Oprah Winfrey

On January 29. 1954 Oprah Gail Winfrey was born to unwed teenage parents in Kosciusko, Mississippi. For the first six years of her life her grandmother raised her on a Mississippi farm. While in her grandmother's care she was taught to read at a very early age. This grew into a love of reading that she still has today.

At the age of six her mother, Vernita Lee, decided that she could care for her daughter and Oprah was sent to live with her mother in Milwaukee. From the age of six to thirteen, Oprah stayed with her mother. During this time a cousin raped her when she was nine years old and later she was molested by a male friend of her mother's and by an uncle. She never told anyone about the abuse that she was suffering. Instead, she held her angry and pain inside and she rebelled. She repeatedly ran away and got into trouble.

She was sent to live with her father Vernon Winfrey in Nashville when she was thirteen. Her father helped her with discipline. He encouraged Oprah to do her best. Oprah's father helped her turn her life around. Oprah has spoken of his requirement that she read a book each week and completes a book report on the book.

At the age of nineteen Oprah landed her first job as a reporter for a radio station in Nashville. Later she entered Tennessee State University to study radio and television broadcasting.