Media giant Oprah Winfrey was born into the countryside town of Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her parents were Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey. She also had Half Siblings from her mom's side, Patricia Lofton, and Jeffrey Lee who passed away due to aids. And later on in Oprah's career she found out she had a Half Sister, Patricia Lee Lloyd, that her mom gave up for adoption. However, Patricia also passed away due to an overdose. Oprah moved to Baltimore where she started her career and hosted a chat show, People Are Talking. Later on she was enrolled by a Chicago Network and hosted her own tv show that went on for 25 seasons, The Oprah Winfrey Show. Then she launched her own TV network, Oprah Winfrey Network.
When Oprah was really young her mother moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to find a job to work since her mom was so young when she gave birth to Oprah she was unemployed. Oprah lived with her grandmother at this time in Kosciusko
Years later when Oprah was 16 she practiced in public speaking and won a speaking competition, the prize was a four year college scholarship at Tennessee State University and graduated with a degree of in Speech Communications and Performing Arts, which was a big thing for someone who lived in poverty.
Oprah has many characteristics that make her a good entrepreneur but the one that stands out to me the most is, persistence. No matter how many times Oprah was pushed down she always came back up smarter and stronger than ever. The reason why Oprah is seen as a big leader and an inspiration to all today is she wasn't born into wealth and a family businesses like most entrepreneurs today. She wasn't given a “small” loan of a million dollars to start her own business. She started off rough and worked extremely hard for her education, she started from total
Around this time, Lee had given birth to another daughter ( Winfrey's half sister) she died at age 43 because of a cocaine addiction. After that tragic incident Oprah was sent to live with her dad in Nashville, Tennessee. While Oprah was living in Nashville, her mom gave birth to a 3rd child, also she gave birth to a boy named Jeffrey who later died of AIDS related causes in 1989. At 9 years old Oprah stated that she was molested by her cousin, uncle and a family friend. Oprah didn't want be a mother because she wasn't mothered well. At age 13, after suffering years of abuse, Winfrey ran away from home. When she was 14, she became pregnant but her son was born prematurely and he died shortly after birth. She began going to Lincoln High School, and soon got transferred to the affluent suburban Nicolet High School, where her poverty was rubbed in her face on the bus. Oprah began to steal money from her mom, her frustrated mother once again sent her to live with Vernam in Nashville, Tennessee, Vernam was strict, but encouraging and made her education a priority. She then became an honor student, she was
At the age of six, Winfrey moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to live with her mother who was a housemaid and who had given birth to a daughter. In 1962, Oprah was sent to Nashville, Tennessee to live with her biological father Vernon Winfrey as her mother was having some financial issues. Vernon, according to Oprah was a strict parent but made Oprah’s education his priority.
Perhaps the most notable triumph of Oprah Winfrey is her job as host of her own television show, "The Oprah Winfrey Show". Because anyone is free to decide what they choose as a career, she had the opportunity to create this show. The viewings and acceptance of the consumers to her show allowed it's prosperity. Keep in mind that Oprah had no control of the success her show would receive, although she had free decision to do what she pleased with it, it was the decision of the consumers
Oprah’s childhood was not the greatest. Her unmarried parents split up, and she grew up on a farm with her grandmother. She developed rapidly and could read before she was three. Also, she was tested out of kindergarten and second grade, thus only taking first grade and skipping to third grade. When she turned six, she started to live with her mother and was very lonely. However, she began her speaking profession around that time. “She was invited to recite poetry at black social clubs and church teas, where she became known as ‘the little speaker.’ At 12, during a visit to her father in Nashville, she earned $500 for a speech she delivered at a church” (“Winfrey, Oprah”). As you can tell, Oprah started young in her profession and was determined to make a living off of this since her prior experiences.
Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi. As a child, Oprah spent her early childhood with her grandmother, Hattie Mae Lee while Oprah’s mom, Venita moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Venita wanted to become more stable and would eventually come for Oprah. While Oprah lived with her grandmother, Oprah flourished she learned how to read and write at the age of 3. By the time she started kindergarten at the age of 5, Oprah was moved to the first grade. Unfortunately, at the age of 6, Oprah’s grandmother Hattie Mae Lee became very ill. Oprah moved to Milwaukee, WI to live with her mom. They were very poor and lived on welfare. Not having enough time to give to her children, Oprah’s mom sent her to live with her dad, Vernon Winfrey, in Nashville, Tennessee.
Orpah Gail Winfrey, better known as Oprah Winfrey, was born on January 29, 1954 in the bustling city of Kosciusko, Mississippi. She was born into a complicated family, with her mother, Vernita Lee, being only 19 when Oprah was born and her father, Vernon Winfrey, making just
At Nashville, Tennessee, his father was almost the complete opposite of her mother (America's Beloved Best Friend). He was a disciplinarian, he would give Oprah a midnight curfew, and she would need to reed a book each week and write a report about the book (America's Beloved Best Friend).
Oprah has been known as “one of America’s top 50 most generous philanthropist” as she continues to contribute ten percent of her income ($385 million in 2008) to her favorite charities, related to education, youths, and literature. She had donated millions to Tennessee State University which is her alma mater as part of the scholarship funds, The United Negro Fund, to encourage young black Americans to pursue their dreams, and the Harold Washington Library, which is a program for economically disadvantaged Chicago-area young girls.
