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There are many high profile talk show hosts, billionaire philanthropists and Oscar-nominated actresses, but few come close to Oprah Winfrey. Upon reaching her 69th birthday, the media mogul’s generosity shows no signs of slowing down. She is the gift that keeps on giving.
The Oprah Winfrey Show ran for 25 years until 2011, making it the highest rated daytime talk show in the history of American television. But the talk show is only one of many highlights that punctuate the career of the most influential woman in media.
Oprah’s origins in rural Mississippi, giving birth at the age of 14, and becoming the first black anchor for her local news broadcaster equipped her to master the art of intimate conversations, compelling confrontations and telling human interest stories. She was the first black woman to become a billionaire, which she did in 2003 as seen in the Forbes list.
Oprah’s film debut as Sofia in The Colour Purple (1985) earned her a nomination for Best Supporting Actor at Academy Awards and, in 2013, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honour.
Oprah before she was Oprah
Born into poverty, the only expectation for Oprah was she would become a housekeeper, as her mother and grandmother were.
“As a child I was raised by my grandmother who used to whip me often. I would get beaten and not allowed to have any emotion about it”, Oprah said on Oprah & Eckhart Tolle: A New Earth.
At the age of 13, unable to bear the circumstances, Oprah ran away from home, but became pregnant and gave birth prematurely.
“After I gave birth at 14 years old … when that child died my father said to me, ‘this is your second chance. This is your opportunity to seize this moment and make something of your life’,” Oprah said on Oprah’s Life Class.
Her natural tendency to perform well in school and excellent articulation secured her a part-time news anchor position at a local radio station. Three years later, she was breaking ground for black women in the South as the first black anchor at WLAC-TV, a Tennessee-based news channel.
In 1984, Oprah hosted her first episode of AM Chicago, which evolved over two years and was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show. But what makes her a force to be reckoned with, and allows her talk shows to expand is she refuses to stay silent. That same year Oprah started her own media company, Harpo Inc, which proves to be one of the most successful media empires.
The Oprah Effect
Everything Oprah touches turns to gold — the “Oprah Effect”. Through Oprah’s Book Club — now a partnership with Apple — and Oprah’s Favourite Things, she has boosted sales and triggered wider conversations about books, political causes, movies and fashion. There is even a documentary called The Oprah Effect.
The Oprah Effect also has an adverse effect. The Texas cattle industry had a beef with Oprah after a 1996 episode called Dangerous Food, about the Mad Cow Disease. Oprah declared that the disease “stopped [her] cold from eating another hamburger”.
The Texas cattle industry, which featured in the episode, said meat sales dropped and filed a lawsuit against Oprah, claiming more than $10 million in damages. After winning the case in 1998, Oprah credited the ruling as a win for free speech.
“I will continue to use my voice,” Oprah said to a cheering crowd outside the courthouse. “I believed from the beginning this was an attempt to muzzle that voice. I come from a people who have struggled and died in order to have a voice in this country, and I refuse to be muzzled.”
Her fight against silencers infuses her philanthropy, including the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls (OWLAG), in Meyerton, Johannesburg.
“Each student has had to overcome childhood poverty and trauma during their lives, yet also possesses a resilience, courage and spirit seldom that make them stand out among their peers,” reads the OWLAG website.
“This school is my greatest legacy,” says Oprah.
Everybody gets a car!
For a 2004 episode of The Oprah Winfrey Show the audience was selected based on nominations from friends and family who said that person desperately needed a car. She gave 11 people a Pontiac and said one more person would win a car if there was a key in the box each member of the audience had been given.
But, upon opening their boxes every member of the audience discovered they would receive a new car. Giveaways of products advertised on TV is nothing new, but Oprah made it the main event.
Biggest interviews in history
From the Oprah Winfrey Show’s debut in 1986 until 2011, Oprah has conducted more than 37 000 interviews. Some interviews are more memorable than others.
The 1993 film Michael Jackson Talks … to Oprah was viewed by 90 million people, where Oprah speaks to the then untarnished King of Pop, in his first interview in more than a decade. It’s difficult to watch the interview through a 2023 lens when Jackson speaks about surrounding himself with children as an adult to compensate for a lost childhood.
Children surrounding Jackson would later file lawsuits against him claiming sexual abuse. Funnier scenes include Jackson audaciously beatboxing and singing, while Oprah asks him questions. Oprah is the queen of good delivery.
The 2009 interview with Whitney Houston saw the singer talk about the power of love, drugs, rehab, relapse and redemption, topics most black women did not have the luxury to speak about publicly at the time.
As the biggest day-time host in history, Oprah will not be silenced. Her newer talk film format also shocks and spawns pop culture moments. It is hard to forget the line, Oprah asked Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, “Were you silent or were you silenced?” accompanied by a zipper-like gesture.
Oprah shows no signs of stopping her philanthropy, stamps of approval, and interviews that keep audiences on the edge of their seats. She’s slated to appear in her first movie in five years — her last role was in Ava DuVernay’s 2018 adaptation, A Wrinkle In Time. The Oscar nominated actress will star in a new Netflix movie, directed by her pal, Tyler Perry, called Six Triple Eight, about an all-black, all-female unit that fought in World War II. The streaming service hasn’t confirmed a release date yet.