Biography of Oprah Gail Winfrey

1.0 Biography of Oprah Gail Winfrey

Oprah Gail Winfrey is a very famous and familiar name worldwide. Born on January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi, United States, to unwed teenage parents was initially named Orpah based on the Book of Ruth in the Bible and later changed into Oprah for easier pronunciation. Her mother, Vernita Lee, an eighteen-year-old housemaid and her father, Vernon Winfrey was twenty and in the armed forces when Oprah was born. Initially, Oprah lived with her maternal grandmother Hattie Mae in a pig farm at Kosciusko until she was six. Oprah's grandmother taught her to read before the age of three and took her to the local church, where she was nicknamed "The Preacher" for her ability to recite Bible verses. When Oprah was a child, her grandmother would take a switch and would hit her with it when she didn't do chores or if she misbehaved in any way.

At age six and a half, Oprah moved to a Milwaukee inner city ghetto with her mother, who was less supportive and encouraging than her grandmother. Despite her dysfunctional home life, Oprah skipped two of her earliest grades, became the teacher's pet, and by the time she was 13 received a scholarship to attend a prestigious all-white high school in the suburbs. Although Winfrey was very popular, she couldn't afford to go out on the town as frequently as her better-off classmates. Furthermore, due to her mother’s lack of supervision gave opportunity for several male relatives and friends to abuse Oprah sexually. Her cousin raped her when she was nine, molested by a family friend and then by her uncle.Like many teenagers at the end of the 1960’s, Oprah rebelled, ran away from home and ran the streets. She even gave birth to a premature baby at the age of fourteen but the baby died shortly after birth.

Then, Oprah was given an ultimatum, either to live with her father and his wife in Nashville or be sent to a juvenile detention center. Oprah, disliking the idea of staying in a juvenile detention center went to live with her father and his wife Zelma in Nashville. This was a turning point in her life, as her father provided her with the discipline that was lacking in her life. Her father required her to complete a weekly book report that rekindled her love for reading. Her father’s strict curfew and stress on the value of education turned Oprah’s life altogether. Winfrey became an honors student, was voted ‘Most Popular Girl’, joined her high school speech team, and placed second in the nation in dramatic interpretation. At the age of nineteen, Oprah landed her first job as a reporter at WVOL radio station in Nashville. Shortly afterward, she entered into Tennessee State University in Nashville. She won an oratory contest, which secured her full scholarship to Tennessee State University, a historically black institution, where she studied communications. In her freshman year, Oprah won several pageants including ‘Miss Black Nashville’ and ‘Miss Tennessee’ in 1971.

She received job offer from the local CBS television station that she declined and after graduating in 1976, Oprah accepted a job offer from WJZ-TV, the affiliate in Baltimore, Maryland. In January 1984, Oprah moved to Chicago to host the ‘A.M. Chicago’ for WLS-TV. The first episode aired on January 2, 1984. Within months after Winfrey took over, the show went from last place in the ratings to overtaking Donahue as the highest rated talk show in Chicago. It was renamed ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’, expanded to a full hour, and broadcast nationally beginning September 8, 1986, its first show about marrying the right person. ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ still exists today as the number one talk show in the United States. This show was the starter for Oprah’s success in her career as well her life. She started from zero and now she is