An Inspiring People

OPRAH WINFREY

Oprah has been an inspiration to me and to millions of people across America.  From her book club, interviews, roadtrips and her famous "My Favorite Things" show where everyone in the audience is given thousands of dollars of merchandise, Oprah has been a front runner in daytime television for the last 25 years.  I believe Oprah came up with the saying "Pay it Forward" where you give help to someone for no reason other than hoping that person will pay it forward also.  Oprah has come up with such simple ideas that make you think to yourself why didn't I think of that.

From her humble beginnings Oprah has shown that anyone can do anything, and overcome anything, if they put their mind to it.  Oprah is one of the most generous human beings on earth, sure she is one of the richest, but she gives so much more, she is deserving of a humanitarian award if anyone ever was. So, take a look to Oprah Biography

Born on 29 January, 1954 in Mississippi, Oprah Winfrey is best recognized for worthy actress and author as well. Concerning her education, she received the doctorate degree from Harvard University. Encountering poverty in childhood, she became capable of receiving the pair of shoes at the age of 6; an amazing reality. Owing to her desperate childhood, she set her mind to compensate her living with success one day.

As a matter of fact, she was so intelligent that she had learned to read at the age of only 3. Moreover, during her childhood, she retained her habit of memorizing 20 new vocabulary words per week. These are few realities that turned her towards triumph incorporating the place of bestselling author today.

But, did you know that Oprah had a difficult childhood? Her name was supposed to be Orpah, from the Bible, but because of the difficulty of spelling and pronunciation, she was known as Oprah almost from birth. Winfrey's unmarried parents separated soon after she was born and left her in the care of her maternal grandmother on the farm.

As a child, Winfrey entertained herself by "playacting" in front of an "audience" of farm animals. Under the strict guidance of her grandmother, she learned to read at two and a half years old. She addressed her church congregation about "when Jesus rose on Easter Day" when she was two years old. Then Winfrey skipped kindergarten after writing a note to her teacher on the first day of school saying she belonged in the first grade. She was promoted to third grade after that year.

At six years old Winfrey was sent north to join her mother and two half-brothers in a Milwaukee ghetto, an extremely poor and dangerous neighborhood. At twelve years old she was sent to live with her father in Nashville, Tennessee. Feeling secure and happy for a brief period she began making speeches at social gatherings and churches, and one time earned five hundred dollars for a speech. She knew then that she wanted to be "paid to talk."

Winfrey, again, was called back by her mother, and she had to leave the safety of her father's home. The poor, urban lifestyle had its negative effect on Winfrey as a young teenager, and her problems were compounded by repeated sexual abuse, starting at age nine, by men that others in her family trusted. Isn’t that scary? Her mother worked odd jobs and did not have much time for supervision.

After years of bad behavior, Winfrey's mother sent her back to her father in Nashville.

So, why can Oprah became famous? Here are the turning point…

Winfrey said her father saved her life. He was very strict and provided her with guidance, structure, rules, and books. He required his daughter to complete weekly book reports, and she went without dinner until she learned five new vocabulary words each day.

Winfrey became an excellent student, participating as well in the drama club, debate club, and student council. In an Elks Club speaking contest, she won a full scholarship to Tennessee State University. The following year she was invited to a White House Conference on Youth. Winfrey was crowned Miss Fire Prevention by WVOL, a local Nashville radio station, and was hired by the station to read afternoon newscasts.

Winfrey became Miss Black Nashville and Miss Tennessee during her freshman year at Tennessee State. The Nashville Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) affiliate offered her a job; Winfrey turned it down twice, but finally took the advice of a speech teacher, who reminded her that job offers from CBS were "the reason people go to college." The show was seen each evening on WTVF-TV, and Winfrey was Nashville's first African American female coanchor of the evening news. She was nineteen years old and still a sophomore in college.

For her career, After Winfrey graduated, WJZ-TV in Baltimore, Maryland, scheduled her to do the local news updates, called cut-ins, during Good Morning, America, and soon she was moved to the morning talk show Baltimore Is Talking with cohost Richard Sher. After seven years on the show, the general manager of WLS-TV, American Broadcasting Company's (ABC) Chicago affiliate, saw Winfrey in an audition tape sent in by her producer, Debra DiMaio. At the time her ratings in Baltimore were better than Phil Donahue's, a national talk-show host, and she and DiMaio were hired.

Winfrey moved to Chicago, Illinois, in January 1984 and took over as anchor on A.M. Chicago, a morning talk show that was consistently last in the ratings. She changed the emphasis of the show from traditional women's issues to current and controversial (debatable) topics, and after one month the show was even with Donahue's program. Three months later it had inched ahead. In September 1985 the program, renamed the Oprah Winfrey Show, was expanded to one hour. As a result, Donahue moved to New York City.

In 1985 Quincy Jones (1933–) saw Winfrey on television and thought she would make a fine actress in a movie he was coproducing with director Steven Spielberg (1946–). The film was based on the Alice Walker (1944–) novel The Color Purple. Her only acting experience until then had been in a one-woman show, The History of Black Women Through Drama and Song, which she performed during an African American theater festival in 1978.

The popularity of Winfrey's show skyrocketed after the success of The Color Purple, and in September 1985 the distributor King World bought the syndication rights (the rights to distribute a television program) to air the program in one hundred thirty-eight cities, a record for first-time syndication. That year, although Donahue was being aired on two hundred stations, Winfrey won her time slot by 31 percent, drew twice the Chicago audience as Donahue, and carried the top ten markets in the United States.

In 1986 Winfrey received a special award from the Chicago Academy for the Arts for unique contributions to the city's artistic community and was named Woman of Achievement by the National Organization of Women. The Oprah Winfrey Show won several Emmys for Best Talk Show, and Winfrey was honored as Best Talk Show Host.

Some unique facts about Oprah:

a.    She has nourished five dogs naming Sadie, Luke, Layla, Lauren and Sunny.

b.    She made some quotes that became so famous like…..

So, that is a biography of Oprah, an inspiring women

QUESTION

1.     When is Oprah born?

a.  January 29, 1954, Kosciusko, Mississippi, United States

b.    January 26, 1958, Metairie, Louisiana, United States

c.    August 4, 1961, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

d.    June 14, 1946, New York City, New York, United States

e.    March 6, 1951, Whitesboro, New Jersey, United States

2.    Why is Oprah famous?

a.       Because she have 5 dogs

b.      Because Oprah became the first woman to own her own talk show.

c.       Because she has her own magazine

d.      Because every mother loves Oprah

e.       Because she is so kind

3.    What was Oprah's childhood like?

a.    Happy childhood

b.    Sad childhood

c.   A difficult childhood

d.  Easy childhood

e.  Ruined childhood

4.  What is her dog name?

a.  Sadie, Luke, Layla, Lauren and Sunny

b.    Helly, Gukguk, Cameri, Aihyo, Larry

c.    Yahi, Zay, Doll, Gee, Evi

d.    Rai, Stelo, Lasses, Diamond, Demon

e.    Nesi, Mesi, Tesi, Lazy, Cowzy

5.    How was her father?

a.    Arrogant

b.    Kind

c.    Smart

d.  Strict

e.    Horrible