Opera Winfrey is a well-known TV Host and philanthropist. She is also known as a Media Mogul. She got her name and fame from her multi-award-winning show “The Oprah Winfrey Show.”

This show has been the highest-rated program in history. Besides this, Oprah was also ranked as the wealthiest African American in the 20th century. She is also the most outstanding black philanthropist in American history and the world’s only black billionaire.

Her very word and quotes are counted worldwide. She is the leading world’s opinion-maker. No wonder she is called “the most powerful woman in the world.”   

Oprah Winfrey Earlier Life:

Oprah was born on 29th January 1954 in Kosciusko city of Mississippi. Her name is taken from the bible figure. Her real name is “Oprah,” but it became “Oprah” as people struggle to pronounce her name, so R and P got switched. 

Her grandmother raised Oprah for six years. Her grandmother was a maid. Her grandmother also wanted Oprah to become a maid one day. Grandmother expected Oprah to grow up as a fine maid one day and work at white people’s homes. 

Oprah Winfrey spent her early years in poverty. Like other black children in a rural area, her childhood was ordinary. She used to wear a potato sack as a dress. Her grandmother would whip her often.  

As a child, she was not allowed to have wishes and emotions. Her mother, Vernita Lee, was a housemaid. When she visited her mother after six years, she was not allowed to enter the house because of her skin colour. 

Later at the age of six, Oprah started living with her mother, a drastic change. Her mother’s parenting style was different from that of her strict but encouraging grandmother. Oprah was frequently abused sexually and psychologically by her extended family members. She kept this secret for such a long time. She was frightened of what if the secret comes out; everyone is going to dislike her. Being a TV personality, she thought she would look like a disgraceful personality as soon as the secret came out.