Oprah Winfrey Bio, Age, Family, Kids, Net worth, Shows, Books and Height

This article will answer every question you have about Oprah Winfrey. Below are some of the frequently asked questions about her.

  1. What does Oprah do for a living?
  2. Who are Oprah’s parents and siblings?
  3. What are Oprah’s interests and hobbies?
  4. Is Oprah married or does Oprah have a boyfriend?
  5. Does Oprah have any children?
  6. Where is Oprah now?
  7. How tall is Oprah?
  8. How much money does Oprah earn?
  9. What is Oprah’s net worth?

N/B: Please read the entire post to have all your questions answered.

Who is Oprah Winfrey?

Oprah Winfrey is an American television personality who is also an author, actress, and philanthropist. She is best known for hosting The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Her show was ranked one of the best television programs, her show was broadcasted nationally for about 25years (1986 to 2011). She was popularly known as Queen of All Media and became the richest African American in the 20th Century. One of her greatest achievements is that she became North America’s first black multi-billionaire. During the year 2007, she was categorized as the most influential woman in the world.

Winfrey grew up in poverty in the rural areas of Mississippi raised up by a young single teenage mother then she later grew in Milwaukee. Oprah experienced a traumatizing childhood experience where she was molested and as a result had teenage pregnancy at the age of just 14years. She gave birth to a premature son who died at his babyhood. Winfrey was later sent to live with her stepfather Vernon Winfrey whose work was a barber at Tennesse. During her stay, she got herself a job at a local grocery store. At the age of 17, she won the Miss Black Tennesse beauty pageant.

It is through her award that she got the attention of a local black radio thus secured her second job while still at high school. At 19 she anchored the evening news. Her dedication to work led to boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place also was shifted to a daytime show arena. She later initiated her own production company which was broadcasted internationally.

A photo of Oprah Winfrey
A photo of Oprah Winfrey

Attributed to creating many intimate, revelation, media form communication. Winfrey made famous a show called the tabloid talk show genre pioneered by Phil Donahue. 1994 she was inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame. In the mid-1990’s she reinvented her show focusing on literature, mindfulness, spirituality, and self-improvement. She has been criticized for unleashing a confession tradition, promoting controversial self-help ideas. Praises have been made to Oprah for overcoming adversity to become a benefactor to others.

During political time Oprah emerged as a political force in the 2008 presidential race. In her support to Barack Obama its approximated to have been one million votes during 2008, Democratic primaries.  In 2013, Winfrey received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama also an honorary doctorate degree from Duke and Harvard. She later formed her network in 2008, the Opray Winfrey Network_OWN.

How old is Oprah Winfrey?

Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi, the United States of America thus she is 66 years old as of 2020. She shares her birthday with famous people such as Nicholas Turturro, Greg Louganis, Heather Graham, Sara Gilbert, and Katherine Ross, and others.

Oprah Winfrey Family

Who are her parents?

Oprah was born to Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey who was a barber in Tennessee.

Does Oprah have siblings?

She has three siblings, a late biological half brother by the name of Jeffrey Lee who died of AIDS in the year 1989 at the age of 29, She also has a late sister named Patricia Lee Lloyd who was found dead at her home in suburban Milwaukee on 19th February 2003 at the age of 43. Winfrey has another half-sister who was long lost called Patricia Lofton.

Oprah Winfrey Education

Winfrey attended Lincoln High School in Milwaukee, after her success in the Upward Bound program, later was transferred to Nicolet High School which is in the suburban. It is from East Nashville High School where she placed second in nation dramatic interpretation where she later acquired a full scholarship to Tennesse State University from 1971 to 1987, which was known as a historic black institution.

Oprah Winfrey Boyfriend – Husband

During her senior high school life, Oprah dated Anthony Otey who saved many hundreds of love notes. Winfrey conducted herself in an upright manner, they spoke of getting married someday. The two broke up on Valentine’s day during her senior year at Tennessee State University in 1971, she met William “Bubba” Taylor. She was so in love with Taylor such that she did everything to keep him. She helped him secure a job. In June 1976 she moved to Baltimore to work at WJZ, TV.

