Oprah Winfrey Timeline

1954 Jan 29 Oprah Winfrey Is Born
Oprah Gail Winfrey (born January 29, 1954) is an American media personality, Academy Award nominated actress, producer, literary critic and magazine publisher, best known for her self-tit...
1960 Oprah Winfrey Moves To Milwaukee
At age six, Winfrey moved to an inner-city neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her mother, who was less supportive and encouraging than her grandmother had been, due in large part t...
1963 Oprah Winfrey Is Raped At Age 9
Winfrey was born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a teenage single mother and later raised in an inner-city Milwaukee neighborhood. She experienced considerable hardship during her ch...
1968 Oprah Winfrey Becomes Pregnant
Despite her dysfunctional home life, Winfrey skipped two of her earliest grades, became the teacher's pet, and by the time she was 13 received a scholarship to attend Nicolet High School ...
1971 Oprah Winfrey Wins The Miss Black Tennessee Beauty Pageant
Despite her dysfunctional home life, Winfrey skipped two of her earliest grades, became the teacher's pet, and by the time she was 13 received a scholarship to attend Nicolet High School ...
1978 Aug 14 "People Are Talking" Is Released
Working in local media, she was both the youngest news anchor and the first black female news anchor at Nashville's WLAC-TV. She moved to Baltimore's WJZ-TV in 1976 to co-anchor the six o...
1983 Oprah Winfrey Moves To Chicago
In 1983, Winfrey relocated to Chicago to host WLS-TV's low-rated half-hour morning talk-show, AM Chicago. The first episode aired on January 2, 1984. Within months after Winfrey took over...
1984 Jan 2 AM Chicago Airs
In 1983, Winfrey relocated to Chicago to host WLS-TV's low-rated half-hour morning talk-show, AM Chicago. The first episode aired on January 2, 1984. Within months after Winfrey took over...
1985 Dec 18 "The Color Purple" Is Released
The Color Purple (1985) drama film directed by Steven Spielberg. It is the eighth film directed by Spielberg and is based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Alice Wal...
1986 Sep 8 The Oprah Winfrey Show Begins
In 1983, Winfrey relocated to Chicago to host WLS-TV's low-rated half-hour morning talk-show, AM Chicago. The first episode aired on January 2, 1984. Within months after Winfrey took over...
1987 Dec 11 "Throw Momma From The Train" Is Released
Throw Momma from the Train is a comedy film released in 1987. The movie was inspired by the 1951 Alfred Hitchcock thriller Strangers on a Train, which also plays a role in the film. The 1...
1988 Dec 21 Pee-Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special Airs
It's the wildest holiday ever when some V.I.P.'s (Very Important Persons) stop by to wish Pee-wee a V.M.C. (Very Merry Christmas)! Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon are off the beach a...
1989 Mar 19
to 1989 Mar 20
 "The Women of Brewster Place" Airs
The Women of Brewster Place is a TV miniseries that aired on March 19 and 20, 1989 on ABC. The miniseries is based upon the 1982 novel by Gloria Naylor. It was produced by Oprah Winfrey's...
1990 May 1
to 1990 May 30
 "Brewster Place" Airs
Brewster Place is a short lived American drama series which aired on ABC in May 1990. The series was a spinoff of the 1989 miniseries The Women of Brewster Place, which was based upon Glo...
1992 Nov 9 Oprah Appears On "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air"
"Well, he didn't actually kick her out of the house. He just changed all the locks and told her she didn't live there anymore. " —Carlton Banks
1993 "Dangerous-The Short Films" Airs
Dangerous - The Short Films is a collection of "short films" by Michael Jackson released initially on VHS, in 1993 released by Buena Vista Home Video, and then on DVD in 2001.
1993 Feb 10 Oprah Winfrey interviews Michael Jackson
Jackson gave a 90-minute interview with Oprah Winfrey in February 1993, his first television interview since 1979. He grimaced when speaking of his childhood abuse at the hands of his fat...
1996 Apr 16 Oprah Airs An Episode About Mad Cow Disease
Winfrey's influence reaches far beyond pop culture and into unrelated industries where many believe she has the power to cause enormous market swings and radical price changes with a sing...
1997 Apr 30 Oprah Winfrey Appears In "Ellen"
"The Puppy Episode" is a two-part episode of the situation comedy television series Ellen. The episode details lead character Ellen Morgan's realization that she is a lesbian and her comi...
1998 Feb 26 Oprah Winfrey Is Found Not Guilty
"Free speech not only lives, it rocks," a beaming Oprah Winfrey said Thursday after jurors rejected a multimillion-dollar defamation lawsuit by Texas cattlemen. The Amarillo, Texas, jury ...
1998 Oct 16 "Beloved" Is Released
Beloved is a 1998 film based on Toni Morrison's eponymous Pulitzer-Prize-winning 1987 novel. It was directed by Jonathan Demme, and was produced by Oprah Winfrey's Harpo Productions. The ...
1999 Jan 12 "Our Friend, Martin" Is Released
Our Friend, Martin is a 1999 animated children's educational film about Martin Luther King, Jr. and the American civil rights movement. Two friends travel through time, meeting Dr. King a...
1999 Dec 5 "Tuesdays With Morrie" Is Released
* Jack Lemmon – Morrie Schwartz * Hank Azaria – Mitch Albom * Wendy Moniz – Janine * Caroline Aaron – Connie * Bonnie Bartlett – Charlotte * Aaron Lustig – Ra...
