The world's most powerful woman celebrates her birthday today, celebrating her triumph over a tough life and a painful past, celebrating her achievements as the world's most watched television interviewer and host of the world's most watched program, The Oprah Winfrey Show, from 1986 to 2011, celebrating the love and affection of people for her kindness and generosity that exceeded all expectations.
Her journey included milestones that shaped Oprah into a legend to be reckoned with.
Here are the highlights of the media queen's life
- Oprah was born to a teenage mother in a rural Mississippi village in a very poor environment and suffered molestation and abuse from a relative. At the age of 14, she lost her baby and kept this secret until 1990.
- Oprah won the title of Miss Black in the southeastern U.S. state of Tennessee.
- At the age of 19, oprah got her first job at a radio station in tennessee when she co-hosted the local newscast for wlac-tv.
- After her success with the newsletter, oprah got the chance to host her first special program, becoming the youngest host at wlac-tv.
- In 1983, Oprah moved to Chicago to host a morning show, which became a huge success in just a few months.
- In 1985, Oprah began her cinematic journey by starring in her first movie "The Color Purple" directed by Steven Spielberg, an adaptation of a famous novel by Alice Walker about the plight of African-American women in the twentieth century.
- In 1986, Oprah founded her first production company known as "Harpo Production." In the same year, Oprah began hosting the most famous talk show in history, "The Oprah Winfrey Show," which also included the most famous television interview in history when Oprah was able to convince Michael Jackson, who was completely reluctant to be interviewed, to talk to her about his life and secrets.
- In 2011, Oprah transformed the Discovery Health TV station into her new station OWN and over the years she has co-written 6 books, the most famous of which is her book with expert Bob Greene, which set the record for the world's best-selling book in the world.
