Leslie Biography

Leslie Sanchez
5/15/11
Period 3/4
Oprah Winfrey
        Imagine a life where you are being sexually abused and living in such poor
conditions that you wear dresses made of potato sacks to school. No one watches
over you, and you were constantly made fun of because of what you wear. Now
imagine that in less than 33 years, you manage to turn everything around. You
now live in riches, and fame. You are loved internationally, and your bank
account balance is larger than the amount of digits in your phone number. Oprah
Winfreymanaged to do this, and continues to thrive today. This great influence
was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi on January 29, 1954, to unmarried parents who
soon separated. This legacy had a difficult childhood, but eventually became a
talk show host, a writer, a radio station host, and much more. Impacting the
world today by changing the view of people towards African Americans, and having
incredible success, Oprah was truly remarkable as she lived through a difficult
childhood, became successful, and impacted our world.

        For the first six years of life, Orpah lived with her grandmother, Hattie Mae
Lee. When she was 6, she moved to live with her birth mother. Growing up, Orpah
(original name from the Bible) was made fun of constantly at school, when she
wore potato sack dresses to school.  People also often made mistakes when it came
to writing and pronouncing Orpah’s name. She eventually changed it to Oprah, as
it was easier to work with. Unlike other children, Oprah’s first school year
wasn’t in kindergarten. She skipped it. Www.notablebiographies.comstates that
Oprah “skipped kindergarten after writing a note to her teacher on the first day
of school saying she belonged to the first grade. She was promoted to third
grade after that year.”  At such a young age, she managed to advance in the
educational field already. Life at school was a great experience, as Oprah
excelled in what she applied herself to do. Time passed, and around the age of 9
years old, she began to become sexually abused by friends and family of her
mother. Her mother, whom she was living with, didn’t have much supervision over
her daughter. She was usually out doing odd jobs. At 12 years of age, Oprah
moved to Tennessee with her father. There, she was still educationally inclined,
and began to speak out about her feelings. She began to apply for speech
contests, to earn money to further continue her education. This became a
constant hobby she  worked on. Eventually, after applying for a scholarship, she
earned enough money to attend Nicolet High School. After listening to the news,
her father began to become even more inclined with her life. Oprah’s father
changed her life, as he straightened her up, and provided her with guidance.
Www.notablebiographies.comonce again states “He required his daughter to
complete weekly book reports, and she went without dinner until she learned five
new vocabulary words each day.”  Eventually, Oprah Winfrey accumulated enough
scholarships to enter Tennessee State University. During her first year at that
school, she won Ms. Tennessee, and was offered a job at a local news station.
She turned it down twice, but the  third time, she accepted. She was now the
first African- American, at 19, to be on evening news as a co-anchor. Oprah
climbed up the stairs of fame from then on.
               From local news updates, Oprah Winfrey went on to being part of Good
Morning
Americaand then Baltimore Is Talking. Later in life, Oprah even became part of
local A.M. Chicago after sending in an audition tape. AM Chicago was a talk show
that was incredibly unpopular. Oprah brought the show ahead, by focusing on
current debatable topics. The program was renamed the Oprah Winfrey Showand
expanded time wise to a whole hour.  She earned popularity for her show after
starring in The Color Purple, as a result, www.notablebiographies.com states
“after the success of The Color Purple, and in September 1985 the distributor
King World  bought the syndication rights (the rights to distribute a television
program) to air the program in one hundred thirty-eight cities, a record for
first-time syndication. That year, although Donahue was being aired on two
hundred stations, Winfrey won her time slot by 31 percent, drew twice the
Chicago audience as Donahue, and carried the top ten markets in the United
States.” Throughout this time, the dedicated young female also wrote a series of
books, and opened up two magazines. They also became a huge success.  The
millions made from her success were used to open Oprah’s school for children
called Academy of Achievement. Sexual abusewas coming from this school, so she
improved the screening, and did everything in her power to stop it. The problem
stopped. Oprah continued to be a success, as
http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/win0bio-1  states, “The Oprah Winfrey
Showremained as popular as ever, airing in 140 countries around the world” She
has become a huge success beyond imagination. There is much she has impacted our
world in, being such an influential woman.
               Years before Oprah’s fame, television was mainly based on
traditional talk
topics. Oprah demonstrated change, by talking about current events, and
interviewing people that were new, and fresh. Her interview between Michael
Jackson was an immense step forward for upcoming generations.
www.oprah.comstates  “Michael, a fiercely private entertainer, had refused to
give an interview for 14 years. The unprecedented live event, which took place
before  any allegations were made about sexual abuse, drew a worldwide audience
of 90 million people”. “Oprah also made an impact, as her dedication got her to
be the first female African American on the road of fame. She became a
billionaire during the first 33 years of her life, and continues to impact our
world today. She demonstrated through her life that as she once stated “IT
doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from. The ability to triumph begins
with you. Always.” (www.achievement.org) The powerful, and successful female has
proved “you don't have to fit the "Hollywood mold' (thin) to be successful and a
well-liked celebrity” (http://answers.yahoo.com/).
               Looking at the life of a powerful, female African American, known as
Oprah
Winfrey, you can tell that she truly has made a remarkable impact on society in
the media today. It all began at a struggling childhood, as an outcast, yet
turned out to be rags to riches story. Continuously at the top today, she has
dedicated her life to showing that dreams do come true, you just have to believe
and work hard. She is an amazing person. She is a billionaire today, and instead
of taking that money for herself; she continues to provide girls all over the
world with a safe school and environment to become educated in, and able to
attend. They say that everybody dies, but not  everybody lives; yet Oprah
Winfrey up to today, has done the exact opposite,  as a remarkable influence in
today’s society.














Works Cited
"Academy of Achievement Main Menu." Academy of Achievement Main Menu. N.p., n.d.
Web. 15 May 2011. <http://www.achievement.org>.  I used this website as a
rescource to a quote made by Oprah WInfrey.
"Encyclopedia of World Biography." Encyclopedia of World Biography. N.p., n.d.
Web. 15 May 2011. <http://www.notablebiographies.com>.  I used this website to
accumulate information about Oprah WInfrey's life, and childhood.
"Oprah Winfrey's Official Website - Live Your Best Life - Oprah.com." Oprah
Winfrey's Official Website - Live Your Best Life - Oprah.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 15
May 2011. <http://www.oprah.com>.  I used this website to show examples, and
quotes of Oprah's life. The article I read was a bibliography.
"Yahoo! Answers - Home." Yahoo! Answers - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2011.
<http://www.answers.yahoo.com>.  I used this website to answer to support the
statement of the way Oprah changed our world.
"Yahoo! Answers - Home." Yahoo! Answers - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2011.
<http://www.answers.yahoo.com>.
host, the time America fell in love with Oprah Winfrey the talk show, she had
already captured the nation's attention with her poignant portrayal of Sofia in
Steven Spielberg's 1985 adaptation of Alice Walker's novel, and The Color
Purple.. "Oprah Winfrey Biography -- Academy of Achievement." Academy of
Achievement Main Menu. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 May 2011.
<http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/win0bio-1>.  I used quotes from this to
demonstrate Oprah's success.


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