Goldberg began her career on stage in 1983 with her one-woman show, Spook Show, which transferred to Broadway under the title Whoopi Goldberg, running from 1984 to 1985.
92 Facts About Whoopi Goldberg
2.
Whoopi Goldberg won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for the recording of the show.
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Whoopi Goldberg starred in the comedy Sister Act and its sequel Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, becoming the highest-paid actress at the time.
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Whoopi Goldberg starred in Jumpin' Jack Flash, Clara's Heart, Soapdish, Ghosts of Mississippi, and Till.
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Whoopi Goldberg is known for voicing roles in The Lion King, and Toy Story 3.
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Whoopi Goldberg won a Tony Award as a producer of the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.
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On television, Whoopi Goldberg portrayed Guinan in the science fiction series Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Star Trek: Picard.
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Whoopi Goldberg has hosted the Academy Awards ceremony four times.
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Whoopi Goldberg was raised in a public housing project, the Chelsea-Elliot Houses, in New York City.
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Whoopi Goldberg joined the avant-garde theater troupe the Blake Street Hawkeyes and gave comedy and acting classes; Courtney Love was one of her acting students.
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Whoopi Goldberg trained under acting teacher Uta Hagen at the HB Studio in New York City.
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Whoopi Goldberg first appeared onscreen in Citizen: I'm Not Losing My Mind, I'm Giving It Away, an avant-garde ensemble feature by San Francisco filmmaker William Farley.
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Whoopi Goldberg created The Spook Show, a one-woman show composed of different character monologues in 1983.
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Nichols helped her transfer the show to Broadway; where it was retitled Whoopi Goldberg and ran from October 24,1984, to March 10,1985.
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Between 1985 and 1988, Whoopi Goldberg was the busiest female star, making seven films.
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Whoopi Goldberg starred in Penny Marshall's directorial debut Jumpin' Jack Flash and began a relationship with David Claessen, a director of photography on the set; they married later that year.
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In January 1990, Whoopi Goldberg starred with Jean Stapleton in the situation comedy Bagdad Cafe.
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Whoopi Goldberg played a psychic in the film Ghost and became the first black woman to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in nearly 50 years, and the second black woman to win an Academy Award for acting.
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Whoopi Goldberg starred in Soapdish and had a recurring role on Star Trek: The Next Generation between 1988 and 1993 as Guinan, a character she reprised in two Star Trek films.
20.
Whoopi Goldberg made a cameo in the Traveling Wilburys 1991 music video "Wilbury Twist".
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Whoopi Goldberg hosted the 34th Annual Grammy Awards, receiving praise from the Sun-Sentinels Deborah Wilker for bringing to life what Wilker considered "stodgy and stale" ceremonies.
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In 1994, Whoopi Goldberg became the first black woman to host the Academy Awards ceremony starting with the 66th Oscar telecast.
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Whoopi Goldberg hosted it again in 1996,1999, and 2002, and has been regarded as one of the show's best hosts.
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Whoopi Goldberg starred in four motion pictures in 1996: Bogus, Eddie, The Associate, and Ghosts of Mississippi.
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Also in 1996, Whoopi Goldberg replaced Nathan Lane as Pseudolus in the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.
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From 1998 to 2001, Whoopi Goldberg took supporting roles in How Stella Got Her Groove Back with Angela Bassett, Girl, Interrupted with Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie, Kingdom Come, and Rat Race with an all-star ensemble cast.
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Whoopi Goldberg starred in the ABC-TV versions of Cinderella, A Knight in Camelot, and Call Me Claus.
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Whoopi Goldberg served as executive producer, for which she was nominated for four Emmy Awards.
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Whoopi Goldberg hosted the documentary short The Making of A Charlie Brown Christmas.
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In 2003, she returned to television in Whoopi Goldberg, which was canceled after one season.
