Oprah Winfrey is the only self made female billionaire in the United States and she is also the richest female of America. But her story has its beginning with a very troubled childhood. Born on January 29th 1954 in Mississippi she was born to unmarried parents and lived with her mother Vernita. There she had a very difficult adolescence as she was sexually harassed and abused by her male relatives. Later she moved to Nashville to live with her father, Vermon. Here, life took a better turn for her and things started to improve slowly. She entered Tennessee State University and began working as a radio and television broadcaster in 1971. This was her first brush with fame. She got more known in the public when she moved to Baltimore in 1976 and hosted TV chat show, “people are talking”. Here she became an instant hit and ran the show for eight years. After this she got a job in Chicago and hosted a show called “A M Chicago”. Oprah Winfrey’s style was unlike any other TV host and her warm and energetic style made her the sweet heart of America. The show was soon the number 1 show in America. This show later became the Oprah Winfrey show when Oprah gained ownership of the show. Only in its first year it grossed a remarkable $125 million and was watched by more than 10 million viewers around the world. She made more and more money from the show after it started running under her own production company, harpo productions. In 1985 she worked in a Steven Spielberg film, The Color Purple, and was nominated for an Oscar in the category for best supporting actress.
By the mid 1990s every talk show was the same and viewers got tired of seeing the same thing over and over again, but Oprah Winfrey did not disappoint her fans. She kept her show interesting and talked about issues that were important and relevant to the general public. She became even more popular and contributed more to the general public, this time by starting her book club called the Oprah Winfrey’s Book Club. People started reading again and weather Oprah chose a new or an unknown author in her show, the writer was sure to reach the number 1 selling spot. The reason behind the media industry giant’s success is that she always comes up with something new and does something no one has ever done before. People still remember her remarkable struggle with weight and she actually managed to lose over 90 pounds. Through her weight loss efforts, two other people , her trainer and her chef, got instant fame and their respective books were the best selling box of their times.
Oprah Winfrey is not just a money making machine, she is also known to help people in need and donate generously to various causes. She contributed more than a million dollars for the victims of the hurricane Katrina and donated millions more through her show. She is indeed an actress, producer, TV show host and a philanthropist loved by all.
