Oprah Winfrey
Early Life-:
Oprah was born in Mississippi in January 29,1954. As a child, she was raised by her grandmother on a farm, who many years later described how little Oprah used to interview her dolls and farm animals. Her grandmother made sure Oprah knew how to read and write from an early age. From age six, till she entered her teens, Oprah lived with her mother, who worked as a maid, and thus, could not devote much attention towards Oprah. Suffering from abuse and neglection, Oprah ran away from home, and was later sent to live with her father, Vernon Winfrey. Vernon was more particular about Oprah's education and conduct, and wanted his daughter to make the best of her life. Later, she attended Tennessee State university where she majored in Speech Communication and Performing Arts.
Career-:
Oprah's career began when she started working for WVOL radio, Nashville. Two years later, she moved on to WTVF-TV, Nashville as a reporter and anchor.
In 1976, she joined WJZ-TV news in Baltimore as a co-anchor for the six o'clock news. Two years later, she began co-hosting WJZ's local talk show 'People are talking'. It was then that her talent as a talk show host came to light.
Next, Oprah moved to Chicago in January 1984, to host WLS-TV's, poorly rated, local talk show “AM Chicago”. Her skills as a talk show host quickly propelled the shows ranking to top slot. The shows format was expanded to one hour and rechristened 'The Oprah Winfrey Show'.
The went national in September of 1986, and quickly became the highest rated talk show in history, with accolades and TRPs that were off the charts. Oprah became the youngest person to receive the International Radio and Television Society's 'Broadcaster of the Year' award.
In 1985, Oprah gained much critical acclaim for her role in Steven Spielberg's movie 'Sofia', an adaptation of Alice Walker's novel, 'The Color Purple'. She was nominated for an Oscar, as well as the Golden Globe, in the category of Best Actress. Later, she dazzled audiences once again with her performance in 'Native Son'.
In 1986, Oprah formed HARPO Productions Inc, a film and television production house. Today, HARPO Entertainment Group consists of HARPO Productions, Inc., HARPO Films and HARPO Video, Inc. By October 1988, HARPO gained control of 'The Oprah Winfrey Show', making Oprah the first woman to ever own and produce her own talk show. HARPO produced several miniseries and movies starring Oprah.
The 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Concert was hosted by Oprah and Tom Cruise. There were musical performances by Cyndi Lauper, Andrea Bocelli, Joss Stone, Chris Botti, Diana Krall, Tony Bennett and others. The concert was broadcast in the United States on December 23, 2004, by E!.
As well as hosting and appearing on television shows, Winfrey co-founded the women's cable television network Oxygen. She is also the president of Harpo Productions (Oprah spelled backwards).
Accolades-:
Time magazine featured Oprah Winfrey in its list of 'the 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century'. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1988 from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Oprah's Book Club selections have become a huge hit, and in 1999, she was presented with the National Book Foundation's 50th anniversary gold medal for her service to books and authors. As per Forbes, Oprah, who pocketed $250 million between June 2006 and June 2007, is the first African-American woman to have become a billionaire, the richest African-American ever, as well as the highest paid entertainer in Tinsel town.
Books and magazines-:
Winfrey on the cover of O, The Oprah Magazine.Winfrey publishes two magazines: O, The Oprah Magazine and O at Home. She has co-authored five books; at the announcement of her future weight loss book (to be co-authored with her personal trainer Bob Greene), it was said that her undisclosed advance fee had broken the record for the world's highest book advance fee, previously held by former U.S. President Bill Clinton for his autobiography My Life. In 2002 Fortune called O, the Oprah Magazine the most successful start-up ever in the industry.and although its circulation had declined by more than 10 percent (to 2.4 million) from 2005 to 2008, the January 2009 issue was the best selling issue since 2006.The audience for her magazine is considerably more upscale than for her TV show, earning US $63,000 a year (well above the median for U.S. women).
Future projects-:
On January 15, 2008, Winfrey and Discovery Communications announced plans to change Discovery Health Channel into a new channel called OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. OWN will debut at an unspecified time in 2010. It was scheduled to launch in 2009, but has since been delayed. It will be available in more than 70 million homes because of the present position of Discovery Health Channel. This was a non-cash deal with Winfrey turning control of her website Oprah.com to Discovery Communications.
