Oprah Gail Winfrey or popularly known as Oprah is an American talk show host, producer, actress, philanthropist, and media proprietor. She was born on January 29, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi by a single mother named Vernita Lee. Winfrey becomes remarkable in hosting her own show “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

Winfrey admitted in one of the episodes of her show in 1986 that she was molested by her cousin, uncle, and a family friend. At the age of 14, she became pregnant but her son died shortly after birth.

Winfrey has started her career in the world of media. She worked as a news anchor at Nashville’s “WLAC-TV”. She was considered to be the youngest and first female black news anchor. In year 1983, she hosted the morning talk show in Chicago which was entitled “AM Chicago”. The show overtakes the highest rating show “Donahue” in Chicago.  Roger Ebert, a movie critic, convinced Winfrey to sign a deal with “King World”.

On September 8, 1986 “The Oprah Winfrey Show” began its national broadcast. Winfrey received positive feedbacks from several critics. The show was primarily categorized as a tabloid talk show during its first broadcast. In the midst of 1990s, the show changed its style by discussing important topics such as in health, politics, and able to interview celebrities. The popular show has aired their final episode on May 25, 2011.

In 1989, Oprah produced and co-starred a drama miniseries which was entitled “The Women of Brewster Place”. Winfrey was the co-founder of “Oxygen”, a women’s cable television network. She was also the president of Harpo Productions.

Winfrey has also been into films when she co-starred in the film “The Color Purple”. She played the role of Sofia who was a distraught wife. She received nominations from the Academy Award under the category of Best Supporting Actress. Winfrey produced and starred in the film “Beloved” which was released in October 1988.

Oprah also published her own magazine that was entitled “O, The Oprah Magazine”  and “O at Home”. O, The Oprah Magazine was recognized by “Fortune” to be the most successful start-up in the industry.

Because of her success in the industry, Oprah owns an estate Fisher Island, Florida; a house in Douglasville, Georgia and in Lavalette, New Jersey; an apartment in Chicago; a ski house in Telluride, Colorado; a property in Maui, Hawaii and Antigua. Winfrey is currently living in her 42-acre estate in Montecito, California.

Winfrey also had romantic relationships in her life. In 1970s, Oprah had a relationship with John Tesh. However, the relationship ended because Tesh was pressured on having interracial relationship with Winfrey.

In 1971, she met William Taylor at Tennessee State University. This relationship was considered to be the first intense relationship of Oprah. Winfrey admitted that she had relationship with a married man. She also added that she pleaded with the man because the man has no plan in leaving his wife. Winfrey even wrote a suicidal note for her best friend Gayle King. Winfrey was also involved to Randoph Cook who admitted that they had intimate relationship and did drugs in the year 1985. Reginald Chevaliers also claimed that he had relationship with the talk show host.

Winfrey has ended the relationship to Chevaliers when she met Stedman Graham in 1986. They became engaged and planned on getting married in November 1992. However, the marriage did not happen and decided to just have spiritual union.

Oprah Winfrey Photo Gallery

The 57-year-old media mogul, Oprah Winfrey will receive the prestigious Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award on Saturday at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ third annual Governors Awards.  Oprah said she understands why some balked when the film academy announced it would give her an honorary Oscar for her humanitarian contributions.

When the announcement was made over the summer, some criticized the academy for choosing Winfrey to receive its Hersholt award, which is presented periodically to an individual in the motion picture industry whose humanitarian efforts have brought credit to the industry, according to the academy’s website.  Previous recipients include Elizabeth Taylor, Quincy Jones, Jerry Lewis and Paul Newman.  According to critics, Winfrey belongs more to the world of television than that of film.

Oprah explained that she understand it because she was equally surprised.  According to her, she was surprised because she is not known as an actress noting that she has done film and she love the films that she has done.  She added that she understand people looking for her list of credentials for films but she does not think there is a room for criticism in the do-good department.  Oprah said that years ago she gave it to Quincy Jones and she was honored to be on stage just giving the award.  To be recipient of an award that was given to you for your contributions toward doing something good for the world or trying to at least make a mark for a force for something that is positive in the world, Oprah said that she does not think that there is a better honor than that.

Winfrey’s Hersholt award will not be her first academy honor.  She was nominated for a supporting actress Oscar for her role in 1985′s “The Color Purple.”  She also produced and starred in the 1998 big-screen adaptation of Toni Morrison’s “Beloved” and 2009′s “Precious,” which won Oscars for supporting actress Mo’Nique and screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher.  Winfrey has contributed more than $500 million from her personal coffers to charitable causes, academy president Tom Sherak said.  She established her first charitable foundation a year after launching “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and has been a philanthropist ever since.

In 1998, she created Oprah’s Angel Network, which supported charitable projects and provided grants to nonprofit organizations worldwide. She funds scholarships for about 100 students in American universities, and in 2007 she opened the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.

Winfrey will receive her Oscar at a private untelevised ceremony held at the Grand Ballroom at Hollywood & Highland, just upstairs from the Kodak Theatre, home of the Academy Awards since 2001.  Academy President Tom Shera said that not only is she one of the most philanthropic performers in the world and a perfect example of why this award was created.  He said that Oprah has given and given and given.   Actor James Earl Jones and makeup artist Dick Smith will also be honored at Saturday’s ceremony at the Kodak Theatre, both receiving Oscars for their long and notable film careers.