Black History Fact: Oprah Winfrey

Oprah Winfrey

(Born Jan. 29, 1954, Kosciusko, Miss., U.S.)

American television personality whose syndicated daily talk show was among the most popular of the genre.

Winfrey moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at the age of six to live with her mother. Six years later she was sent to Nashville, Tennessee, to live with her father, who proved to be a positive influence in her life.

At age 19, Winfrey became a news anchor for the local CBS television station. Following her graduation from Tennessee State University in 1976, she was made reporter and coanchor for the ABC news affiliate in Baltimore, Maryland. She found herself constrained by the objectivity required of news reporting, and in 1977 she became cohost of the Baltimore morning show People Are Talking. Winfrey excelled in the casual and personal talk-show format, and in 1984 she moved to Chicago to host the faltering talk show A.M. Chicago. Winfrey’s honest and engaging personality quickly turned the program into a success, and in 1985 it was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show. Syndicated nationally in 1986, the program became the highest-rated talk show in television and earned several Emmy Awards.

In 1985 Winfrey appeared in Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Alice Walker’s 1982 novel The Color Purple. Her critically acclaimed performance led to other roles, including a performance in the television miniseries The Women of Brewster Place (1989). Winfrey, who had formed her own television production company, Harpo Productions, in 1986, began buying film rights to literary works, including Connie May Fowler’s Before Women Had Wings, which appeared in 1997 with Winfrey as both star and producer.

Winfrey engaged in numerous philanthropic activities and was an outspoken crusader against child abuse. In 1986 she received the Woman of Achievement Award from the National Organization for Women. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People also recognized Winfrey four times with its Image Award (1989–92), and in 1989 it named her Entertainer of the Year.

Winfrey broke new ground in 1997 by starting an on-air book club. She announced selections two to four weeks in advance and then discussed the book on her show with a select group of people. Each book chosen quickly rose to the top of the best-seller charts, and Winfrey’s effect on the publishing industry was significant.

Copyright © 2002 Encyclopedia Britannica, Inc.