Oprah Winfrey Biography
"You become what you believe – not what you wish or want but what you truly believe." - Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey Biography – who is Oprah Winfrey
“You gotta do a lot of work in your life and not be afraid. The strong have got to take care of the others,” taught Hattie Mae. Despite her early age, Oprah grasped this concept.
At school, it did not take Oprah long to realize that she was too much ahead of the other children, who still had to learn how to read and write. In kindergarten, Oprah wrote a letter to her teacher using her best vocabulary, asking her to move her to the higher grade. The teacher agreed and next day moved her into the first grade. Later, Oprah would skip the third grade. At the age of eight Oprah came to live with her father, Vernon Winfrey, and his wife, Zelma, who lived in Nashville, Tennessee. For the first time in her life Oprah had a family she had dreamed of. Her father and his wife were strict disciplinarians, but they both loved the girl and were able to give her the attention and guidance she needed. Under their strict regimen, Oprah began to excel – both in and out of the classroom. She started fund-raising campaigns for the poor children, she was a public speaker in churches, women groups and banquets, and she had become known for talking. Other kids teased her for her abilities, but it did not bother Oprah. She felt inspired and she followed her heart. The warm family atmosphere ended abruptly, when Oprah’s mother announced she wanted her daughter back. At that time Vernita was pregnant with another child, Oprah’s half-brother, Jeffrey. Oprah’s life turned back to an unsettled existence where her mother was often away working, and adult relatives and friends of Vernita came frequently to their apartment. For the period of several years Oprah was abused, but did not dare to speak about what was happening to her. She felt very much alone. Reading books remained her passion and her consolation. Occasionally she was noticed by a teacher, who was aware of the new program helping bright children from disadvantaged households get on an educational path leading them to college. Oprah was offered a scholarship to Nicolet High School in the suburbs of Milwaukee and she accepted it. Her home situation was not getting any better, and the girl became a real rebel. Trying to escape from the abusive environment, she ran away several times, only to be caught and returned home. At the age of fourteen her mother tried to bring Oprah to a detention center, but luckily for her it was too full. Vernita had no other options than to call Oprah’s father and ask him to come and get his daughter. His willingness to take Oprah back to Nashville saved her. Oprah Winfrey Biography – Education and new possibilities Vernon Winfrey and his wife were a perfect family to help Oprah in her situation. They provided the structure and strict discipline lacking in her life before. Once again, Oprah was requested to read books and write reports on them. Once again, Oprah invested all her efforts in her studies. And again, she resumed her public speaking, encouraged by her father who believed in her potential. When Oprah was sixteen, a pastor from Los Angeles heard her speak in Nashville. He was so impressed, that he asked her to speak at his church. Around the same time, Oprah was chosen to represent her high school at a White House Conference on Youth in Colorado. Oprah felt encouraged and thought that someday she would become famous. Her first serious boyfriend in her senior year at high school, Anthony Otey, remembered: “One thing I remember most about Gail Oprah Winfrey Biography – the First Job in Broadcasting In her senior year something happened that defined her future career. It started with a March of Dimes Walk-a-Thon. Oprah needed a business sponsor, and she went to a radio station, WVOL, to ask if she could get any support. A disc jockey, John Heidelberg, agreed to sponsor her, but then also asked if he could hear her voice on a tape. There was something about a girl and the way she spoke that made him think that Oprah had a right voice for radio. The audition was impressive, and Heidelberg asked other people to hear her… The job was offered to Oprah on the same day. The only problem was that her father was reluctant to replace Oprah with an employee in his grocery shop where she worked. However, when he heard about the offer from WVOL, he also got excited about the opportunities this part-time job offered to his daughter.
When Oprah was sixteen she won an oratorical contest that awarded a four-year scholarship. Her father insisted that she enroll at Tennessee State University in Nashville and live at home. Oprah complied. In the meantime, the radio station had offered another opportunity that truly surprised Oprah. They wanted her to enter the Miss Fire Prevention beauty contest. Although Oprah had never considered herself a beauty she thought she also had nothing to lose. She agreed to participate with an idea to have fun, and she won the contest. In 1973, when Oprah was nineteen years old, she got a call from the station manager at WTVF, the CBS affiliate in Nashville. He suggested that she might try herself for the work for television. After doubts and hesitation, Oprah agreed. Even though at that time there was a racially tense time in Nashville, people just accepted her. Her fresh style appealed to almost everyone. Oprah Winfrey Biography – Finding Own Identity In 1976, her next job offer came from Baltimore, and the job of co-anchoring the evening news was a good career opportunity. Oprah agreed even though she was not finished with college at that time. She still had her senior project to complete, but this was something she would resolve much later. For the first time in her career, things did not work out for her. She had been paired with a well-established broadcaster, who did not want a co-anchor. The mismatch was obvious. To make things even worse, the station management was having doubts about Oprah herself, her casual speaking style and the way she looked. She was sent to a hairdresser to get her hair straightened – and it all fell out! She was sent to a speech coach, which she found very insulting because she had been a successful public speaker since her early age. The station management tried to use Oprah as a street reporter, but in this position they liked her even less than an anchor. Her problem was in being too emotional about traumatic events and people she was supposed to interview. She often felt that she was intruding on a person’s grief. Oprah Winfrey Biography - Break-through In 1977, she was given another chance. WJZ-TV was planning a new morning program called “People Are Talking”, and Oprah was named as a co-host. By the time the first show was over, Oprah realized the tremendous impact it made on her: “I came off of that stage August 14, 1978, and I knew that I was home. In all my years of being discontent, feeling like something’s not quite right, feeling like I was in the wrong place, in the wrong job, I knew this is it. I felt like home because it felt so natural. It felt like I could be myself.” Within five months the show’s rating sky rocketed. It became the third-highest-rated show in syndication – and the number-one talk show in Baltimore. Based on her performance, Oprah was offered the host slot of WLS-TV A. M. Chicago show in 1984. The rest of the story is well-known to everyone. Many people called Oprah lucky, because of her seemingly instant accomplishments and her financial success. Oprah herself thinks otherwise. “Life is quite simple. So simple that most people miss the point entirely. They either think I’m lucky or I get all the breaks. The truth of the matter is that I am spirit-led. My life is actually better than it appears because of my inner peace. I used to be my own worst enemy. But that has changed. If you allow yourself to get out of the way, grace will come to you.”
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