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Here's a look at the life of Oprah Winfrey, who hosted the award-winning “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
Birthdate: January 29, 1954
Place of birth: Kosciusko, Mississippi
Birth name: Oprah Gail Winfrey
Father: Vernon Winfrey, barber
Mother: Vernita Lee, a maid (her parents never married)
Education: Tennessee State University, Bachelor of Arts in Speech and Performing Arts, 1976
At age 19, while still a sophomore in college, he becomes the youngest African-American anchor and the first anchor for WTVF-TV in Nashville.
Winfrey's name is spelled Orpah on her birth certificate, but there was confusion over how to pronounce the name, so the spelling was changed to Oprah. In an interview with Academy of Achievement, Winfrey explained that her aunt chose the name Orpah as a biblical reference. Winfrey said he's happy the spelling was changed to Oprah because it's spelled Harpo backwards.
Stedman Graham has been his partner for over 30 years.
Together, Winfrey and “The Oprah Winfrey Show” received a total of 16 Daytime Emmy Awards for “Best Talk Show Host” and “Best Talk Show” and one for her work as supervising producer of the show “ABC Afterschool Special.” : Shades of a.” Unique protein.” Winfrey also received two honorary awards.
After eliminating its name from competition at the Daytime Emmy Awards in 2000, “The Oprah Winfrey Show” won Emmy Awards only in the technical categories.
Winfrey has been involved in several projects that have earned her many Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning one, and also receiving an honorary award.
Two Academy Award nominations. She received an honorary award.
Two Tony Award nominations with one win.
1976 – He becomes a news co-anchor at WJZ-TV in Baltimore.
January 1984 – He becomes the host of “AM Chicago,” which airs with Phil Donahue.
September 1985 – The program is renamed “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
1985-2011 – Host of “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” the highest-rated talk show in history.
1985 – She makes her film debut in “The Color Purple,” for which she is nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress.
November 8, 1986 – “The Oprah Winfrey Show” is distributed nationally.
1987, 1988, 1989, 1991-1992, 1994-1996 and 1997 – Wins the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show for “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
1987, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995 and 1998 – Wins the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host for “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”
1988 – He forms his own production company, Harpo Inc.
December 20, 1993 – President Bill Clinton honors Oprah by signing the “Oprah Bill” into law, following her 1991 testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee advocating for a national database to search for child molesters. This bill, officially called the National Child Protection Act, creates a national criminal background check system.
1993 – Wins the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Children's Special, “ABC Afterschool Special: Shadows of a Single Protein.” Oprah is also inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame.
nineteen ninety six – Starts “Oprah's Book Club” on her show. The book club becomes very influential in the publishing world as selected books rise to the top of bestseller lists.
1997 – Starts Oprah's Angel Network, a charitable foundation.
1998 – Winfrey receives a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmy Awards.
1998 – Produces the film “Amada”.
1998 – It is partnering with Oxygen Media, which plans to operate a 24-hour women's cable channel.
1999 – Withdraw his name for consideration at the Daytime Emmy Awards.
2000 – Wins the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie for “Oprah Winfrey Presents: Tuesdays with Morrie.”
April 2000 – Launches “O, The Oprah Magazine” and Oxygen Network.
2002 – Accepts the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
February 2003 – She becomes the first African-American woman on Forbes magazine's “richest people in the world” list, with a net worth of around $1 billion.
September 13, 2004 – He starts a new season of his talk show by giving each audience member a new car.
September 26, 2005 – Winfrey announces that she will invest more than a million dollars to bring the musical “The Color Purple” to Broadway in December 2005.
September 25, 2006-January 1, 2015 – Oprah and Friends (renamed Oprah Radio) airs on SiriusXM Radio.
January 2, 2007 – The Oprah Winfrey Girls' Leadership Academy opens in Henley-on-Klip, South Africa. The school houses 152 girls from disadvantaged backgrounds and provides them with education. Winfrey has reportedly spent $40 million on opening the school.
September 8, 2007 – He hosts a fundraiser for presidential hopeful Barack Obama at his California home.
