Biographical Chart: Oprah Winfrey

● Full Name :
- Orpah Gail Winfrey, after the biblical figure of that name of
the Book of Ruth.
- Many people commonly mispronounced, “Orpah,” and the
name, “Oprah,” stuck instead.

● Lifespan :
- On January 29, 1954 Oprah was born in Kosciusko,
Mississippi.
- After her birth, her mother moved north to an inner-city
neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Oprah was
raised for the first six years of her life by her grandmother,
Hattie Mae Lee.
- She did not have a lot growing up, some of her dresses were
even made from potato sacks which other kids made fun of
her for.
- Her grandmother taught her to read and write before the
age of three and she could recite Bible verses.
- During the time in which she lived with her grandmother,
she had instilled in her religion and God along with going to
church on a regular basis.
- In 1962 Oprah moved to Nashville, Tennessee with her
father Vernon.
- While attending Nicolet High School she was elected class
president as a result of her astonishing public speaking
skills.
- While attending high school in Nashville East High School
(Nicolet High School), she stumbled upon the opportunity to
enter a public speaking contest, the winner would be
granted with a scholarship to Tennessee State University,
she won the contest and then attended TSU.

● Early Family Background and Created Family Structure :

 - Her mother, Vernita Lee, was a former maid and her father,
Vernon Winfrey, was a coal miner, barber, and a city
councilman.
- Oprah was born into poverty and lived in a farming
community
- Her mother was an unmarried teenage mother and her
spouse was not in the picture.
- At one point when Oprah was living with her mother, she
was rarely home and left Oprah with her cousins, who
sexually abused her, when she was nine years old.
- She had a half brother that died due to aids, and she also
had a half sister, Patricia, who died due to an OD.
- She got pregnant at the age of fourteen, but lost the baby.

● Personality Characteristics and Areas of Aptitude, Talent,

and Interest :
- By the time that Oprah attended Nashville East High School,
she knew that she wanted to be involved with something to
do with either drama or talking.
- She entered and won multiple public speaking contests
throughout her high school years.
- At Tennessee State University Oprah majoring in Speech
Communications and Performing Arts.
- Her self-deprecating humor.
- Outgoing personality, empathetic, overcome diversity.
- Extremely good at communication.

● Major Career/Professional Events and Accomplishments

:
- In 1971, Oprah started school at Tennessee State University,
and began working in the radio and television broadcasting
field.
- In 1976, she moved to Baltimore, Maryland where she
hosted a TV talk show called ​People Are Talking.
- 1986 is when The Oprah Winfrey Show launched, and was a
nationally syndicated program that ran for twenty five
years.
 - Was an honor student during high school.
- In multiple movies such as
- NAACP Image Award, Daytime Emmy Award.
- Leadership academy in South Africa, and started the angel
network.

● Personal Life Themes/Beliefs :

- Some of the recurring themes of Oprah’s life were never
giving up and determination, just because she didn’t grow
up with an awful lot, did not stop her from achieving her
goals.
- Oprah was raised as a Baptist but has her modifications to
religious beliefs.
- Oprahfication was also present during her life, using her
platform to have public confession as a means of therapy.
- Mindfulness and perseverance.
- Raised a Baptist.
- Her grandmother, father, and her fourth grade teacher all
had incredible impact on her life and they all pushed her to
get and education and be the best version of herself that she
could be.

● Selected Quotations (at least two) :

- “When you undervalue what you do, the world will
undervalue who you are.” - Oprah Winfrey
- "I have church with myself: I have church walking down the
street. I believe in the God force that lives inside all of us, and
once you tap into that, you can do anything."​[120]
- “It doesn’t matter who you are, where you come from. The
ability to triumph begins with you. Always.” - Oprah Winfrey

● Awards and Recognition :

- In September 2002, Winfrey was named the first recipient of
the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences' Bob Hope
Humanitarian Award.
- In 2005, ​Business Week​ named Winfrey the greatest black
philanthropist in American history.
- In November 2013, Winfrey received the nation's highest
civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
- Oprah received an Achievement Award from the National
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 1998.
- Oprah was an honors student while attending Nicolet High
School.