Oprah Winfrey Research Paper

Oprah Winfrey: A Biography Having a net worth of $2.9 billion, Oprah Winfrey is the only African-American billionaire in the U.S. and one of the richest self-made woman on the Forbes 2013 Billionaire List. Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29th, 1954 at Kosciusko, Missouri. She was born to unwed teenage parents, Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey. After Oprah's birth, her mother and father split up. For the first 5 years of Oprah's life, she lived on her Grandma Hattie Lee's farm, while her mother looked for work up north. Her grandma was so poor that Oprah often had to wear potato sacks as dresses. Hattie taught her to read before the age of 3. When Oprah was little Grandma Hattie would hit her with a stick if she didn't do her

In 1960, Vernita gave birth to Oprah's half-sister Patricia who later died of causes related to Cocaine addiction in 2003. By 1962 their mother was having trouble raising both kids and sent Oprah to live in Nashville, Tennessee with her father temporarily. While Oprah was living with her father, Vernita Lee had another daughter that she put up for adoption. She lived in orphanages until she was 7 and was later named Patricia. Oprah did not know she had another half-sister until 2010. By the time she moved back with her mother, she found out that she had a half-brother Jeffrey, who died of AIDS related causes in 1989. Oprah was raped at 9 by her 19 year-old cousin who was babysitting her. This wasn't the last time Oprah was sexually abused. She would later be abused by her cousin, uncle, family friend, and her mother's boyfriend. She never told a soul because they swore her to

Oprah went to Nashville East High School. Oprah has a lot of accomplishments, but I am just going to list a few of her biggest accomplishments. In the year 1973, Oprah graduated from Tennessee State University with a degree in Speech and Performing Arts, and became the first black TV news anchor with WTVF-TV. In 1983, Oprah moved to Chicago to host WLS-TV low-rated, half-hour morning talk show AM Chicago, and within months after Oprah took over, the show went on to be the highest-rated talk show in Chicago, and was renamed "The Oprah Winfrey Show". In the year 1987, Oprah won her first Emmy award for best talk show host and best show. In 2005, Oprah was named by Times magazine as one of the 100 most influential people of the year. She also ranked 9th place in public poll of the Greatest Americans. Oprah has invested $40 million and much of her time creating the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for girls near Johannesburg in South Africa, which started in 2007. Here are some fun facts that you might not know about Oprah Winfrey: She has 5 dogs; cocker spaniel Sadie; golden retrievers Luke and Layla; and springer spaniels Sunny and and