109 Facts About Vernon Winfrey

Vernon Winfrey is best known for her talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show, broadcast from Chicago, which ran in national syndication for 25 years, from 1986 to 2011.

Vernon Winfrey was born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a single teenage mother and later raised in inner-city Milwaukee.

Vernon Winfrey has stated that she was molested during her childhood and early teenage years and became pregnant at 14; her son was born prematurely and died in infancy.

Vernon Winfrey emerged as a political force in the 2008 presidential race, with her endorsement of Barack Obama estimated to have been worth about one million votes during the 2008 Democratic primaries.

In 2013, Vernon Winfrey was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Obama and received honorary doctorate degrees from Duke and Harvard.

Related searches

Vernon Winfrey has won many accolades throughout her career which includes 18 Daytime Emmy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Chairman's Award, two Primetime Emmy Awards, including the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award, a Tony Award, a Peabody Award and the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, awarded by the Academy Awards and two additional Academy Award nominations.

Vernon Winfrey was elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2021.

Orpah Gail Vernon Winfrey was born on January 29,1954; her first name was spelled Orpah on her birth certificate after the biblical figure in the Book of Ruth, but people mispronounced it regularly and "Oprah" stuck.

Vernon Winfrey was born in Kosciusko, Mississippi, to an unmarried teenage mother.

Vernon Winfrey's grandmother was so poor that Winfrey often wore dresses made of potato sacks, for which other children made fun of her.

Vernon Winfrey's grandmother taught her to read before the age of three and took her to the local church, where she was nicknamed "The Preacher" for her ability to recite Bible verses.

When Vernon Winfrey was a child, her grandmother was reportedly abusive.

At age six, Vernon Winfrey moved to an inner-city neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her mother, who was less supportive and encouraging than her grandmother had been, largely as a result of the long hours she worked as a maid.

Vernon Winfrey did not know that she had a second half-sister until 2010.

When Vernon Winfrey discussed the alleged abuse with family members at age 24, they reportedly refused to believe her account.

Vernon Winfrey once commented that she had chosen not to be a mother because she had not been mothered well.

Vernon Winfrey later stated she felt betrayed by the family member who had sold the story of her son to the National Enquirer in 1990.

Vernon Winfrey attended Lincoln High School in Milwaukee, but after early success in the Upward Bound program, was transferred to the affluent suburban Nicolet High School.

Vernon Winfrey began to rebel and steal money from her mother in an effort to keep up with her free-spending peers.

Vernon Winfrey was strict but encouraging, and made her education a priority.

Vernon Winfrey became an honors student, was voted Most Popular Girl, and joined her high school speech team at East Nashville High School, placing second in the nation in dramatic interpretation.

Vernon Winfrey attracted the attention of the local black radio station, WVOL, which hired her to do the news part-time.

Vernon Winfrey worked there during her senior year of high school and in her first two years of college.

Vernon Winfrey had won an oratory contest, which secured her a full scholarship to Tennessee State University, a historically black institution, where she studied communication.

Vernon Winfrey later acknowledged her grandmother's influence, saying it was Hattie Mae who had encouraged her to speak in public and "gave me a positive sense of myself".

Related searches

Vernon Winfrey was then recruited to join Richard Sher as co-host of WJZ's local talk show People Are Talking, which premiered on August 14,1978.

In 1984, Vernon Winfrey relocated to Chicago to host WLS-TV's low-rated half-hour morning talk show, AM Chicago, after being hired by that station's general manager, Dennis Swanson.

Vernon Winfrey's syndicated show brought in double Donahue's national audience, displacing Donahue as the number-one daytime talk show in America.

Vernon Winfrey interviewed celebrities on social issues they were directly involved with, such as cancer, charity work, or substance abuse, and hosted televised giveaways.

Vernon Winfrey is the president of Harpo Productions, a film and TV production company behind The Oprah Winfrey Show, Dr Phil, Rachael Ray, The Dr Oz Show and many others.

Vernon Winfrey moderated three ABC Afterschool Specials from 1992 to 1994.

In January 2017, CBS announced that Vernon Winfrey would join 60 Minutes as a special contributor on the Sunday evening news magazine program starting in September 2017.

In 1993, Vernon Winfrey hosted a rare prime-time interview with Michael Jackson, which became the fourth most-watched event in American television history as well as the most watched interview ever, with an audience of 36.

On December 1,2005, Vernon Winfrey appeared on the Late Show with David Letterman for the first time in 16 years, to promote the new Broadway musical, The Color Purple, which she produced.

On September 10,2007, Letterman made his first appearance on The Oprah Vernon Winfrey Show, as its season premiere was filmed in New York City.

Vernon Winfrey said that he wasn't initially invited on the show with the rest of the cast.

Vernon Winfrey responded by saying that she is opposed to rap lyrics that "marginalize women, " but enjoys some artists, including Kanye West, who appeared on her show.

