Biography of Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Gail Winfrey, a famous black writer, talk show host, and actress, was born on January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi .She was born to unwed, teenage parents. Her mother Vernita Lee was eighteen and a housemaid. Her father Vernon Winfrey was twenty and in the armed forces. Winfrey was named Orpah from the Book of Ruth in the Bible, but her name was later changed to Oprah because it was easier to pronounce.

As a youth, Winfrey moved to Milwaukee to live with her mother. Her mother's lack of supervision enabled several male relatives and friends to sexually abuse Winfrey. The abuse caused Winfrey to run away on many occasions. Winfrey then started to makeup stories to get her mother's attention. At age fourteen, she gave birth to a premature baby, who died shortly after birth. Oprah was then given an ultimatum, either live with her father and his wife in Nashville, or be sent to a juvenile detention center. All the beds were full, so as a last resort, she was sent to Nashville to live under her father's strict discipline.

Vernon Winfrey saw to it that his daughter met a midnight curfew, and he required her to read a book and write a book report each week. "As strict as he was," says Oprah, "he had some concerns about me making the best of my life, and would not accept anything less than what he thought was my best." Her father provided her with the discipline that was lacking in his daughter's life. Oprah states, "If I hadn't been sent to my father, I would have gone in another direction." He gave her a strict curfew and stressed the value of education; under his rule, Oprah turned her life around. She continues, "I could have made a good criminal. I would have used these same instincts differently"

At age nineteen, Winfrey landed her first job as a reporter at WVOL radio station in Nashville. Shortly afterward, she enrolled at Tennessee State University in Nashville. During her freshman year, Winfrey won several pageants, including "Miss Black Nashville" and "Miss Tennessee" in 1971. She was offered a job by the local CBS television station but declined the position. After graduating in 1976, she accepted a job offer from WJZ-TV, the ABC affiliate in Baltimore, Maryland. In January 1984, Winfrey moved to Chicago to host "A.M. Chicago" for WLS-TV. Later, the show was renamed to “The Oprah Winfrey Show”. Today, it is the number one talk show in the ...

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...her sold-out national speaking tour that features Oprah's personal life stories and life lessons along with a workbook of thought-provoking exercises. Oprah.com averages 45 million page views and three million users per month and receives approximately 12,000-15,000 emails each week.

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.

Oprah Winfrey is my role model. She is the perfect example of someone who struggled thru many hardships to achieve success. Not only did she reach the level of success she was aiming for, but she continues to prosper in every way. Oprah never forgot where she came from or took anything for granted. Now she always gives back to her community and sets examples for many other women. Her life story inspires many people never to give up in life and to stand up for what you believe in because anything is possible!