Talk:Oprah Winfrey

Some useful biographical info from here 1 may help flesh out the early career bit, looks like she was a reporter in '73, talk show host by early 80's —Hobart 13:15, 23 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Name?

In a - believe it or not - children's book I read that Oprah was supposed to be called Orpah (after the Biblical sister-in-law of Ruth), but there was a mistake in registring the birth and nobody bothered to change it back. Does anyone has sources to corrobate this claim, and where in the article should it go? JFW | T@lk 12:54, 13 Jun 2004 (UTC)

I think that's a widely-spread urban myth. These interviews from the horse's mouth, so to speak, seem to back up the OP:

-Funny, I heard her name was Harpo Marx's name backwards. I'm not sure of the credibility behind this, however.

    -eagleboy978

http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/win0int-1 http://multirace.org/firstday/stamp81.

Criticism

I believe the article should include criticisms of Oprah Winfrey ..Currently the article seems be a glowing praise...Obviously the other side of the argument has to be included... Compare this format to other articles on say Bill O Reilly or the New York Times where one full page is devoted for critics views. The criticism uses the world "allegedly"...So it is NPOV. Thanks

If you can provide more than one critic's comments, from a more reliable source than The 700 Club, fine. Also, the quotes you added are a bit lengthy; a summary with a choice quote or two would probably be better. —tregoweth 18:21, Dec 26, 2004 (UTC)

Obviously the ex editor of the ladies home journal is a credible source...Please refer the book itself if you need. I am adding one quote instead of two. Thanks

Once I found that the author was a former Ladies' Home Journal editor, I added it to the article. Previously, there was no indication of who she was, so I had no idea if she should be taken seriously. —tregoweth 19:07, Dec 26, 2004 (UTC)

Can anyone confirm the edit made by 60.228.236.195 on 2 December 2005 regarding steroid use? I can find no such article online. 72.131.44.247 07:00, 2 December 2005 (UTC)

From Oprah

I've cut the following line out of Oprah. It might be relevant here, if someone can verify it. --Millsdavid 23:47, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC)

Oprah Winfrey owns a Summer House in Lavalette, New Jersey. Lavalette is home to other celebrities like Joe Pesci and Nicholas Tuttoro.

my two cents

I dont think the article is at all overly praising of Oprah. I rather like the artical. I feel the syntax and flow might need some work, but I dont feel an overtly liberal bias is present in its presentation. Though, it is important to inculde critisim. But, the criticism seems overly harsh. Oprah never presented herself as anything more then a talk show, so it makes sence she has opinions and the shows follow her interests. And it just so happens her opions resonate with so many Americans, of various back grounds and points of view. The real critisim seems to be at her sucess and popularity. If there is a particular interest that is not represented... that may be because she knows her audience, and knows what they would wish to view. After all... she has contracted to extend her overall tenure to 25 years. And no, I dont watch Operah, but do beleive she is a modern American role modal, not only for women but for many who can take something she says and be inspirid about it. Drachenfyre 03:45, 11 July 2005 (UTC)

"Comedy target" section.

Why is this noteworthy? Comedians (especially skit shows like SNL, Chapelle, and madTV) go after damned near everyone, but you don't see an "[x person] has been the subject of humour skits on madTV" paragraph in every notable human being's Wikipedia article. I'm removing the paragraph. Shem^(talk) 05:43, 10 August 2005 (UTC)

Hmmm... When I think of Oprah, I do remember special targeting by comedians--but mostly regarding her weight. It seems like the comics have moved on lately, though. So I suppose she's only remarkable as a "celebrity-topical" target, sort of the way tabloids ignore celebs unless there's something "juicy" to gossip about--like drug problems or weight gain--and especially if it is a recurring problem for the celeb. Another argument is that Oprah's influence and power make her a more obvious target. Ckamaeleon 23:36, 20 October 2005 (UTC)

More information could be added to her History

I recall watching a news segment about Winfrey's past, and she wore glasses that she didn't like, so she broke them just so her parents could buy her new ones. Just an example, but there is a lot more information that could be said about where she came from. And believe me, it's an interesting thing to know, since she has now become one of the most powerful women in the world.

Gary King 00:43, 31 August 2005 (UTC)

Picture

This picture is awful - it looks like she's on crack or hasn't slept in days - either way we really need another picture even if it's outdated. freestylefrappe 23:50, 8 November 2005 (UTC)

• Well the one good thing about the current photo it is copyright friendly because it is a screen capture. I don't think you can take stuff from Oprah.com due to their Terms and Conditions. It only allows for private usage of their material. The only way I can think of getting another copyright friendly image is by getting a scan of her magazine's covers or take another screen capture of her television show. --J. Nguyen 01:29, 9 November 2005 (UTC)

• • It's not clear to me why that wouldn't also be infringement. --Westendgirl 08:30, 15 November 2005 (UTC)

This article is sucks!

Just one examples:

"A talkative young girl, Oprah would interview and talk to the doll and crows sitting on the fence of her family's property; this is believed to be the start of her media career."

Can you see the obvious grammatical and logical flaw?

This article needs a lot of work.

Roger Ebert

How I gave Oprah her start Would someone better versed in Oprah's biography be able to work this into the article?