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Oprah's Father Born
He is currently 82. -
Oprah's Mother Born
She is still alive and well today at the age of 80. -
Date of birth
Full name is Oprah Gail Winfrey. -
Place of Birth
Kosciusko, Mississippi -
Oprah's Half Brother was born
Died of AIDS in 1989 at the age of 29. -
Oprah's Half Sister Born
Patrica Lloyd is Oprah's half sister. She died at the age of 43 due to drug abuse. She "betrayed" Oprah when she approached a national tabloid and told Oprah's story of her hidden shame and left their offices $19,000 richer. -
Won Miss Black Tennessee Beauty Pagent
Couldn't find the exact date -
Got a part-time job
At 17, Oprah was offered a part-time job at radio station, WVOL AM 1470, in Nashville, Tennessee after winning a beauty contest representing the station. -
Co-hosted WJZ's talk show
She moved to Baltimore's WJZ-TV in 1976 to co-anchor the six o'clock news. She was then recruited to join Richard Sher as co-host of WJZ's local talk show People Are Talking, which premiered on August 14, 1978 -
Relocated to Chicago
In 1983 she relocated to Chicago to host WLS-TV's low-rated half-hour morning talk show. The first episode aired on January 2, 1984. Within months the show went from last place in the ratings to the highest rated talk show in Chicago. -
The Color Purple
Winfrey co-starred in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple as distraught housewife, Sofia. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. The film went on to become a Broadway musical which opened in late 2005, with Winfrey credited as a producer. In -
Oprah Winfrey Show Created
Opra'h show was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show. It expanded to a full hour and broadcast nationally beginning September 8, 1986. Classifed as tabloid talk show. -
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Oprah Winfrey Show Expands
In the 1990s, Oprah adopted a less tabloid-oriented format, hosting shows on broader topics such as heart disease, meditation, interviewing celebrities on social issues they were directly involved with like cancer, charity work, or substance abuse, and hosting televised giveaways including shows where every audience member received a new car. -
Beloved
In October 1998, Winfrey produced and starred in the film Beloved, based on Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name. To prepare for her role as Sethe, the protagonist and former slave, Winfrey experienced a 24-hour simulation of the experience of slavery, which included being tied up and blindfolded and left alone in the woods. -
Co-founded Oxygen
As well as hosting and appearing on television shows, Oprah co-founded the women's cable television network Oxygen. -
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Most Influential Person
Oprah was voted, "one of the most influential people" from 2004 to 2011 by TIME. Winfrey is the only person in the world to have appeared in the latter list on ten occasions. Obama said that she was the most influential woman in the country -
Helped create books and magazines
Oprah has co-authored five books. At the announcement of a weight loss book in 2005, co-authored with her personal trainer Bob Greene, it was said that her undisclosed advance fee had broken the record for the world's highest book advance fee, previously held by the autobiography of former U.S. President Bill Clinton -
Radio Station
Winfrey signed a three-year, $55 million contract with XM Satellite Radio to establish a new radio channel. The channel, Oprah Radio, features popular contributors to The Oprah Winfrey Show and O, The Oprah Magazine including Nate Berkus, Dr. Mehmet Oz, Bob Greene, Dr. Robin Smith and Marianne Williamson. -
Oprah Winfrey Network Created
On January 15, 2008, Winfrey and Discovery Communications announced plans to change Discovery Health Channel into a new channel called OWN: Oprah Winfrey Network. It was scheduled to launch in 2009, but was delayed, and actually launched on January 1, 2011. The series finale of The Oprah Winfrey Show aired on May 25, 2011