October 2007 – NBC buys Oxygen Network for $925 million.
January 15, 2008 – Winfrey and Discovery Communications announce that beginning in 2009, Discovery Health Channel will be renamed OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network.
November 20, 2009 – He announces on his show that he will discontinue his talk show in 2011. He will then move to California and launch OWN.
December 5, 2010 – Winfrey is honored at the Kennedy Center as part of the 33rd annual Kennedy Center Honors gala.
January 1, 2011 – OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network Debuts.
May 25, 2011 – The latest “Oprah Winfrey Show” airs. There are no guests for this episode.
June 19, 2011 – He receives the Chairman's Crystal Pillar Award for his decades of network television work from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
November 12, 2011 – Winfrey receives an honorary Oscar, the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
January 1, 2012 – Winfrey's new show, “Oprah's Next Chapter,” debuts on the OWN network.
November 20, 2013 – Receives the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama.
October 19, 2015 – Winfrey and Weight Watchers announce a partnership in which Winfrey will purchase a 10% stake in the company and take a seat on its board of directors.
June 12, 2016 – Wins a Tony Award for Best Revival of a Musical for “The Color Purple.”
January 3, 2017 – She publishes a cookbook, “Food, Health and Happiness: 115 Precise Recipes for Great Food and a Better Life.”
January 31, 2017 – CBS announces that Winfrey will be a special contributor to “60 Minutes” beginning in the fall of 2017.
August 9, 2017 – Partners with Kraft Heinz Company to produce a line of refrigerated comfort food called O, That's Good!, available in stores beginning October 2017.
January 7, 2018 – Winfrey receives the 2018 Golden Globes Cecil B. DeMille Award, which is given “to a talented individual for outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment.”
February 20, 2018 – He announces that he will donate $500,000 to March For Our Lives, an event formed after the deadly shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
June 15, 2018 – Apple announces that Winfrey has signed a multi-year agreement with the company to create new original programming.
July 11, 2018 – Winfrey invests in True Food Kitchen, a Phoenix-based healthy restaurant chain.
November 1, 2018 – He delivers a speech in support of Georgia Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. “For anyone here who has an ancestor who did not have the right to vote and chooses not to vote, wherever you are in this state, in this country, you are dishonoring your family,” Winfrey said in Marietta, Georgia. .
April 8, 2019 – The Hispanic Federation and the Flamboyan Arts Fund announce that Winfrey will donate $2 million to help Puerto Rico recover from Hurricane Maria.
April 10, 2019 – Winfrey and Prince Harry are announced to team up on a multi-part documentary series focused on mental health. The series will air on the Apple TV platform in 2020.
October 7, 2019 – While celebrating her 30th anniversary at Morehouse College, Winfrey announces a $13 million donation to her scholarship fund. This brings his total donation to $25 million. It is the largest donation in the university's history, according to the school.
January 10, 2020 – He is stepping down as executive producer of a documentary exposing sexual misconduct allegations against Russell Simmons. “On the Record” was being produced to air on the Apple TV streaming platform as part of Winfrey's multi-year content partnership with the company.
April 2, 2020 – He announces that he has donated $10 million “to help Americans during this pandemic in cities across the country.” Of his total donation, $1 million will go to America's Food Fund to alleviate food insecurity. The rest will be donated to other groups helping Americans during the pandemic.
July 30, 2020 – “The Oprah Conversation” debuts on Apple TV+.
July 30, 2020 – It was announced that Breonna Taylor will appear on the cover of O magazine. The first time in the magazine's 20-year history that Winfrey does not appear on the cover.
March 7, 2021 – “Oprah With Meghan and Harry: A CBS Primetime Special” airs on CBS and attracts more than 17 million viewers in the United States.
December 13, 2023 – A painting honoring Winfrey is unveiled at the Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery.
February 28, 2024 – It is announced that Oprah will step down from the WeightWatchers board of directors, ending a nearly decade-long stint as the company's director. Winfrey will also give away her stake in the company and donate all of her shares to the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
