Born in rural Mississippi, Oprah Winfrey spent her childhood being raised by different family members. She left her first home, her grandmother's farm, by the time she was 12. While living with her mother in Milwaukee, she was sexually molested by male relatives and at 14, had a stillborn baby. She then went to live with her father in Nashville, who was a strict disciplinarian and provided much-needed structure in young Oprah's life.

At 19, Oprah enrolled at Tennessee State University and also began working as a reporter at WVOL, a radio station in Nashville. By 1972, during her sophomore year in college, Oprah had become the first black anchor at WTVF-TV, her first experience in television. After moving to Baltimore in 1976 and working at WJZ-TV, she began hosting a local talk show, People Are Talking, and in 1984 moved to Chicago, where she began working as the host of A.M. Chicago. Her debut on the silver screen, in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple (based on Alice Walker's novel of the same name), earned her an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 1985.

What millions of viewers know today as The Oprah Winfrey Show began in 1986 as a nationally syndicated program. Oprah quickly founded her own company, Harpo Productions, which eventually bought her program from ABC. With features like Oprah's Book Club and an emphasis on real-life problems, her show continues to be a major daytime talk show force - and Oprah continues to be one of the most successful, and wealthy, women in the world.