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Oprah Winfrey - The Many Faces of Oprah
Talk show host, actress, campaigner and public advocate Oprah Winfrey leads a dramatic and ever-changing celebrity life
 Oprah Winfrey, talk show host, actress, producer, philanthropist and businesswoman is also the chairman of Harpo Entertainment Group in Chicago. She joins the elite company of Lucille Ball and Mary Pickford as one of only three women in TV and film to own their own production studios. Through Harpo Productions, she produces and hosts The Oprah Winfrey Show. Harpo Productions has also produced prime-time specials, made-for-television movies and children's specials for ABC.
The Oprah Winfrey Show, the highest-rated talk show in television history, is seen by 15-20 million viewers a day in the United States and airs in 132 countries.
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 Since entering syndication in 1986, The Oprah Winfrey Show has remained the number one talk show for 12 consecutive seasons, receiving 32 Emmy's, seven of which went to the host. Oprah has been honored with the most prestigious award in broadcasting, the George Foster Peabody's Individual Achievement Award, as well as the IRTS Gold Medal Award.On September 16, 1996, Oprah announced the start of Oprah's Book Club, an on-air reading club. Since then, Oprah has inspired the country to get excited about reading again. Each of the books selected for Oprah's Book Club to date has become an instant bestseller averaging over a million copies sold per selection. |
 In 1997, Oprah was named Newsweek's "Most Important Person" in books and media, and TV Guide's "Television Performer of the Year." She was also awarded a People's Choice Award for "Favorite Television Performer."
At the end of the 1995-96 television season, Oprah was honored with the most prestigious award in broadcasting, the George Foster Peabody Individual Achievement Award. Oprah also received the IRTS Gold Medal Award, and was recognized by Time magazine as one of "America's 25 Most Influential People of 1996." In addition to hosting The Oprah Winfrey Show and chairing Harpo Entertainment Group, Oprah has found time to pursue her dream of acting.
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 Since receiving both Golden Globe and Academy Award nominations for her role in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple, Oprah has been lauded by critics for her performances in "There Are No Children Here" and "The Women of Brewster Place", critically acclaimed projects produced by Harpo Films that portrayed the stories of strong and determined women, representing triumphs of the human spirit.
Oprah stars in and produces the upcoming feature film, Beloved, based on the novel by Toni Morrison. Produced by Harpo Films and directed by Jonathan Demme, Beloved began shooting in June, 1997 and will be released in the fall of 1998. Harpo Films is also producing a collection of original television movies for ABC under the Oprah Winfrey Presents banner.
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 The first title under the banner was Before Women Had Wings, followed by the four-hour mini-series, The Wedding. Oprah also co-authored the best selling fitness book Make the Connection, with her personal trainer Bob Greene. In Make the Connection, Oprah outlines her personal struggle with weight and shares her tips to living a healthy life. Oprah's first home video, Oprah: Make the Connection, was released October 1, 1997.
Oprah began her career in broadcasting at the age of 19 when she became the youngest and the first African-American woman ever to anchor the news at Nashville's WTVF-TV. She then moved to Baltimore to co-anchor the six o'clock news until she was recruited to co-host Baltimore's WJZ-TV's local talk show, People Are Talking. Seven years later, she relocated to Chicago to host WLS-TV's morning talk show, AM Chicago, which became the number one talk show one month after Oprah became its host. |
 In less than a year, the show expanded to an hour and was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah's commitment to empowering women and children is reflected through her charitable and philanthropic contributions. In1991, she initiated The National Child Protection Act and testified before the United States Senate Judiciary Committee to establish a national database of all convicted child abusers. On December 20, 1993, President Clinton signed the national "Oprah Bill" into law.
More recently, Oprah joined President Clinton and all living Presidents with the exception of President Reagan at the President's Summit, a call to action for volunteerism in our communities.
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 Oprah is using her philanthropic efforts to establish educational scholarship for hundreds of students in schools and universities throughout the country, including 100 men at Morehouse University in Atlanta, Georgia. Oprah also serves as National Spokesperson for A Better Chance, a privately funded organization that provides students from principally inner city school districts the opportunity to attend many of the nation's finest college preparatory and public schools. At the beginning of the 1997-98 television season Oprah announced the formation of Oprah's Angel Network, a national effort aimed at encouraging her viewers to open their hearts and share with those in need the bounty and blessings in their own lives.Oprah has subsequenly endorsed Barack Obama, who went on tto become persident and financed a school for girls in Africa
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 One of the hallmarks of the Angel Network is The World's Largest Piggy Bank, a campaign that encouraged viewers to save their small change for a national fund which will provide scholarships to prospective college students in all 50 states. Other programs within the Angel Network include volunteering with Habitat to Humanity to build a home in all 205 television markets in the United States that carry The Oprah Winfrey Show.
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