Chapter 4: Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey started her working life as a newsreader for small radio and TV stations in the early 1970s. She got a job at a larger TV station in Baltimore in 1976 and was given a job on that station’s morning talk show. In 1983, Oprah took over the morning show at a large TV station in Chicago. Then she acted in Steven Spielberg’s movie The Color Purple and became noticed around the country. Oprah, who wanted more control of her career, started her own company (Harpo Productions) in 1986 and bought a TV and film production centre in Chicago. The Oprah Winfrey Show now plays throughout the world. In 2004, at the age of 50, Oprah became America’s first black millionaire.