OPRAH WINFREY 1954 -

“I knew there was a way out; I knew there was another kind of life because I had read about it. I knew there were other places, and there was another way of being.”

 

Oprah Gail Winfrey was born in Mississippi, in a town called Kosciusko, in 1954. There was a mix-up with Oprah’s name. The world’s most influential woman’s name was supposed to be Orpah after the biblical character (sister in law of Ruth), but ‘Oprah’ had a ring to it and stuck.

When Oprah was born her mother Vernita Lee was still only a teenager living in poverty in rural Mississippi, a state with a reputation for oppression against its black citizens.

Abuse

There were chickens and pigs to raise and they worked hard producing their own food. No plumbing meant a constant flow of water required to be brought into the house. Bare foot little Oprah would take on this responsibility.

Oprah would later highlight “[People] would say to my grandmother, “Hattie Mae, this child sure can talk. She is the talkingest child.” Her teacher instantly moved her to first grade after reading the note which Oprah had written insisting she really should be in the grade above because she could already write and knew long words like elephant and hippopotamus. Shortly after the first move up she was moved up again.

Ready For the World at Six

Vernita would frequently leave Oprah and her young brothers and sisters alone with an elder cousin to mind them whilst she worked. The first time Oprah was raped was on one such occasion. Sometime later she would suffer the same indignity at the hands of another family member. Despite this the intelligent young girl thrived in school and at the age of 13 was awarded an educational scholarship. Narrowly escaping a detention centre, the rebellious 14 year-old was despatched off to her father in Nashville, Tennessee. Oprah arrived pregnant at her father’s home. The baby boy tragically died at only a couple of weeks old. Her father ensured that his daughter’s life was reconstructed. His clever little girl’s education became his priority. It paid off when Oprah became an honours student gaining entrance to Tennessee State University on a full scholarship to study Speech Communications and Performing Arts.

 

TV Debut

At 19 Oprah was headhunted onto a TV show and now making more money part-time than her father was full time. Oprah moved swiftly through the ranks of various TV companies but there were complaints about her nose her hair and all sorts. TV company WJZ sent her off to have her hair straightened by a stylist inexperienced in ‘black hair’ and he left her bald as a coot.

Oprah was eventually transferred to a morning talk show called People Are Talking and she was a sensation. WLS-TV in Chicago viewed an audition tape of Oprah and wanted her.

Chicago

Aged 29, Oprah moved to Chicago becoming the A.M. Chicago anchor in January 1984 with a salary of $200,000 a year. Their ratings were in the basement before she took over. She immediately took the ratings through the roof. A year later the show was renamed the Oprah Winfrey Show.

The Queen Enters King World

When King World and ABC came calling for the syndication rights to her TV show, Oprah hit the big time. Soon after the deal was done Oprah was running around her apartment screaming and hollering waving a cheque for a million dollars above her head. Oprah would eventually own 25% of King World with options to buy more. This led her to becoming a billionaire. Forbes magazine described Oprah as “a vertically integrated entertainment powerhouse.”

By Ron Shabazz Shillingford

Author of : The History of the World’s Greatest Entrepreneurs

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