Oprah Winfrey

Described as

American talk show host, actress, producer, and author (born 1954)

Other names

Oprah Gail Winfrey, Oprah, Orpah Gail Winfrey

Born

January 29, 1954 · 7 references

Born in

Kosciusko · 1 reference

Name at birth

Orpah Gail Winfrey · 1 reference

Citizen of

United States

Occupation

television presenter; patron of the arts; television producer; film producer; businessperson; actor · 1 reference; voice actor; writer

Political party

Democratic Party

Worked for

WVOL; WTVF (–1976); WJZ-TV (1976–); WLS-TV (1983–); Harpo Productions

Education

Tennessee State University; Lincoln High School; Nicolet High School · 1 reference; East Nashville Magnet High School · 1 reference; University of Tennessee · 1 reference

Member of

American Academy of Arts and Sciences

Known for

The Oprah Winfrey Show (1986–2011); The Women of Brewster Place; The Color Purple; Beloved; Their Eyes Were Watching God; Charlotte's Web; Bee Movie; The Princess and the Frog; The Butler

Awards

Presidential Medal of Freedom (2013) · 1 reference; Peabody Awards (1995); honorary doctor of Harvard University (2013) · 1 reference; Time 100: The Most Important People of the Century; Time 100 (3 times) (2004, 2018, 2022); Spingarn Medal (2000) · 1 reference; Bob Hope Humanitarian Award (2002); Jefferson Awards for Public Service (1998); NAACP Image Award for Outstanding News, Talk or Information – Series or Special (1993); NAACP Image Award for Entertainer of the Year (1991); NAACP Image Award – Hall of Fame Award (2005); People's Choice Awards (1988); Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie; Producers Guild of America Awards (1999); Marian Anderson Award (2003)

Field

self-help · 1 reference

Children

Canaan Winfrey

Father

Vernon Winfrey

Mother

Vernita Lee Winfrey · 1 reference

Lived in

Milwaukee; Nashville (–1976); Chicago (1983–); Montecito; Lavallette

Website

https://oprah.com

Wikipedias with a page

136

Wikidata item Q55800 (wikidata.org/wiki/Q55800), public domain (CC0). Copied November 13, 2026.

Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American media mogul, actress, executive producer, author, and television personality. She is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast from Chicago, which ran in national syndication for 25 years, from 1986 to 2011. Globally, she is the richest Black woman and the wealthiest female celebrity. Dubbed the "Queen of All Media", she was the richest African-American of the 20th century and was once the world's only Black billionaire. By 2007, she was often ranked as the most influential woman in the world and in 2026 was named the greatest living self-made American.
Winfrey was born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a single teenage mother and later raised in inner-city Milwaukee. Winfrey was then sent to live with her father, Vernon Winfrey, a barber in Nashville, Tennessee, and landed a job in radio while still in high school. By 19, she was a co-anchor for the local evening news. Winfrey's often emotional, extemporaneous delivery eventually led to her transfer to the daytime talk show arena, and after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place, she launched her own production company.
Credited with creating a more intimate, confessional form of media communication, Winfrey popularized and revolutionized the tabloid talk show genre pioneered by Phil Donahue. By the mid-1990s, Winfrey had reinvented her show with a focus on literature, self-improvement, mindfulness, and spirituality. She has been criticized for unleashing a confession culture, promoting controversial self-help ideas, and having an emotion-centered approach, and has also been praised for overcoming adversity to become a benefactor to others. Winfrey also emerged as a political force in the 2008 presidential race, with her endorsement of Barack Obama estimated to have been worth about one million votes during the 2008 Democratic primaries. In the same year, she formed her own network, the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). In 2013, Winfrey was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama.
In 1994, Winfrey was inducted into the National Women's Hall of Fame. She has received honorary doctorate degrees from multiple universities. Winfrey has won many awards throughout her career, including 19 Daytime Emmy Awards (including the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Chairman's Award), 3 Primetime Emmy Awards (including the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award), a Tony Award, a Peabody Award, and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award awarded by the Academy Awards, in addition to two competitive Academy Award nominations. Winfrey was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021.

Born, in its opening lines

January 29, 1954

From the Wikipedia article “Oprah Winfrey” (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey), by its contributors, under CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Copied November 13, 2026; not changed.