At the age of nineteen Oprah landed her first job as a reporter for a radio station in Nashville. Later she entered Tennessee State University to study radio and television broadcasting. In 1976 Oprah Winfrey moved to Baltimore where she hosted a TV show called People Are Talking. The show was a hit and Winfrey stayed for eight years. In 1986 Oprah started the Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah has been honored with the most prestigious awards in broadcasting including the George Foster Peabody individual Achievement award in 1996 and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences lifetime Achievement award in 1998. In June 1998,
Oprah Winfrey is an inspiration to many all around the world. She did not have a very good home life up until the age of 14. She was abused as a child and did not see her mother very often because she was a housemaid who was gone almost every day all day. Vernon Winfrey, Oprah’s father, was a big service in her life when it came to keeping her in a nonviolent manner. Oprah also had her career going for her when she became Miss Black Tennessee at age 17. When Oprah became Miss Black Tennessee she was offered a radio broadcasting job and a full scholarship to Tennessee. Oprah had quite a few talk shows yet she made the most money off her own show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and now has her individual network called The Oprah Winfrey Network. Oprah Winfrey’s influential style greatly impacted those who came after her in the entertainment industry.
During her childhood years living with her mother, Oprah had very little money and life was difficult. She wants to help as many children as possible grow up in a sound, safe, and educational environment. Oprah has changed the world with all of her organizations and charity efforts. Oprah Winfrey has helped thousands of children attend school with her scholarships that she has funded. Many of these children would never go to school or continue their college career without her amazing efforts of providing financial support to these children. Oprah also helped build homes for families through her efforts with Habitat for Humanity and her donations after Hurricane Katrina helped families start their lives over again after the mass destruction of the hurricane by providing the financial support to rebuild many communities and neighborhoods(“Oprah Winfrey”). When researching Oprah Winfrey, I now realize why she is such an incredible person. The world is a better place because of Oprah Winfrey. This is another example of a person that has worked very hard to achieve her goals in life. Oprah strived for her dreams of being able to give back to the community and world. Oprah came from nothing, built an empire and became one of the most influential people in the world. While building an empire, Oprah has influenced millions of people achieve a better way of live. Oprah has positively
Oprah was born on a farm in 1954 to a poor family. Winfrey enjoyed reciting African American poetry, and became known as the "little speaker" in her town. When she was 12, Winfrey won $500 for a speech she gave at her father 's church. From then on she wanted to "be paid to talk." When Winfrey was a teenager, her dream was put on hold. Some of the trusted men of her family began to sexually abuse her. She lashed out in anger at the world by lying to her mother, running away from home, and stealing. Unaware of what Winfrey was going through, her mother sent her away to live with her father. If her mother never sent her away, Oprah 's life would have been much different. At age 17, Oprah Winfrey won the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant and was offered an on-air job at WVOL, a radio station for the African American community in Nashville. Oprah continued to work at WVOL in her first years of college, but her broadcasting career was already taking off. She left school and signed on with a local television station as a reporter and anchor. In 1976, she moved to Baltimore to join WJZ-TV News as a co-anchor. There, she co-hosted her first talk show, People Are Talking, while continuing to serve as anchor and news reporter. In January 1984, she was invited to Chicago to host a half-hour morning program on WLS-TV. In less than a year, she turned AM Chicago into the hottest show in
Her father was very strict and cared a lot about school and wanted her to get high marks. At high school she was a brilliant student, she loved being in the drama club and the student council. After she graduated in 1971 she received a four year scholarship to Tennessee State University. She began to develop broadcasting career at seventeen while working for WVOL radio in Nashville. While still at university Oprah at nineteen became the youngest and the first African-American female news anchor at WTVF-TV in Nashville, this shows us today that you can conquer anything you put your mind to, I mean she went through such a hard childhood but yet still conquered this. In 1976 Oprah took the job to be a co-host on an early morning talk show called People are Talking. In 1984 Oprah moved to Chicago and got chosen to host a talk show called AM Chicago. The show became really popular during the time of seven months and was then extended to be a one-hour show. In September 1985 after all the show’s success it was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show. It was on TV for twenty five years. Oprah interviewed and engaged with her audience a lot and talked about her childhood on the show. Her show ended in 2011. After her show ended Oprah published the Oprah Magazine and then set up her own cable television network named Oxygen in 1999. Oprah started collecting funds for charities and children that couldn’t afford to go to school and then established the Family for Better Lives
Although when she was young Oprah was faced with many difficult problems, she stuck to her school-work and pursued her love of teaching (Fry, web). One thing that Oprah is known for is her love of reading, teaching, and learning. This passion has helped her move forward and help others that are less fortunate than herself (Fry, web). These troubling things that Oprah was faced with turned her into a relatable, caring figure that many people would follow.... ... middle of paper ...
One of the most powerful women in the world is Oprah Gail Winfrey. Oprah is one of the richest businesswomen in the world, but she wasn’t always rich and successful. She had a very tough life growing up and didn’t have much money. She has always been a hard worker, and she had a passion for hosting and acting. Oprah is very good at what she does and that’s how she raised to the top of being one of the most influential women in the media.