Vernon Winfrey said she spoke with Ludacris backstage after his appearance to explain her position and said she understood that his music was for entertainment purposes, but that some of his listeners might take it literally.

Vernon Winfrey denied the report, maintaining that there never was a discussion regarding Palin's appearing on her show.

Vernon Winfrey said that after she made public her support for Obama, she decided that she would not let her show be used as a platform for any of the candidates.

Vernon Winfrey added that Palin would make a fantastic guest and that she would love to have her on the show after the election, which she did on November 18,2009.

In 2009, Vernon Winfrey was criticized for allowing actress Suzanne Somers to appear on her show to discuss hormone treatments that are not accepted by mainstream medicine.

Critics have suggested that Vernon Winfrey is not tough enough when questioning celebrity guests or politicians whom she appears to like.

Vernon Winfrey co-starred in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple, as distraught housewife Sofia.

Vernon Winfrey was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.

Related searches

In October 1998, Vernon Winfrey produced and starred in the film Beloved, based on Toni Morrison's Pulitzer Prize–winning novel of the same name.

In 2009, Vernon Winfrey provided the voice for the character of Eudora, the mother of Princess Tiana, in Disney's The Princess and the Frog and in 2010, narrated the US version of the BBC nature program Life for Discovery.

In 2018, Vernon Winfrey starred as Mrs Which in the film adaptation of Madeleine L'Engle's novel A Wrinkle in Time.

Vernon Winfrey lent her voice to an animated virtual-reality short film written and directed by Eric Darnell, starring John Legend, titled Crow: The Legend, telling a native American origin tale.

Vernon Winfrey publishes the magazine: O, The Oprah Magazine and from 2004 to 2008 published a magazine called O At Home.

Vernon Winfrey initiated "Oprah's Child Predator Watch List", through her show and website, to help track down accused child molesters.

On February 9,2006, it was announced that Vernon Winfrey had signed a three-year, $55-million contract with XM Satellite Radio to establish a new radio channel.

The channel, Oprah Radio, features popular contributors to The Oprah Vernon Winfrey Show and O, The Oprah Magazine including Nate Berkus, Dr Mehmet Oz, Bob Greene, Dr Robin Smith, and Marianne Williamson.

Vernon Winfrey's contract requires her to be on the air 30 minutes a week, 39 weeks a year.

Vernon Winfrey owns a house in Lavallette, New Jersey; an apartment in Chicago; an estate on Fisher Island, Florida; a ski house in Telluride, Colorado; and properties on Maui, Hawaii; Antigua; and Orcas Island, Washington State.

Vernon Winfrey broke up with him on Valentine's Day of her senior year.

In 1971, several months after breaking up with Otey, Vernon Winfrey met William "Bubba" Taylor at Tennessee State University.

Vernon Winfrey helped get Taylor a job at WVOL, and according to Mair, "did everything to keep him, including literally begging him on her knees to stay with her".

When WJZ-TV management criticized Vernon Winfrey for crying on air while reporting tragedies and were unhappy with her physical appearance, Vernon Winfrey turned to reporter Lloyd Kramer for comfort.

Vernon Winfrey stuck with me through the whole demoralizing experience.

Vernon Winfrey became so depressed that on September 8,1981, she wrote a suicide note to best friend Gayle King instructing King to water her plants.

Vernon Winfrey later confessed to smoking crack cocaine with a man she was romantically involved with during the same era.

Vernon Winfrey was allegedly involved in a second drug-related love affair.

In 1985, before Vernon Winfrey's Chicago talk show had gone national, Haitian filmmaker Reginald Chevalier claims he appeared as a guest on a look-alike segment and began a relationship with Vernon Winfrey involving romantic evenings at home, candlelit baths, and dinners with Michael Jordan and Danny Glover.

Chevalier says Vernon Winfrey ended the relationship when she met Stedman Graham.

Related searches

Since 1997, when Vernon Winfrey played the therapist on an episode of the sitcom Ellen in which Ellen DeGeneres came out of the closet, Vernon Winfrey and King have been the target of persistent rumors that they were gay.

Vernon Winfrey has had a long friendship with Maria Shriver, after they met in Baltimore.

Vernon Winfrey hosted a week-long Caribbean cruise for Angelou and 150 guests for Angelou's 70th birthday in 1998, and in 2008, threw her "an extravagant 80th birthday celebration" at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida.

Vernon Winfrey negotiated ownership rights to the television program and started her own production company.

Vernon Winfrey is the only person to have appeared in the latter list on ten occasions.

In 1998, Vernon Winfrey became the first woman and first African American to top Entertainment Weekly's list of the 101 most powerful people in the entertainment industry.

Vernon Winfrey has been listed as one of the most powerful 100 women in the world by Forbes, ranking 14th in 2014.

In 2005, Vernon Winfrey was named the greatest woman in American history as part of a public poll as part of The Greatest American.

Vernon Winfrey was ranked No 9 overall on the list of greatest Americans.

