Early Life

Early Life:

Oprah Gail Winfrey was born January 29th, 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi to unmarried parents. After Oprah's birth, her mother traveled north and Oprah spent her first five or six years living in rural Mississippi with her grandmother. Her grandmother taught her to read before the age of three and took her to the local church, where she was nicknamed "The Preacher" for her ability to recite Bible verses.
At age six, Oprah moved to an inner-city neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin with her mother, who was less supportive and encouraging than her grandmother had been.
After suffering years of abuse, at 13 Oprah ran away from home. When she was 14, she became pregnant, but her son died shortly after birth.
Her frustrated mother sent her to live with her father in Nahsville, Tennessee. Her father, Vernon was strict, but encouraging and made her education a priority. Winfrey became an honors student, was voted Most Popular Girl, joined her high school speech team at East Nashville High School, and placed second in the nation in dramatic interpretation.
She won an oratory contest, which secured her a full scholarship to Tennessee State University, a historically black institution, where she studied communication. At age 17, Winfrey won the Miss Black Tennessee Beauty Pageant.
Working in local media, she was both the youngest news anchor. She moved to Baltimore's WJZ-TV in 1976 to co-anchor the six o'clock news.