Oprah Winfrey: The Most Influential People In The World

Oprah is known as one of the most influential and successful people in the world. More than just a talk show host, Oprah is an award-winning actress and producer, a book critic, a publisher, a media mogul and a philanthropist, who many people believe is the most influential women in the world. Through it all, Oprah continues to be a down-to-earth and easy to talk to woman. But just like anyone who has achieved the success she 's been able to attain, Oprah Winfrey 's story needed to begin somewhere (Fry)(Tennant).

Oprah was born on January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi. The first 3 years of her life she lived with her grandmother on a farm in Mississippi. Her mother had to move North to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to try and find work. Once she secured a job she planned on moving Oprah up there with her (Fry). While living in Mississippi she was abused often by her grandmother. Oprah remembered that she was once whipped for placing her fingers in a bucket of water she had gotten from the well. “She whipped me so badly that I had welts on my back and the welts would bleed,” Oprah recalled, which then stained her Sunday dress. “So then I got another whipping for getting blood on the dress" (Street). But there were some advantages that came from staying with her grandma. She supported

At the age of 14, Oprah became pregnant, but sadly her baby died shortly after it was born. Not soon after she decided to try and get her life back on track. She began to concentrate on her education and public speaking. Oprah 's talent of speaking in front of others started to take her places. "In 1970 she won an Elk 's Club speaking competition, earning a 4 year college scholarship to Tennessee State University as the prize" (Fry). She had a couple broadcasting jobs before being the talk show host for a show called People Are Talking. "Then she got a job as the host of A.M. Chicago, which became the highest-rated talk show in Chicago and was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show"