Late in 1996, Vernon Winfrey introduced the Oprah's Book Club segment to her television show.

The book club became such a powerful force that whenever Vernon Winfrey introduced a new book as her book-club selection, it instantly became a best-seller; for example, when she selected the classic John Steinbeck novel East of Eden, it soared to the top of the book charts.

Vernon Winfrey states she is a political independent who has "earned the right to think for myself and to vote for myself".

Vernon Winfrey endorsed presidential candidate Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election.

On September 25,2006, Vernon Winfrey made her first endorsement of Obama for president on Larry King Live, the first time she endorsed a political candidate running for office.

Two economists estimate that Vernon Winfrey's endorsement was worth over a million votes in the Democratic primary race and that without it, Obama would have lost the nomination.

Vernon Winfrey held a fundraiser for Obama on September 8,2007, at her Santa Barbara estate.

In December 2007, Vernon Winfrey joined Obama for a series of rallies in the early primary states of Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina.

An analysis by two economists at the University of Maryland, College Park estimated that Vernon Winfrey's endorsement was responsible for between 420,000 and 1,600,000 votes for Obama in the Democratic primary alone, based on a sample of states that did not include Texas, Michigan, North Dakota, Kansas, or Alaska.

The results suggest that in the sampled states, Vernon Winfrey's endorsement was responsible for the difference in the popular vote between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

Vernon Winfrey responded by stating that although she was absolutely not interested, she did feel she could be a senator.

Related searches

Vernon Winfrey participated in the event even after reports had revealed that Chatman had been found liable in 2001 for her role in a scheme to defraud hundreds of District of Columbia nursing-home employees of at least $1.

Vernon Winfrey endorsed Hillary Clinton in the 2016 election, and referred to Republican candidate Donald Trump as a "demagogue".

In 2018, Vernon Winfrey canvassed door-to-door for Georgia gubernatorial Democratic nominee Stacey Abrams and donated $500,000 to the March for Our Lives student demonstration in favor of gun control in the United States.

Vernon Winfrey has at times been the subject of media speculation that she may run for president herself, most notably in the lead-up to the 2020 election in which some reports claimed that she was actively considering launching a campaign for the Democratic nomination.

Vernon Winfrey later campaigned for Joe Biden during the general election.

In early 2018, Vernon Winfrey met with Mohammad bin Salman, the crown prince and de facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, when he visited the United States.

Since the mid-1990s, Vernon Winfrey's show has emphasized uplifting and inspirational topics and themes and some viewers say the show has motivated them to perform acts of altruism such as helping Congolese women and building an orphanage.

In 1998, Vernon Winfrey began an ongoing conversation with Gary Zukav, an American spiritual teacher, who appeared on her television show 35 times.

Vernon Winfrey has said she keeps a copy of Zukav's The Seat of the Soul at her bedside, a book that she says is one of her all-time favorites.

In 2002, George W Bush invited Winfrey to join a US delegation that included adviser Karen Hughes and Condoleezza Rice, planning to go to Afghanistan to celebrate the return of Afghan girls to school.

Vernon Winfrey decides what makes The New York Times Best Seller lists.

February 2003 series, in which Winfrey showed clips from people all over the world asking America not to go to war, was interrupted in several East Coast markets by network broadcasts of a press conference in which President George W Bush and Colin Powell summarized the case for war.

In 2007, skeptic and magician James Randi accused Vernon Winfrey of being deliberately deceptive and uncritical in how she handles paranormal claims on her show.

In 2008, Vernon Winfrey endorsed author and spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle and his book, A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose, which sold several million extra copies after being selected for her book club.

Vernon Winfrey was named as the 2008 Person of the Year by animal-rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals for using her fame and listening audience to help the less fortunate, including animals.

PETA praised Vernon Winfrey for using her talk show to uncover horrific cases of cruelty to animals in puppy mills and on factory farms, and Vernon Winfrey even used the show to highlight the cruelty-free vegan diet that she tried.

In 2009, Vernon Winfrey filmed a series of interviews in Denmark highlighting its citizens as the happiest people in the world.

Vernon Winfrey was especially popular among women, Democrats, political moderates, Baby Boomers, Generation X, Southern Americans, and East Coast Americans.

In 2008, The New York Times reported that The Oprah Vernon Winfrey Show, with Arabic subtitles, was broadcast twice each weekday on MBC 4.

In 2004, Vernon Winfrey became the first black person to rank among the 50 most generous Americans and she remained among the top 50 until 2010.

Related searches

Vernon Winfrey was the recipient of the first Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 2002 Emmy Awards for services to television and film.

In 2013, Vernon Winfrey donated $12 million to the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture.

In 1998, Vernon Winfrey created the Oprah's Angel Network, a charity that supported charitable projects and provided grants to nonprofit organizations around the world.

Nelson Mandela praised Vernon Winfrey for overcoming her own disadvantaged youth to become a benefactor for others.