Things You Didn’t Know About Oprah

1. She is amongst the richest black women in the world

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Oprah Winfrey is a self-made billionaire.  Self-made in the most real sense.  Worth $2.6 billion, she has made her fortune from the ground up, overcoming an incredibly difficult childhood and becoming a successful actress, the host of her own syndicated TV talk show, and starting her own production company, TV network, AND magazine.  What a woman!

2. She isn't really called Oprah

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Believe it or not, her actual full name is "Orpah Gail Winfrey".  Did you spot it?  Well no, of course, that's not a typo!  She was born in 1954 in rural Mississippi and was named Orpah after the biblical character in The Book of Ruth.  People around her mistakenly called her Oprah for years and it just stuck!  It's hard to imagine her being called anything else!

3. A traumatic past

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In her 2021 book, "What Happened to You?  Conversations on Trauma, Resilience, and Healing", Oprah opened up about her traumatic past which saw her abused by the people who should've protected her the most.  In the book, she recalled one night she was consumed by an overpowering sense of loneliness when her mother forced her to sleep out on the porch.

4. The first to have her own talk show

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It's no lie that Oprah has achieved immense success in her life and one of her achievements (that we think definitely deserves a mention) is that in 1986 she became the very first woman in history to own and produce her own talk show!  In fact, it was so successful that it ran for 25 seasons AND it won 47 Daytime Emmy Awards.  This number would've grown, as well, if she hadn't stopped submitting it for consideration in 2000!  Everyone wanted to be on her show!

5. She was a beauty queen

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Oprah overcame her difficult past and became one of the most beloved celebs of all time.  But before she entered the media world, Oprah was a Beauty Queen.  And in 1972, at the age of just 17, she won first place in a beauty pageant and was crowned Miss Black Tennessee.  It is said that this, in part, helped her to get her first job in journalism!

6. Her childhood nickname was "The Preacher"

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Oprah could read before she was three years old!  When she went to live with her grandmother, Hattie Mae, expectations were immediately very high.  Hattie taught Oprah how to read from a very early age and, every week, they went to the local church together.  Oprah was able to recite church verses better than anyone and so, she earned the nickname: "The Preacher".

7. Growing up was a struggle

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In the last few years, Oprah has tearfully opened up about her harrowing experiences growing up and said that she often felt unbearably lonely and unloved.  She has detailed the horrific abuse she suffered at the hands of family members and how she and her family were so poor, she was teased by other children for wearing dresses made from potato sacks.

8. She interviewed her toys

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When Oprah was a child, as well as lacking any emotional support, sadly, she did not have much in terms of material possessions either.  She had an array of pet cockroaches and played with dolls made from corn cob husks that she once said she actually used to line up and interview one by one.  Perhaps she knew her calling even back then!

9. She went from not being able to afford a Barbie to being a Barbie

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Oprah's life is now a far cry from what it was.  From not being able to afford any toys whatsoever to being so successful that she has now been made into a Barbie!  And this isn't all, she has been made into a Barbie multiple times, including one of her characters Mrs. Which who she portrayed in the sci-fi, A Wrinkle in Time.

10. She set up her own TV production company

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Three and a half years after The Oprah Winfrey Show went national, Oprah set up, the now-closed, Harpo Productions.  As chairwoman, she was able to use her influence to produce TV, and movies and she even went into publishing.  Fun fact: The name of the company, Harpo, is what we call a semordnilap.  This just means it's a word spelled backward for another purpose!  Can you work it out?

11. She read the news

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Winfrey has wowed us all with her amazing accomplishments.  But the list doesn't end there!  It turns out that she was also, at 19 years old, the youngest and very first black female news anchor at a TV station in Nashville.  This job wasn't without its struggles though and she was often told by her male bosses that she wasn't the fit for the job.  Feeling misplaced, Oprah got demoted, but then got a job as co host for the talk show, "People are Talking".  This is where she found her true calling.

12. She was nominated for Best Actress

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Oprah is a multi-faceted human being with many talents, including acting.  And she is good at it!  So good that she was once nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her astonishing performance as Sofia in The Color Purple in 1985.  Over the years, Oprah has been recognized in the movie industry as not only an actress but also a producer in the Academy Award-winning movie, Selma.  

13. Maya Angelou's death hit her hard

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Oprah always says that poet, author, singer, and orator, Maya Angelou, absolutely changed her life forever.  When they met back in the seventies, Oprah didn't know the wisdom and the love she would gain from knowing a person like Maya.  When she died, Oprah took to social media to express her love and gratitude for having Angelou as such a loving and inspiring presence in her life.  In her words: (she was) "The greatest mentor I've ever known".

14. Balloons scare the bejesus out of her

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We all know her as the fearless media mogul.  But the thing is, you might be comforted to know that Oprah is human too.  You see, an interesting fact about Oprah is that she suffers from globophobia, also known as an intense fear of balloons.  A fact that might've been useful to those organizing her 40th birthday party!  Her oblivious party planners filled the whole downstairs with balloons to surprise the birthday girl.  Turns out, she couldn't enjoy her surprise at all.  Pop!

15. She throws one heck of a party

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So, no balloons at Oprah's parties, then!  "But how does she celebrate?"  We hear you cry.  It turns out that she is pretty awesome at organizing festivities.  In fact, she organized the most stunning gathering for the arrival of her long-time bestie, Gayle King's, first grandchild.  She went all out and, some say, completely over the top to make the day super special and memorable for her wonderful pal.

