Oprah Winfrey Biography (1954–)
Billionaire media executive and philanthropist Oprah Winfrey is best known for hosting her own internationally popular talk show from 1986 to 2011. From there she launched her own television network, OWN.
Who Is Oprah Winfrey?
Oprah Winfrey is a talk show host, media executive, actress and billionaire philanthropist. She’s best known for being the host of her own, wildly popular program, The Oprah Winfrey Show, which aired for 25 seasons, from 1986 to 2011. In 2011, Winfrey launched her own TV network, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN).
Born in the rural town of Kosciusko, Mississippi, Winfrey moved to Baltimore in 1976, where she hosted People Are Talking. Afterward, she was recruited by a Chicago TV station to host her own morning show.
Early Life and Education
Winfrey was born in the rural town of Kosciusko, Mississippi, on January 29, 1954. After a troubled adolescence in a small farming community, where she was s*xually abused by a number of male relatives and friends of her mother, Vernita, Winfrey moved to Nashville to live with her father, Vernon, a barber and businessman.
In 1971, Winfrey entered Tennessee State University. She began working in radio and television broadcasting in Nashville.
Early Broadcasting Career
In 1976, Winfrey moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where she hosted the TV chat show People Are Talking. The show became a hit and Winfrey stayed with it for eight years, after which she was recruited by a Chicago TV station to host her own morning show, A.M. Chicago.
Her major competitor in the time slot was Phil Donahue. Within several months, Winfrey's open, warm-hearted personal style had won her 100,000 more viewers than Donahue and had taken her show from last place to first in the ratings.
'The Oprah Winfrey Show'
Winfrey launched The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1986 as a nationally syndicated program that ran for 25 years, until 2011. With its placement on 120 channels and an audience of 10 million people, the show grossed $125 million by the end of its first year, of which Winfrey received $30 million.
She soon gained ownership of the program from ABC, drawing it under the control of her new production company, Harpo Productions ('Oprah' spelled backwards) and making more and more money from syndication.
In 1994, with talk shows becoming increasingly trashy and exploitative, Winfrey pledged to keep her show free of tabloid topics. Although ratings initially fell, she earned the respect of her viewers and was soon rewarded with an upsurge in popularity.
Projects with Harpo have included the highly-rated 1989 TV miniseries, The Women of Brewster Place, in which Winfrey also starred.
In 2004, Winfrey signed a new contract to continue The Oprah Winfrey Show through the 2010-11 season. At the time, the syndicated show was seen on nearly 212 U.S. stations and in more than 100 countries worldwide.
In 2009, Winfrey announced that she would be ending her program when her contract with ABC ended, in 2011.
READ MORE: Why Oprah's Car Giveaway Is the Most Epic Talk Show Moment Ever
Oprah’s Book Club
Winfrey contributed immensely to the publishing world by launching her "Oprah's Book Club," as part of her talk show. The program propelled many unknown authors to the top of the bestseller lists and gave pleasure reading a new kind of popular prominence.
Winfrey has continued her book club. In 2018, she famously interviewed former First Lady Michelle Obama for the release of her memoir, Becoming.
Oprah’s Favorite Things
In 1997, Winfrey introduced "Oprah's Favorite Things," an annual list of holiday gifts curated by the mogul, on her talk show.
Even after moving onto other projects, Winfrey continued the annual tradition. For the 20th edition in 2017, the list was featured on Amazon. She became the first celebrity voice behind Alexa, the company's voice-control system, allowing shoppers to hear Winfrey herself explain her top picks for the season.
Half-Sister
In the final season of her talk show, Winfrey made ratings soar when she revealed a family secret: she has a half-sister named Patricia.
Winfrey's mother, Vernita Lee, gave birth to a baby girl in 1963. At the time, Winfrey was 9 years old, and living with her father. Lee put the child up for adoption because she believed that she wouldn't be able to get off public assistance if she had another child to care for. Patricia lived in a series of foster homes until she was seven years old.
Patricia tried to connect with her birth mother through her adoption agency after she became an adult, but Lee did not want to meet her. After doing some research, she approached a niece of Winfrey's, and the two had DNA tests done, which proved they were related.
Winfrey only learned of her sister's existence a few months before she made the decision to publicize the knowledge. "It was one of the greatest surprises of my life," she said on her show.
