Oprah Gail Winfreys Life - Essay Example

The paper "Oprah Gail Winfrey’s Life" is a good example of an essay on biographies. “I feel that luck is preparation meeting opportunity” – the sensible thought said and exemplified by the host of the highest-rated talk show in American TV history, Oprah Winfrey. Having run nationally since September 8, 1986, ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ is the longest-running daytime television show and has thousands and thousands of episodes to its credit. Oprah is also an Academy Award nominee, a producer, a literary critic, and based on some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.

Born as a poor black female kid to an unwed couple, Oprah Gail Winfrey’s life was not always this easy. The first six years when she spent with her grandmother, she learned to read and her public speaking career started at the tender age of three when she would read out sermons to the congregation of the church. As she was staying with her mother she was sexually molested by her cousin, then a family friend and an uncle too. She never told anyone about the shame and keeping the anger and pain to herself, she rebelled.

Her promiscuous life made her pregnant. But giving birth to a stillborn child devastated her and she planned to turn her life around. The best was brought out of her once she started living with her father. He was a well-disciplined man and grew up Oprah under strict rules. He encouraged her a lot in her studies and she read lots of books and maintained good grades in school. Oprah started her first job as a reporter for a radio station at the age of nineteen. Afterward, she entered radio and television broadcasting.

In 1976 when she moved to Baltimore she anchored the TV show ‘People are Talking’. Oprah’s charm made the show a hit and it went on for about eight years. Following this, she hosted ‘A.M. Chicago’ in Chicago. Oprah’s style gained her top TV show ratings. In a year, she made the show a mega-hit, and soon it was expanded to one hour and in September 1985 it was renamed ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’. This was aired nationally in September 1986 and in less than a year it became the number one talk show in national syndication.

In 1987, The Oprah Winfrey Show received three Daytime Emmy awards for the Outstanding Host, The Outstanding Talk/Service Program, and Outstanding Direction. In 1988 she won Emmy again for the Outstanding Talk/Service Program and for herself she bagged the International Radio and Television Society’s “Broadcaster of the Year” award. We shouldn’t forget that before she became famous as a Talk Show host, she captured America’s heart through her portrayal of Sofia in Steven Speilberg’s “The Color Purple”.

This earned her the nominations for an Oscar and Golden Globe Award for the best-supporting actress. It was her love for acting that gave birth to her production company ‘HARPO Productions, Inc., in 1986. It acquired the ownership and all production responsibilities for ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’, thus making her the first woman to own and produce her own talk show. She is a giver and there are many humane services to her credit. In 1991, she initiated a campaign to establish a national database for convicted child abusers.

The Time magazine named her one of the 100 Most Influential People of the 20th century. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences presented her with a Lifetime Achievement award in 1998.