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Who is Oprah? |
 Oprah Winfrey came from a humble background to
become one of America's most influential women. Winfrey has
amassed a great fortune through her media and publishing
interests and uses her fame and wealth to positively
influence the lives of people in need.
Born Orpah (after a character from the Bible) Winfrey on
January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi - USA, but now
goes by the name of Oprah. At a young age Winfrey's parents
separated and sent her to live with grandparents in very
poor surroundings until the age of 6 when she moved to live
with her mother. She was consequently se-xually mol-ested by
male relatives at a young age and endured the hardship up
until she was 14 when Winfrey moved to live with her father
in Nashville Tennessee.
Living with her father did not eliminate her problems even
though he was loving (yet strict) towards her. Winfrey
struggled with dr-ugs and rebellious behavior and lost a
baby after giving birth to it prematurely. Although her wild
behavior conflicted with her father's strict rules and high
standards she eventually began to settle after being awarded
a University Scholarship.
"I knew there was a way out. I knew there was another kind
of life because I had read about it. I knew there were other
places, and there was another way of being." Oprah Winfrey
Winfrey studied at the Tennessee State University and
received a BA in Speech and Performing Arts. Her father's
high standards inspired her to aim for and achieve more from
life. Winfrey became involved in several groups and pursued
her interests in media and journalism while at University.
Even though her early years in life where filled with
hardship, she was always gifted with intelligence and she
graduated as an honors student.
Oprah Winfrey's career in the media industry began as a news
anchor and reporter for a television station in Nashville (although
she also worked in radio during high school as a newscaster).
She was the first black African American woman television
news anchor to work in Nashville on the WTVF-TV station at
the young age of 19. Winfrey never felt comfortable in her
position as a news anchor and only began to enjoy her work
when she was moved to the early morning talk show "People
are Talking" at WJZ-TV in Baltimore where she was able to be
herself and express her own opinions and share her true
feelings about topics that moved her.
Winfrey's career really began to take off after moving to
Chicago in 1984 to host "AM Chicago", an early morning talk
show at WLS-TV's. It went on to become the number one ranked
talk show shortly after she started and it was renamed "The
Oprah Winfrey Show" after one year.
The Oprah Winfrey Show went on to become the most successful
and highest ranked television talk show program in history.
The program is viewed by more than 20 million Americans
(USA) every week and broadcast Internationally to more than
one hundred countries worldwide. Winfrey's production
company "Harpo Productions, Inc" produces the program and
she is the host.
The daytime talk show focuses on issues close to Winfrey's
heart and she has continued to cover topics of value to her
mostly female audience for more than 17 successful seasons
of broadcasting. The Oprah Winfrey Show started the wildly
influential "Oprah's Book Club" in 1996 where Oprah endorses
what she considers to be books of value. Books that received
the Oprah endorsement often suddenly went to number 1.
Winfrey's business and personal interests are wide ranging
and she has managed to accomplish success in several areas.
Apart from being a successful Talk show host she is also a
producer, successful actress, Founder of the successful "O,
the Oprah Magazine", co founder of "Oxygen Media", and a
generous Philanthropist. Her entrepreneurial spirit and
desire to change society for the better have brought her and
her numerous companies many awards and achievements.
"What material success does is provide you with the ability
to concentrate on other things that really matter. And that
is being able to make a difference, not only in your own
life, but in other people's lives." Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey continues to follow her dreams through her
many business and media interests. She is one of the
wealthiest women in the United States of America and is
regularly placed high up on the Forbes magazine Rich List
each year. Winfrey continues to influence and inspire people
worldwide with her example of overcoming great odds to
achieve great success financially, spiritually and socially.
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