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Whoopi Goldberg appeared alongside Samuel L Jackson and Angela Bassett in the HBO documentary Unchained Memories, narrating slave narratives.
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Whoopi Goldberg returned to the stage in 2003, starring as blues singer Ma Rainey in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's historical drama Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at the Royale Theatre.
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Whoopi Goldberg made guest appearances on Everybody Hates Chris as elderly character Louise Clarkson.
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From August 2006 to March 2008, Goldberg hosted Wake Up with Whoopi, a nationally syndicated morning radio talk and entertainment program.
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Whoopi Goldberg had a recurring role on the television series Glee during its third and fourth seasons as Carmen Tibideaux, a renowned Broadway performer and opera singer and the dean at a fictional performing arts college NYADA.
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In 2012, Whoopi Goldberg guest starred as Jane Marsh, Sue Heck's guidance counselor on The Middle.
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Whoopi Goldberg voiced the Magic Mirror on Disney XD's The 7D.
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Whoopi Goldberg appeared as herself in Chris Rock's Top Five and starred in the romantic comedy film Big Stone Gap.
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In 2016, Whoopi Goldberg executive produced a reality television series called Strut, based on transgender models from the modeling agency Slay Model Management in Los Angeles.
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In 2019, Whoopi Goldberg's voice was used for the role of the Giant's Wife in the Hollywood Bowl production of Into the Woods.
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Whoopi Goldberg starred in The Stand, a CBS All Access miniseries based on the 1978 novel of the same name by Stephen King, portraying Mother Abagail, a 108-year-old woman.
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In 2020, it was announced Whoopi Goldberg was set to return in Sister Act 3 with Tyler Perry producing.
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Whoopi Goldberg guest starred on the Disney Channel show Amphibia as the character Mother Olms.
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Whoopi Goldberg has stated that her influences are Richard Pryor, George Carlin, Moms Mabley, Lenny Bruce, Joan Rivers, Eddie Murphy, Bill Cosby, Sidney Poitier, and Harry Belafonte.
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On September 4,2007, Whoopi Goldberg became the new moderator and co-host of The View, replacing Rosie O'Donnell.
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Whoopi Goldberg has made controversial comments on the program on several occasions.
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Whoopi Goldberg maintained that the Nazis' issue was with ethnicity and not race on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that same day, which drew further criticism.
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Whoopi Goldberg was suspended from The View for two weeks over the comments.
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Whoopi Goldberg performed the role of Califia, the Queen of the Island of California, for a theater presentation called Golden Dreams at Disney California Adventure Park, the second gate at the Disneyland Resort, in 2000.
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In 2001, Whoopi Goldberg co-hosted the 50th Anniversary of I Love Lucy.
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In July 2006, Whoopi Goldberg became the main host of the Universal Studios Hollywood Studio Tour, in which she appears multiple times in video clips shown to the guests on monitors placed on the trams.
52.
Whoopi Goldberg made a guest appearance on the situation comedy 30 Rock during the series' fourth season, in which she played herself, counseling Tracy Jordan on winning the "EGOT", the coveted combination of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards.
53.
On July 14,2008, Whoopi Goldberg announced on The View that from July 29 to September 7, she would perform in the Broadway musical Xanadu.
54.
Whoopi Goldberg gave a short message at the beginning of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008 wishing all the participants good luck, and stressing the importance of UNICEF, the official charity of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.
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Since its launch in 2008, Whoopi Goldberg has been a contributor for wowOwow.
56.
Whoopi Goldberg has been a frequent guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World.
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Whoopi Goldberg made a guest appearance in Michael Jackson's short film for the song "Liberian Girl".
58.
Whoopi Goldberg appeared on the seventh season of the cooking reality series Hell's Kitchen as a special guest.
59.
On January 14,2010, Whoopi Goldberg made a one-night-only appearance at the Minskoff Theatre to perform in the mega-hit musical The Lion King.
