1990s, however, the format
became more serious, addressing
issues that Winfrey thought were of
direct importance and crucial
consequences to women. Winfrey began
to do huge amounts of work for
charity and feature those suffering
from poverty or untimely accidents
on her show.
Biography
Oprah has often discussed
openly various aspects of life,
including those more unpleasant
ones, with the media, including a
s--ually abusive childhood and a
problem with
drugs as an adult. Her own
weight fluctuations have caused her
to be a weight-loss guru.
In the
late
1990s, Oprah introduced her
"book club" on television. When
Oprah Winfrey introduced a book on the air, it
would within a week be a best
seller. It was at this moment that
it was realized just what a powerful
media influence she was. During a
1996 aired show about
Mad Cow disease, Winfrey said,
"It has just stopped me from eating
another burger!" In
1998, Oprah was sued by Texas
cattle ranchers in a beef-defamation
lawsuit because according to the
cattle producers the remarks by
Winfrey subsequently sent cattle
prices tumbling, costing them $12
million. In the end, the jury said
Oprah was not liable for damages.
Oprah has started The Angel
Network, an organization that
collects millions of dollars a year
for charities. Oprah Winfrey publishes her own
magazine, called "O,"
and has her own cable television
network, called Oxygen. She is the
president of Harpo Productions,
which, among other things, produced
the successful screen adaptation of
the
Toni Morisson novel
Beloved. Winfrey has also
ventured into acting, most notably
in the screen adaptation of the
Alice Walker novel
The Color Purple (for which
she received an
Oscar nomination) and in her own
production
Beloved. Winfrey is also a
published author, and in
2002 she received a special
Emmy award called The Bob Hope
Humanitarian Award. Winfrey is based
in
Chicago, Illinois but has a home
in
Montecito, California; she is
reported to have recently been
buying property on
Maui.
Possibly Oprah's most famous
recent act occurred at the beginning
of the nineteenth season of The
Oprah Winfrey Show in the fall of
2004. During the episode, each
member of the audience received a
new Pontiac G6 Sedan; the 276 cars
were donated by Pontiac as part of a
publicity stunt. Winfrey recently
made a deal to extend her show until
the 2010 – 2011 season, by which
time it will have been on the air
for twenty-five years. She plans to
host 140 episodes per season, until
her final season, when it will
return to its current number, 130.
