Research Paper: Oprah Winfrey Oprah Winfrey is an actress, philanthropist, publisher, and producer. She was born on January 29th, 1954 in the rural town called Kosciusko, Mississippi. In 1976 she moved to Baltimore because she was the host of a hit television chat show called, ’People Are Talking’. She was there for 8 years, then was recruited by a Chicago television station to host her own morning show. But, Oprah is known best for hosting her own worldwide talk show called, ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’. The talk show was on the air for 25 seasons, from 1986 to 2011. Her success led to a nationwide fame and role in Steven Spielberg’s film called, ‘The Color Purple’, in 1985. After her role in that film she was nominated for an Academy Award for the Best Supporting Actress. Then, she soon started her own new production called, ‘Harpo Productions’. Harpo productions is ‘Oprah’ spelled backwards. In 1994, the talk shows were becoming extremely trashy and very corrupt. Even though, her ratings originally fell, she eventually earned the respect of her viewers and was soon rewarded with a rise in popularity. Her projects with Harpo have included the highly rated …show more content…
The program promoted many unknown authors to the top of the bestseller lists. In 2005, Oprah decided to help give ‘The Color Purple’ a new shine, by a revival of the musical, which Oprah co-produced. In 2015, it won the Tony Award for best revival of a musical. In 2009, Oprah Winfrey announced that she would be ending her production company. But, only to air her ‘OWN’ network. OWN is short for Oprah Winfrey Network. Soon after, Oprah returned to acting in her new TV show ‘Greenleaf’. Greenleaf is an original family drama that takes place around a Memphis megachurch and it premiered on OWN in June 2016. According to Forbes magazine, Oprah was the richest African American of the 20th century and the world's only Black billionaire for three years