Early Life-:
Oprah was born in Mississippi in January 29,1954. As a child, she was raised by her grandmother on a farm, who many years later described how little Oprah used to interview her dolls and farm animals. Her grandmother made sure Oprah knew how to read and write from an early age. From age six, till she entered her teens, Oprah lived with her mother, who worked as a maid, and thus, could not devote much attention towards Oprah. Suffering from abuse and neglection, Oprah ran away from home, and was later sent to live with her father, Vernon Winfrey. Vernon was more particular about Oprah's education and conduct, and wanted his daughter to make the best of her life. Later, she attended Tennessee State university where she majored in Speech Communication and Performing Arts.
Career-:
Oprah's career began when she started working for WVOL radio, Nashville. Two years later, she moved on to WTVF-TV, Nashville as a reporter and anchor.
In 1976, she joined WJZ-TV news in Baltimore as a co-anchor for the six o'clock news. Two years later, she began co-hosting WJZ's local talk show 'People are talking'. It was then that her talent as a talk show host came to light.
Next, Oprah moved to Chicago in January 1984, to host WLS-TV's, poorly rated, local talk show “AM Chicago”. Her skills as a talk show host quickly propelled the shows ranking to top slot. The shows format was expanded to one hour and rechristened 'The Oprah Winfrey Show'.
The went national in September of 1986, and quickly became the highest rated talk show in history, with accolades and TRPs that were off the charts. Oprah became the youngest person to receive the International Radio and Television Society's 'Broadcaster of the Year' award.
In 1985, Oprah gained much critical acclaim for her role in Steven Spielberg's movie 'Sofia', an adaptation of Alice Walker's novel, 'The Color Purple'. She was nominated for an Oscar, as well as the Golden Globe, in the category of Best Actress. Later, she dazzled audiences once again with her performance in 'Native Son'.
In 1986, Oprah formed HARPO Productions Inc, a film and television production house. Today, HARPO Entertainment Group consists of HARPO Productions, Inc., HARPO Films and HARPO Video, Inc. By October 1988, HARPO gained control of 'The Oprah Winfrey Show', making Oprah the first woman to ever own and produce her own talk show. HARPO produced several miniseries and movies starring Oprah.
The 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Concert was hosted by Oprah and Tom Cruise. There were musical performances by Cyndi Lauper, Andrea Bocelli, Joss Stone, Chris Botti, Diana Krall, Tony Bennett and others. The concert was broadcast in the United States on December 23, 2004, by E!.
As well as hosting and appearing on television shows, Winfrey co-founded the women's cable television network Oxygen. She is also the president of Harpo Productions (Oprah spelled backwards).
Accolades-:
Time magazine featured Oprah Winfrey in its list of 'the 100 Most Influential People of the 20th Century'. She received a Lifetime Achievement Award in 1988 from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Oprah's Book Club selections have become a huge hit, and in 1999, she was presented with the National Book Foundation's 50th anniversary gold medal for her service to books and authors. As per Forbes, Oprah, who pocketed $250 million between June 2006 and June 2007, is the first African-American woman to have become a billionaire, the richest African-American ever, as well as the highest paid entertainer in Tinsel town.
Books and magazines-:
Winfrey on the cover of O, The Oprah Magazine.Winfrey publishes two magazines: O, The Oprah Magazine and O at Home. She has co-authored five books; at the announcement of her future weight loss book (to be co-authored with her personal trainer Bob Greene), it was said that her undisclosed advance fee had broken the record for the world's highest book advance fee, previously held by former U.S. President Bill Clinton for his autobiography My Life. In 2002 Fortune called O, the Oprah Magazine the most successful start-up ever in the industry.and although its circulation had declined by more than 10 percent (to 2.4 million) from 2005 to 2008, the January 2009 issue was the best selling issue since 2006.The audience for her magazine is considerably more upscale than for her TV show, earning US $63,000 a year (well above the median for U.S. women).
Future projects-:
On January 15, 2008, Winfrey and Discovery Communications announced plans to change Discovery Health Channel into a new channel called OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network. OWN will debut at an unspecified time in 2010. It was scheduled to launch in 2009, but has since been delayed. It will be available in more than 70 million homes because of the present position of Discovery Health Channel. This was a non-cash deal with Winfrey turning control of her website Oprah.com to Discovery Communications.
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