Oprah Winfrey, the first black woman to appear on Forbes' billionaire list, is the ultimate multimedia icon.
She and her eponymous television program have won scores of Emmy awards. In 1986, Ms. Winfrey was nominated for an Oscar after her film debut in "The Color Purple" and two years later she founded Harpo Productions. In 2000, she launched "O," a top-selling magazine in which she appears on every cover. She has revived her book club, one that guarantees best-seller status for its selections.
In November, 2009, Ms. Winfrey announced that she will end "The Oprah Winfrey Show" in 2011, in order to concentrate on her forthcoming cable channel, called OWN: the Oprah Winfrey Network. The announcement prompted guessing about how big her role would be on the network.
OWN is busy developing programs before its planned premiere on Jan. 1, 2011. The channel, which has been plagued by executive shake-ups, will replace the Discovery Health Channel in at least 70 million homes.
In April, 2010 Ms. Winfrey pitched the network to advertisers in New York, and said she would host a prime-time interview show on the channel called "Oprah's Next Chapter."
Ms. Winfrey will appear in two or three episodes a week, indicating that she will not continue the kind of daily talk show that she has done for decades. Discovery Communications and Ms. Winfrey's Harpo Productions, the two backers, hope that by placing Ms. Winfrey in prime time, she will attract bigger audiences and command premium prices from advertisers.
During her decades as the billionaire queen of daytime television, Ms. Winfrey had many highlights, including a show in 1988 when she appeared after losing 67 pounds, a show in 2005 when the actor Tom Cruise declared his love for the actress Katie Holmes by leaping all over Ms. Winfrey's couch, and another show that year when she sent her audience members into a screaming frenzy by giving them all free cars.
Ms. Winfrey's show was at the height of its popularity when she conducted what was at the time called the most-watched interview of all time with the singer Michael Jackson. That prime-time special in 1993 was seen by 62 million people in the United States and almost 100 million people worldwide.
The link in all Ms. Winfrey's endeavors is her willingness to open her personal life to the public. Born on Jan. 29, 1954, in Kosclusko, Miss., Ms. Winfrey overcame childhood sexual abuse, surprisingly toppled Phil Donahue as the top-rated daytime talk-show host and saw her up-and-down weight - as well as her personal relationships - become the staple of countless shows (and tabloid fodder). "Oprah's Big Give," which premiered in March 2008, is the most recent example of her philanthropy. In 2007, she opened a multimillion-dollar school for girls in South Africa.
Ms. Winfrey is the narrator of "Life," an 11-part nature documentary that began airing on Discovery in the spring of 2010, though most agreed the real stars are the camera operators who captured the simply amazing footage, going to rain forests, deserts and just about every other kind of environment to do it.
Ms. Winfrey's role on cable is expected to be limited until her syndicated show ends. In February, 2010, the channel announced that it would produce a weekly behind-the-scenes series about her final syndicated season.
In 1998, Oprah produced and starred in the film Beloved, based on the novel by Nobel Prize winner for Literature, Toni Morrison.
At 22, Winfrey moved to Baltimore, where he had an offer to present a TV show, People Are Talking.His firts ventune on the small screen lasted eigth years, largely thanks to his knack for the camera.
At age 30, Winfrey took another step forward in his career. The WSL-TV in Chicago hired to host her own tmornig show, AM Chicago. In a few months able to put his talk show in a number of hearings. The real reason for the success of this program was its host, and this is reflected in september 1985, when the AM Chicago becomes "The Oprah Winfrey Show”.
Success becomes the constant companion of Oprah and program. In 1986 The Oprah Winfrey Show is the number one talk show on U.S. television, and 20 years after media retains its privileged position. Nearly 30 million viewers followed their emissions only in the United States. The awards, including the Emmy for best talk-show support her career. The figure of Oprah and her record for longevity give this program a great prestige, while the world's most famous characters pass without doubt on its stage. He was also invited as a character in some episodes of Drake and Josh, as a singer-actress favorite Josh.
Hollywood met fashion as the stars came out to play at the Metropolitan Museum of Art Costume Institute Gala in New York City on May 3, 2010. Oprah helped host this year's event, which was themed American Woman: Fashioning a National Identity. Take a look at what some of our favorite women were wearing!
Oprah Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954 in the U.S. city of Kosciusko, Missouri. His grandmother looked after her until she was 6 years old when he went to live with his mother. At that moment began one of the worst periods of his life. He suffered physical and psychological abuse that made her day to day in complete chaos. His situation was so bad that at thirteen decided to run away from home. So, he thought, when the arrest would lead her home to her father in Nashville.
Fortunately Oprah managed to overcome his traumatic childhood. At 19 he began to flirt with the world of communications as a reporter at a radio station in Nashville and subsequently entered the University of Tennessee, where even won several beauty contests. At 22, Winfrey moved to Baltimore, where he had an offer to present a TV show, People are talking. His first venture on the small screen lasted eight years, largely thanks to his knack for the camera.
At age 30 years the career of Oprah Winfrey takes another step forward. The WSL-TV in Chicago hired to host her own morning program, AM Chicago. In a few months able to put his talk show in the number 1 ranking in hearings. The real reason for the success of this program is its host and this is reflected in September 1985, when the AM Chicago becomes "The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Success becomes the constant companion of Oprah and program. The Oprah Winfrey in 1986 Show is the number one talk show for U.S. television, and 20 years after media retains its privileged position. Nearly 30 million viewers followed their emissions only in the United States. The awards, including the Emmy for best talk show, support his career. The figure of Oprah and her record for longevity give this program a great prestige, while the most famous of the world pass by his set without hesitation.
But Oprah is not only a popular television presenter. Its huge success in this medium has helped to carry out many other activities. It has a production company, Harpo Entertainment Group, is co-founder of Oxygen Media, has written books, runs his own website and even the editor of The Oprah Magazine, a magazine that follows the line of TV talk show.
Oprah has also made incursions into the film world and has participated as an actress in such familiar titles as The Color Purple, Throw Momma from the Train, Never were children and Beloved. Thanks to all of these fronts in their careers today is considered the first black billionaire and the most powerful woman on television in the United States.