In 1971 she had an affair with John Tesh but later on split up due to interracial pressures. While at the WJZ TV Winfrey took comfort to Lloyd Kramer when criticized by the TV for reporting tragic TV shows while crying also when she almost got bald due to a failed perm. For four years Oprah had a relationship with a married man who never had any intentions of leaving his wife. She stated that the more the man rejected her, the more she felt attached to him. This made her feel depressed that on September 8, 1981, she wrote a suicide note to her best friend Gayle King instructing her to water her flowers.

It is through the depression that she had a weight problem. She later confessed to having cracked cocaine with a lover. She later got another lover called Cook whom they were living together for several months at the same time doing drugs both of them. He tried suing her in 1997 for $20 million for allegedly blocking a tell-all book about their alleged relationship.

In the middle of 1980, she dated movie critic Roger Ebert, who advised her to take her show on the broadcast. In 1985, before her show on Winfrey Chicago had gone national, she dated Haitian filmmaker Reginald Chevalier, they had an evening romance at home. She later had affair with Michael Jordan and Danny Glove who had candlelit baths and dinner. After breaking up with her former affairs with others in 1986, she met Stedman Graham who became her boyfriend, and moved in together.

Oprah Winfrey Kids

Opray had a child at 14 years, a son who was born prematurely thus died shortly after birth.

Oprah Winfrey Net Worth

Oprah’s net worth is 2.6 billion United States dollars.

Oprah Winfrey Awards

Throughout her career, she has won 18 commendations which include, Primetime Emmy Awards that includes 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. Daytime Emmy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Chairman’s Award.

Oprah Winfrey Show

Oprah has hosted the following shows;

  • 1986- Saturday Night Live
  • 1986 to 2011- The Oprah Winfrey Show
  • 1987- Throw Momma from the Train
  • 1992- The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
  • 1999-The Hughleys
  • 2007- Ocean’s Thirteen
  • 2011 to 2018- Oprah’s Master Class
  • 2012 to 2015- Oprah Prime
  • 2019- A Beautiful Day in The Neighborhood
  • 2020 Oprah’s Book Club
  • 2020 Between the World and Me

Oprah has been a producer of the following shows;

  • 1989- The Oprah Winfrey Show
  • 1992- Nine (TV documentary)
  • 1993- Michael Jackson Talk to Oprah Live
  • 1998- Beloved
  • 2001- Amy and Isabelee TV series
  • 2005- Their Eyes Were Watching God
  • 2007- Oprah’s Big Give
  • 2011- Extraordinary Mom
  • 2018- Love Is
  • 2020- The Water Man

Oprah Winfrey Films

Oprah has been an actress in the following films;

  • 1985- The Color purple
  • 1989- The Women of Brewster place
  • 1992- There Are No Children Here
  • 1997- Before Women Had Wings
  • 1999- Our Friend, Martin
  • 2007- Bee Movie
  • 2010- Sesame Street
  • 2014-Selma
  • 2017- The immortal Life of Hernietta Lacks
  • 2018- The Handmaid’s Tale

Oprah Winfrey Books

  1. 1996 – The Uncommon Wisdom of Oprah Winfrey: A Portrait in Her Own Words
  2. 1998 -Journey to Beloved (Photography by Ken Regan)
  3. 1998 – Make the Connection: Ten Steps to a Better Body and a Better Life (co-authored with Bob Greene)
  4. 2000 – Oprah Winfrey: The Soul and Spirit of a Superstar2014 – What I Know for Sure
  5. 2016 – Mr. or Ms. Just Right (co-authored with B. Grace)
  6. 2017 – Food, Health, and Happiness
  7.             The Wisdom of Sundays: Life-Changing Insights from Super Soul Conversations
  8.             The Wisdom Journal: The Companion to The Wisdom of Sundays
  9. 2019 -The Path Made Clear: Discovering Your Life’s Direction and Purpose

Oprah Winfrey Philanthropy

Oprah was known to be one of the most generous Americans that she was ranked top 50 by the year 2004 and 2010. In the year 2012, she donated 400 United States dollars to education causes. Had also given scholarships 400 in total to Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. In the year 2006 Winfrey took her staff and their families on a vacation to Hawaii during summertime to celebrate their hard work, in total were 1065 people.

Later Winfrey donated 12million United States dollars in the year 2013 to Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Oprah Winfrey Height

Adding to her well-curved and beautiful body, she stands at a height of; 1.69m equals to 5feet and 6.5 inches.

Oprah Winfrey Twitter