Oprah Gail Winfrey (born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an
American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and
philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey
Show, broadcast from Chicago, which was the highest-rated television
program of its kind in history and ran in national syndication for 25
years from 1986 to 2011. Dubbed the "Queen of All Media", she was the
richest African American of the 20th century and North America's first
black multi-billionaire, and she has been ranked the greatest black
philanthropist in American history. By 2007, she was sometimes ranked
as the most influential woman in the world.Winfrey was born into
poverty in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother and later
raised in inner-city Milwaukee. She has stated that she was molested
during her childhood and early teens and became pregnant at 14; her
son was born prematurely and died in infancy. Winfrey was then sent to
live with the man she calls her father, Vernon Winfrey, a barber in
Tennessee, and landed a job in radio while still in high school. By
19, she was a co-anchor for the local evening news. Winfrey's often
emotional, extemporaneous delivery eventually led to her transfer to
the daytime talk show arena, and after boosting a third-rated local
Chicago talk show to first place, she launched her own production
company and became internationally syndicated.Credited with creating a
more intimate, confessional form of media communication, Winfrey
popularized and revolutionized the tabloid talk show genre pioneered
by Phil Donahue. In 1994, she was inducted into the National Women's
Hall of Fame.
American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and
philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey
Show, broadcast from Chicago, which was the highest-rated television
program of its kind in history and ran in national syndication for 25
years from 1986 to 2011. Dubbed the "Queen of All Media", she was the
richest African American of the 20th century and North America's first
black multi-billionaire, and she has been ranked the greatest black
philanthropist in American history. By 2007, she was sometimes ranked
as the most influential woman in the world.Winfrey was born into
poverty in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother and later
raised in inner-city Milwaukee. She has stated that she was molested
during her childhood and early teens and became pregnant at 14; her
son was born prematurely and died in infancy. Winfrey was then sent to
live with the man she calls her father, Vernon Winfrey, a barber in
Tennessee, and landed a job in radio while still in high school. By
19, she was a co-anchor for the local evening news. Winfrey's often
emotional, extemporaneous delivery eventually led to her transfer to
the daytime talk show arena, and after boosting a third-rated local
Chicago talk show to first place, she launched her own production
company and became internationally syndicated.Credited with creating a
more intimate, confessional form of media communication, Winfrey
popularized and revolutionized the tabloid talk show genre pioneered
by Phil Donahue. In 1994, she was inducted into the National Women's
Hall of Fame.
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