2002 Oprah Winfrey Wins The Bob Hope Humanitarian Award
The Bob Hope Humanitarian Award was established in 2002 by the Board of Governors of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in recognition of Bob Hope's trailblazing career. The awar...
2003 Apr 15 "A Million Little Pieces" Is Published
A Million Little Pieces is a controversial memoir by James Frey. It tells the story of a 23-year-old alcoholic and drug abuser and how he copes with rehabilitation in a Twelve Steps-orien...
2004 Dec 10 Oprah Winfrey Hosts The Nobel Peace Prize Concert
The 2004 Nobel Peace Prize Concert was hosted by Oprah and Tom Cruise. There were musical performances by Cyndi Lauper, Andrea Bocelli, Joss Stone, Chris Botti, Diana Krall, Tony Bennett ...
2005 Mar 16 "Their Eyes Were Watching God" Is Released
Their Eyes Were Watching God is a 2005 television movie based upon Zora Neale Hurston's 1937 novel of the same name. The film was directed by Darnell Martin and produced by Oprah Winfrey'...
2005 Dec 1 Oprah Winfrey Appears On The Late Show With David Letterman
On December 1, 2005, Winfrey appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman to promote the new Broadway musical The Color Purple, of which she was a producer, joining the host for the fir...
2006 May 22 A Special About "Legends Ball" Airs
Oprah Winfrey's Legends Ball was a three-day celebration honoring twenty-five African American women in the fields of art, entertainment, and civil rights. The celebration included a l...
2006 Sep 25 Oprah Winfrey Endorses Barack Obama On Larry King Live
On September 25, 2006, Winfrey appeared on Larry King Live and was asked about a fan who started a campaign to get Winfrey to run for president. Larry King noted that Winfrey's lawyers ha...
2006 Oct 19 Oprah Winfrey Interviews Barack Obama On Her Show
On September 25, 2006, Winfrey appeared on Larry King Live and was asked about a fan who started a campaign to get Winfrey to run for president. Larry King noted that Winfrey's lawyers ha...
2006 Dec 7 "Charlotte's Web" Is Released
Charlotte's Web is a live-action/computer-animated feature film, based on the popular book of the same name by E.B. White. It is directed by Gary Winick and produced by Paramount Pictures...
2007 Feb 26 "Building a Dream: The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy" Is Released
The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls - South Africa is a girls-only boarding school that officially opened in January 2007 at Henley-on-Klip in Meyerton, south of Johannesburg, ...
2007 Sep 8 Oprah Winfrey Hosts A Barack Obama Fundraiser
Winfrey has exerted political influence, endorsing presidential candidate Barack Obama in the 2008 presidential election. This is the first time she has publicly made such an endorsement....
2007 Oct 16 Oprah Winfrey Reveals That She Has A Thyroid Disorder
On October 16, 2007, Winfrey revealed that she was diagnosed with a thyroid disorder that made her gain 20 pounds. "At the end of May, I was so exhausted I couldn't figure out what was go...
2007 Nov 7 "Bee Movie" Is Released
Bee Movie is a 2007 CGI-animated film starring Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Megan Mullally, John Goodman, Chris Rock, Kathy Bates, and Patrick Warburton. Produced b...
2007 Dec 25 "The Great Debaters" Is Released
The Great Debaters is a 2007 film directed by and starring two-time Academy Award winner Denzel Washington and produced by Oprah Winfrey and her production company, Harpo Productions. It ...
2008 Mar 2
to 2008 Apr 20
 Oprah's Big Give Airs
Oprah's Big Give (also referred to as The Big Give) is a reality television series that aired Sunday nights at 9:00 PM Eastern/8:00PM Central on ABC, and is hosted by Nate Berkus. The Big...
2008 Nov 6 "Believe In The Stars" Airs
"Believe in the Stars" is the second episode of the third season of 30 Rock, and the thirty-eighth episode overall. It was written by Robert Carlock and was directed by Don Scardino.
2009 Sep 30 Chicago 2016 Olympic Bid Team Travels to Copenhagen to Lobby IOC
In making her pitch for Chicago to land the 2016 Olympic Games, First Lady Michelle Obama touted a distinctly Chicago cultural asset: Oprah Winfrey. “I said every single city who’s bid...
2009 Nov 6 "Precious" Is Released
Claireece Precious Jones endures unimaginable hardships in her young life. Abused by her mother, raped by her father, she grows up poor, angry, illiterate, fat, unloved and generally unno...
2009 Nov 20 Oprah Winfrey Announces She will End Show With Expiration of Current Contract After September, 2011
Oprah Winfrey knows how to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. Knowing that viewers were tuning in to her Friday show to hear the queen of talk confirm that the "Oprah Winfrey Sho...
2009 Nov 25 "The Princess And The Frog" Is Released
The Princess and the Frog is an upcoming 2009 American animated family feature film and presented by Walt Disney Animation Studios. It will be the 49th animated feature in the Walt Disney...
2010 Jun 28 Rod Blagojevich's Chief of Staff Testifies That They Considered Oprah, Cheryle Jackson and Jesse Jackson Jr. as Potential Senate Appointees
"She [Oprah] made Obama ... she's a Democrat." —Rod Blagojevich