Weight Loss
Winfrey has publicly struggled with her weight, and her numerous weight loss efforts have been well-documented. In 1988, she revealed on her talk show that she lost 67 pounds on a liquid diet and exercise. "I had literally starved myself for four months - not a morsel of food," she later said. By 1992, she had gained most of the weight back.
In 1995, she lost an estimated 90 pounds (dropping to her ideal weight of around 150 pounds). That year, she competed in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C.
In the wake of her highly publicized success, Winfrey's personal chef, Rosie Daley, and trainer, Bob Greene, both published best-selling books. However Winfrey’s weight continued to fluctuate through the years.
Weight Watchers
In 2015, Winfrey bought a 10 percent stake in Weight Watchers (WW). She also became and advisor for the company and secured herself a seat on the board, and she appeared in TV ads as a spokesperson for the company.
WW had been in a funk for a few years, but Winfrey’s involvement revived the company seeing a surge in membership and stock prices.
In early 2017, Winfrey revealed that she had again lost 42 pounds, which she credited to WW. More than two years later, she wrote a letter to WW members saying that she was diagnosed with pre-diabetes before her most recent weight loss journey, but that her blood pressure and sugar were now under control.
Oxygen Media and 'O Magazine'
In 1999 Winfrey debuted Oxygen Media, a company she co-founded that’s dedicated to producing cable and Internet programming for women. In doing so, Winfrey ensured her spot in the forefront of the media industry as one of the most powerful and wealthy people in show business. In 2002, she concluded a deal with the network to air a prime-time complement to her syndicated talk show.
Winfrey’s highly successful monthly magazine, published by Hearst, O: The Oprah Magazine, debuted in 2000.
Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN)
Soon after The Oprah Winfrey Show ended in 2011, Winfrey moved to her own network, the Oprah Winfrey Network, a joint venture with Discovery Communications.
Despite a financially rocky start, the network made headlines in January 2013, when it aired an interview between Winfrey and Lance Armstrong, the American cyclist and seven-time Tour de France winner who was stripped of his Tour titles in 2012 due to doping charges.
During the interview, Armstrong admitted to using performance-enhancing substances throughout his cycling career, including the hormones cortisone, testosterone and erythropoietin (also known as EPO). "I am deeply flawed ... and I'm paying the price for it, and I think that's okay. I deserve this," he stated. The interview reportedly brought in millions of dollars in revenue for OWN.
Of her interview with Armstrong, Winfrey said in a statement, "He did not come clean in the manner I expected. It was surprising to me. I would say that, for myself, my team, all of us in the room, we were mesmerized by some of his answers. I felt he was thorough. He was serious. He certainly prepared himself for this moment. I would say he met the moment. At the end of it, we both were pretty exhausted."
In March 2015, Winfrey announced that her Chicago-based Harpo Studios would close at the end of the year to consolidate the company’s production operations to the Los Angeles-based OWN headquarters. Winfrey’s television empire was launched at the studio and it had been home to her daily syndicated talk show through its finale in 2011.
"The time had come to downsize this part of the business and to move forward. It will be sad to say goodbye," said Winfrey, "but I look ahead with such a knowing that what the future holds is even more than I can see."
Winfrey returned to acting in Greenleaf, which marked her first recurring scripted television role. The original family drama, which revolves around a Memphis megachurch, premiered on OWN in June 2016.
In December 2017, it was announced that Discovery had become the majority owner of OWN, with the purchase of 24.5 percent of the company from its founder for $70 million. Winfrey retained 25.5 percent of OWN and remained its chief executive under the terms of the agreement.
Partnership with Apple
In June 2018, Winfrey agreed to a multi-year deal in which she would create original content for Apple.
In September 2019, it was announced that Winfrey was bringing Oprah's Book Club to the Apple TV+ streaming subscription service, with Ta-Nehisi Coates' The Water Dancer to be featured on the inaugural November 1 episode.
As part of her partnership with Apple, Winfrey signed on as executive producer of On the Record, a documentary about several of the women who accused music producer Russell Simmons of s*xual misconduct. However, Winfrey abruptly pulled her support of the doc shortly before it was scheduled to premiere at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival.
READ MORE: Oprah Winfrey: All the Ways the First Black Female Billionaire Has Made History
https://www.biography.com/media-figure/opr... Wealth, Charity and Awards
Posted By: Dea. Ron Gray Sr.
Saturday, February 27th 2021 at 9:48AM
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