16. Tom Cruise once bounced up and down on her couch

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Yes, you read that correctly.  Rude, right?  Well, there was a reason for his behavior.  And that reason was love.  Honestly, what better way for Tom to express his love for Katie Holmes than to jump up and down on Oprah Winfrey's couch!  Come on Tom, get down will you - you're embarrassing us!

17. She is Weightwatchers' spokesperson

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We cannot talk about Oprah Winfrey without mentioning her journey with her weight.  She has been incredibly open over the years about her weight loss, as well as her weight gain, and in 2016, she shared her story of losing 40 lbs with WeightWatchers.  The thing is, she did actually buy $75 million worth of shares in WW and has worked hard to regain America's trust in the diet company.

18. The infamous wagon of fat

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In 1988, Oprah put on a pair of size 10 jeans and proudly showed off her figure after she lost 67 lbs on a liquid-only diet.  To give her viewers a visual representation of the scale of her loss, she wheeled a red wagon into the shot carrying a big old bag containing 67 lbs of animal fat.  She has since said that she regrets this now and called it the biggest ego trip of her life.  Thanks for that Oprah - we were eating!

19. She played a big role in the launch of Oxygen Media

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If you have ever flicked over to the Oxygen Network, you have done it to find true crime documentaries and dramas.  But this isn't what it used to be.  You see, Oprah had the vision to create a network that shows women how they want to be shown, and she thought that partnering with Oxygen would help her to achieve this.  In fact, it didn't and she ended up creating her own network.  As she then said: "Don't put your name to what you can't control".  Sound advice, Oprah!

20. She was Princess Tiana's mum

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Amongst her many talents, Oprah has often donated her voice to a variety of well-known cartoon characters, including Princess Tiana's mother in Disney's The Princess and the Frog, the Bee Movie's Judge Bumbleton, Gussy the Goose from Charlotte's Web, and Coretta Scott King from the 1999 movie, Our Friend, Martin.

21. She once gave her entire audience new cars

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Gifted as part of the "Oprah's Favorite Things" segment on her show, Oprah once gave her 300 (yes, 300!) audience members a car.  And not any old banger either!  Each and every one of those lucky people got a brand new, at the time, Pontiac G-6 Sedan.  Imagine that: you get to see Oprah in person, AND she gives you a nearly $30,000 car!  What a day out!

22. She sent her staff on a European cruise

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And she didn't leave her staff out during her gifting frenzy!  In fact, Oprah took one hundred of her staff members and their family, on an all-expenses-paid cruise around the Mediterranean.  During the ten-day cruise, they visited Italy, Malta, Spain, Turkey, and Greece and it is said that she shelled out $9.2 million for the luxury trip!  Psst... How do we get a job?

23. She is plagued by rumors

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With an immense amount of success, fame, and praise, the inevitable tidal wave of rumors, hatred, and trolls came crashing in.  There have been rumors spread about every last bit of Oprah's life, including rumors about her close relationship with her bestie, Gayle King.  Not only this, but she has also had to bat off rumors that accused her of sex trafficking, calling them "awful and untrue".

24. She was responsible for the most-watched interview in history

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In 1993, Oprah caught up with Michael Jackson in what became the most-watched televised interview in history.  Anyone who knows Michael Jackson might remember how private he was and that he never ever gave let anyone interview him.  Except for Oprah!  And so 90 million people tuned in that evening to watch the unprecedented interview.

25. She doesn't mince her words

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Oprah once surprised audiences when she publicly chastised author, James Frey.  During an interview, she expressed how "duped" she felt when she confronted him about his memoir.  Frey admitted that he took, shall we say, some creative license with some of the facts in his book and Oprah wasn't going to let him get away with that!

26. She was engaged for 29 years

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Oprah has been with her beau, Stedman Graham, for 36 years, and many people, unfairly intent on finding the negatives in everything, find it suspicious that they have never tied the knot, or had children!  They are said to have had one of the longest engagements ever, spanning 29 years, and seem to have no intention of saying "I do" yet!

27. She is known to "avo" favorite food

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Anyone who knows Oprah personally knows that she goes nowhere without her favorite snack, avocados.  You might think avocados are expensive, and so does Oprah who once said that it was "ridiculous to pay for avocados".  So, what did she do?  She bought her own avocado orchard!  Her water bill must be pretty high!

28. Pizza with health benefits

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Oprah Winfrey has even entered the world of everyone's favorite food: pizza!  She teamed up with the company, Kraft Heinz to create her own premium range, O That's Good, and one of the most scrumptious flavors includes Classic Crust with a Twist of Cauliflower Uncured Pepperoni...  Wait... Cauliflower?!

29. She bought Amy Schumer's son a library

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Yes, Schumer and Winfrey are closer than we once thought.  And as far as gifts go, a whole library is pretty extravagant for a baby!  It is said that, during the time they worked together on Oprah''s 2020 Vision Tour, Oprah was super supportive of Amy when she became a new mom to little Gene.  The library echoed Oprah's love for books and she had "Gene's Book Club" written on the library for him.  Cute!

30. The most influential woman in the world

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Despite her traumatic and difficult childhood, overcoming huge challenges, and hitting back at the rumors, Oprah has beaten the odds and has become one of the most successful people in the world.  In fact, it is widely believed that, with her voice reaching millions worldwide, she is truly the most influential woman on the planet.