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Oprah Winfrey

Born: January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi
Actual Name: Oprah Winfrey's name is actually Orpah Winfrey, due to family and neighbors pronouncing and spelling her name this way, it eventually became accepted.
Parents: Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey
Siblings: Patrica and Jeffery

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Oprah started her television broad casting when she was nineteen years old. When she stated she was both the youngest news anchor and the first African-American women news anchor ever on Nashville's WTVF-TV. She was offered a show when she became more popular, and that show is was a hit success. The Oprah show was and currently is the most popular show among women.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7355gFpxzr4

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Oprah Winfrey grew up in the rough area. Her parents were yong and not married. She was rapped at the age of nine. She had a baby at the age of fourteen, but the baby died as an infant.

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Winfrey's choice of career in media didn't shock her grandmother. As a child Oprah would interview her corncob doll and crows perched on the fence of her family's property. Oprah acknowledge her grandmother's influence, she said it was Hattie Mae who had encouraged her to speak in public and "gave me a positive sense of myself." Oprah landed a job at her local radio station when she was still in high school. She then began co-anchoring the evening news at Nashville's WLAC-TV when she was only nineteen. She moved to Baltimore's WJZ-TV to co-anchor the six o'clock news in 1976. She was selected join Richard to co-host WJZ's local talk show People Are Talking, which premiered on August 14, 1978. Winfrey moved to Chicago, in 1983, to host WLS-TV's, which was only a half-hour long and had low rates, it was called AM Chicago. It aired fo the first time on January 2, 1984. Within months after Oprah took over, the show from low ratings to overtaking Donahue as the highest rated talk show in Chicago. Once it became more popular, it was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show, and expanded to a full hour.

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Insperation from Oprah has filled many who follow her. My favorite quote of hers is, "Be thankful for what you have; you'll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don't have, you will never, ever have enough. " I beleive that make you think about how luckey you are.

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Inspration has come in many ways; family, friends, and books. She has loved to read ever sence she was taught. Books have been what has inspried her the most. She says, "Well, I loved books so much as a child. They were my outlet to the world. And I still do. People ask me, "What do you do in your spare time?" That's what I do -- I read. There are so many books. I went through a period of Lois Lensky books. She wrote Strawberry Girl, and lots of stories about these little peasant children. I went through a period where I wanted to be them. I would read the character, and whichever book I was reading, that's who I wanted to be that week. I read a book in the third grade about Katie John, who hated boys, and she had freckles. Well Lord knows, I'm not going to have freckles, no way, no how. But I tried to put some on. And I went through my "Katie John" phase. I think the book that moved me most when I was growing up was A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. I had a tree in my backyard, too, so I identified with her. I just thought, "Well, this is my life." And then I discovered Maya Angelou's I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Well, first of all, it was the first time I had ever encountered another woman who had been sexually abused. I could not imagine. I felt that way, too, when I read The Color Purple. I read the first page of The Color Purple, put the book down, and wept. I could not believe it, that someone had put this in writing. It was unbelievable."

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Negative Blog: "For a billionaire she sure do has a small payroll and list of employee's. I guess cutting back during a terrible economy is necessary. Not sure how her donating to charity and using that as a tax write off is going to boost the economy, but the again who am I to judge?A black rights activist who drives around in a Bentley and promotes black politics, seems to me like Miss Winfrey is an elitist using the poor and others to make herself look good. How nice of her to do things for people, she doesn't have to you know."

My Comment: Being so neagative about Oprah isn't good. Think about the good things she has done.

Positive Post: "Oprah has dedicated her whole life to inproving other people's lives, she gives her best selflessly and doesnt expect anything in return when she does a good cause. And even though she has had a tough childhood she stilll treats everyone with love and care. Unlike others who could hate everyone because of the terrible things that have happened in the past. She teaches us to pick ourselves up through hard times and to forgive but most of all she teaches us to believe, to believe in ourselves and in our dreams."