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Whoopi Goldberg says she was inspired to go into business by "a lifetime of difficult periods and the fact that cannabis was literally the only thing that gave me relief".
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Whoopi Goldberg was launched in April 2016 but announced in February 2020 that it was ceasing operations.
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In 2006, Whoopi Goldberg appeared during the 20th anniversary of Comic Relief.
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Whoopi Goldberg is an advocate for human rights, moderating a panel at the Alliance of Youth Movements Summit on how social networks can be used to fight violent extremism in 2008, and moderating a panel at the UN on human rights, children and armed conflict, terrorism, and reconciliation in 2009.
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Whoopi Goldberg is on the Board of Selectors of Jefferson Awards for Public Service.
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Whoopi Goldberg serves on the National Council Advisory Board of the National Museum of American Illustration.
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Whoopi Goldberg was a speaker at the 2017 Women's March in New York City and was such again at the following year's event.
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On January 24,2021, Whoopi Goldberg appeared with Tom Everett Scott as guests on the Amairican Grabbuddies marathon fundraising episode of The George Lucas Talk Show, where she spoke of her time working on Snow Buddies and raised money for the ASPCA.
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Whoopi Goldberg was married to drug counselor Alvin Martin from 1973 to 1979; to cinematographer David Claessen from 1986 to 1988; and to union organizer Lyle Trachtenberg from 1994 to 1995.
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Whoopi Goldberg has had live-in relationships with actor Frank Langella and playwright David Schein.
70.
Danson controversially appeared in blackface during his 1993 Friars Club roast; Whoopi Goldberg wrote some of his jokes for the event and defended Danson after a media furor.
71.
On May 9,1974, Whoopi Goldberg gave birth to a daughter, Alexandrea Martin, who became an actress and producer.
72.
Whoopi Goldberg left London at the time, where she had been performing in the musical Sister Act, but returned to perform on October 22,2010.
73.
In 1991, Whoopi Goldberg spoke out about her abortion in The Choices We Made: Twenty-Five Women and Men Speak Out About Abortion.
74.
Whoopi Goldberg said she had had six or seven abortions by the age of 25 and that birth control pills failed to stop several of her pregnancies.
75.
Whoopi Goldberg has stated that she was once a "functioning" drug addict.
76.
Whoopi Goldberg has stated that she smoked marijuana before accepting the Best Supporting Actress award for Ghost in 1991.
77.
Whoopi Goldberg has lived in Llewellyn Park, a neighborhood in West Orange, New Jersey, saying she moved there to be able to be outside in private.
78.
Whoopi Goldberg maintains an additional summer residence on the coast of Sardinia.
79.
Whoopi Goldberg is the first black woman to have achieved all four awards.
80.
Whoopi Goldberg has received two Academy Award nominations, for The Color Purple and Ghost, winning for Ghost.
81.
Whoopi Goldberg is the first African-American actor to have received Academy Award nominations for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress.
82.
Whoopi Goldberg has received three Golden Globe nominations, winning two.
83.
Whoopi Goldberg is one of only three single women performers to receive that award.
84.
Whoopi Goldberg won a Tony Award in 2002 as a producer of the Broadway musical Thoroughly Modern Millie.
85.
Whoopi Goldberg has received eight Daytime Emmy nominations, winning two.
86.
In 2009, Whoopi Goldberg won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host for her work on The View.
87.
Whoopi Goldberg shared the award with her then co-hosts Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and Barbara Walters.
88.
Whoopi Goldberg is the recipient of the 1985 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show for her solo performance on Broadway.
89.
Whoopi Goldberg has been nominated for five American Comedy Awards with two wins.
90.
Whoopi Goldberg was the three-time winner of the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actress.
91.
In 1990, Whoopi Goldberg was officially named an honorary member of the Harlem Globetrotters exhibition basketball team by the members.
92.
In 2017, Whoopi Goldberg was named a Disney Legend for her contributions to the Walt Disney Company.