Oprah was born in rural Mississippi to poor, unmarried, teenage parents on 29th January, 1954. She was raised on a farm by her maternal grandmother after her parent’s separation. By the age of three, Oprah’s Grandmother had taught her to read, and when she began kindergarten, she wrote a note to the teacher, asking to be placed into grade 1. The next year, she skipped grade 2 and was in grade 3. At age six, Oprah was sent to stay with her mother in Milwaukee, in an extremely dangerous neighborhood, and then at age twelve, was sent to stay with her father in Nashville, Tennessee. There she lived in a safe and secure environment, where she enjoyed creating speeches for social gatherings and churches. Although, when she was taken back to stay with her mother in the dangerous neighborhood, she was mistreated, and sexually abused from age nine by trusted men within the family. This was as a result of her mother not having time to supervise Oprah between her odd jobs.
Although, when Oprah went back to stay with her father, she experienced a life changing turning point. As he was very strict, and provided lots of guidance and rules, Oprah excelled in learning through her father getting her to read often, and complete book reports on a weekly basis, and each day, learn five new vocabulary words. At school, she participated in Drama and Debating Club, which helped with her confidence and speech giving, as well as being in the Student Council. Through a speaking contest, she won a scholarship to Tennessee State University. Things were certainly looking up for young Oprah Winfrey.
At the age of nineteen, Oprah was Nashville’s first female co-anchor of the evening news, which is a job she accepted during her early years of college. From this point onwards, Oprah continued to succeed and excel in her work, including being in the morning talk show Baltimore is Talking for seven years, and then moving to ABC where she was in a morning show, renamed the Oprah Winfrey Show.
After being featured in the film The Color Purple Oprah’s Show popularity skyrocketed, and the Oprah Winfrey Show was awarded several Emmys for Best Talk Show, and Oprah received the award of Best Talk Show Host.
Oprah Winfrey is now know as one of the wealthiest women in America and is the highest paid entertainer throughout the world. She continues to make generous donations to many charities, and through her lifetime has proved to the world that anything is possible, no matter where you start.
“Doing the best at this moment puts you in the best place for the next moment.”
-------- Oprah Winfrey
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