The celebrated talk-show host, actress, producer, philanthropist and businesswoman, Oprah Winfrey is the Chairman of Harpo Entertainment Group in Chicago. Oprah Winfrey came from a humble background to become one of the America`s most influential women.
Born in poverty in the rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother, Winfrey had a very hard childhood, including being raped at the age of nine and becoming pregnant at 14. After being awarded a University Scholarship, Winfrey studied at the Tennessee State University and received a BA in Speech and Performing Arts
Winfrey landed a job in radio while still in high school and began co-anchoring the local evening news at the age of 19. Oprah Winfrey`s career in the media industry began as a news anchor and reporter for a television station in Nashville
Winfrey`s career really began to take off after moving to Chicago in 1984 to host ‘AM Chicago’, an early morning talk show at WLS-TV`s. It went on to become the number one ranked talk show shortly and it was renamed ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ after a year.
The Oprah Winfrey Show went on to become one of the most successful and highest ranked television talk show programs in history. The daytime talk show focuses on issues close to Winfrey`s heart and she has continued to cover topics of value to her mostly female audience for more than 17 successful seasons of broadcasting.
In 1985, Winfrey co-starred in Steven Spielberg`s film adaptation of Alice Walker`s novel ‘The Color Purple.’ She earned immediate acclaim. The following year Winfrey was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. In October 1998, Winfrey produced and starred in the film ‘Beloved’ it opened to poor Box Office results, losing approximately USD 30 million.
She has co-authored five books and publishes two magazines: ‘O’, ‘The Oprah Magazine’ and ‘O at Home.’ Oprah continues to follow her dreams through her varied business and media interests. She is one of the wealthiest women in the United States of America and is regularly placed high up on the Forbes magazine.