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OPRAH WINFREY

© Mary M. Alward

Oprah Gail Winfrey was born on January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi, to Vernita and Vernon Winfrey. When she entered the world, Oprah already faced overwhelming obstacles. She was born out of wedlock, black and poor. Vernita was 20 years old and worked as a maid. Vernon was enlisted in the armed forces.

The first six years of Oprah's life was spent on a farm in Kosciusko, where she lived with her grandmother. Oprah says that her grandmother probably saved her life. By age three, she was reading aloud and performing recitations. Her grandmother taught her a love of reading and books, which she retains to this day.

Oprah's grandmother told her time after time that she was "gifted." Thus, she learned at a young age that she was special. These are probably the things that gave her the courage to face the life of obstacles that was her future.

At age six, Oprah was sent to live with her mother in Milwakee. Here she suffered a life of abuse. When she was 9, Oprah was raped by a male cousin. A male friend of Vernita's and Oprah's uncle both sexually molested Oprah when she was young. She kept the abuse as secret, but experienced anger and pain. She began to rebel. By the time she was 13, she had begun to run away and get into trouble. Vernita decided to send her to a juvenile detention center. Luckily, the home had no available beds. Vernita sent her to Nashville to live with her strict, disciplinarian father, Vernon. "As strict as he was," Oprah says, "he had some concerns about me making the best of my life, and would not accept anything less than what he thought was my best."

Vernon set down the rules. He gave Oprah a curfew, demanded she make good grades and encouraged her to be the best that she could be. He insisted she read one book a week and submit a book report to him. He encouraged her to turn her life around.

Oprah enrolled at Tennessee State University. She studied performing arts and speech. She landed her first job at WVOL radio in Nashville when she was seventeen. Two years later, she was hired by WTVF-TV in Nashville as a news anchor.

Oprah moved to Baltimore in 1976, to join WJZ-TV as news anchor. By 1978, she was the host of "People Are Talking," for WJZ-TV, but continued as a news reporter and anchor person. She worked at WJZ for eight years.

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