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Born January 29, 1954, in Kosqusko, Mississippi Business Leader, Entrepreneur, Talk Show Host, Actress, Business Owner, Magazine, Movie Producer, Activist, Advocate for women and children.
After being sexually abused as a child, she developed a behavior problem and sent to live with her father in Nashville, Tennesse. She was hired as a reporter at a local radio station. While in college she went to work for Nashville's local CBS tv station. In 1971, became the city's first TV anchorwoman. In 1976, she joined WJZ-TV in Baltimore, where she demonstrated strong appeal as the cohost of a morning shwo called Baltimore Is Talking. She left in 1984 to host A.M. Chicago. Within three months she surpassed her competition, The Phil Donahue Show, in the ratings and proved so popular that her program was renamed the Oprah Winfrey Show. Widley syndicated, the Oprah Winfrey Show became one of the most successful shows in television history and made her one of the richest women in America. In 1985, she earned an Academy Award nominationfor her role in the film version of Alice Walker's "The Color Purple". Her company, Harpo Production (Oprah spelled backwards) produced "the Women of Brewster Place, a miniseries based on a novel by Gloria Naylor.
Oprah Winfrey makes a difference in people's lives. Her Book Club has made instant best sellers. Angel Network has offered disadvantaged students college tuition through donations of her audience's "spare change". the National Academy of television arts & Sciences has presented her show with a total of 32 Emmy Awards and in 1998 honored her with its Lifetime Achievement Award. she received the coveted George foster Peabody "Individual Achievement Award" in 1996. her personal fortune is estimated to be over one and half billion dollars. Her company harpo Entertainment Group creates and produces television shows, home videos, and feature films, including the 1998 screen adaptation of Toni Morrison's "Beloved" in which Winfrey stars as "Sethe" In 1991 her testimony before the U.S. Judiciary Committee initiated the national Child Protection Act and what became known nationally as "the Oprah Bill" became law in 1993.
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