming.
Sources & photo credit
Life and career ↗Institutional or specialist reference ↗Photo: US Embassy South Africa. Public domain · Original image. Cropped and displayed in monochrome.
