Oprah moved to Chicago in 1983 and began presenting the low-rated half-hour show AM Chicago on WLS-TV. Oprah's show debuted in January 1984 and quickly rose from the bottom of the ratings to become Chicago's most-watched and top-rated talk show in less than a year. Winfrey's open, warm-hearted personal style and ability to connect with people drew many more viewers than the "Phil Donahue Show," one of America's most popular shows, which aired concurrently with her show. Following a partnership with TV syndication provider King World Inc, the show was renamed "The Oprah Winfrey Show," enlarged to one hour, and shown in 138 cities and towns in 1986. The show grossed $125 million in its first season, with a loyal audience of 10 million viewers over 120 channels, making Oprah the highest-paid television host in show business ($30 million). Three Daytime Emmy Awards were given to the show in 1987 for Outstanding Host, Outstanding Talk/Service Program, and Outstanding Direction. In 1988, it was nominated for another "Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show," and Oprah was named "Broadcaster of the Year" by the International Radio and Television Society. Winfrey and "The Oprah Winfrey Show" won a total of 16 Daytime Emmy Awards, including "Outstanding Talk Show Host" and "Outstanding Talk Show," prompting her to withdraw from the competition in 2000.

Over the next 25 years, the show went on to become the highest-rated television program of its sort in history, receiving every major award and appearing on every major list. During this time, Oprah interviewed and interacted with a wide range of guests, including average Americans, politicians, musicians, actors, writers, business leaders, and other celebrities. The performance was watched by 34 million American women and 15 million American men at the same time it was shown in 117 countries. Her audience was 55 percent larger than that of her nearest competitor.

In the early years, The Oprah Winfrey Show was classified as a tabloid talk show, but it later moved on to broader topics such as heart disease, geopolitics, spirituality, and meditation. Oprah interviewed celebrities on social issues they were directly involved with, such as cancer, charity work, or substance abuse. She also hosted televised giveaways. The Oprah Winfrey Show ran 4,562 episodes from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011. It is still one of the longest-running daytime TV talk shows in history, and it is also considered one of the major achievements of Oprah Winfrey.

During her early years on television, Oprah Winfrey was a budding actor. She was, however, not actively pursuing her desire, and her only hope was for someone to notice her. In 1985, Quincy Jones was producing a film adaptation of Alice Walker's novel "The Color Purple," and while flicking stations in his hotel room, he discovered Oprah. Jones was looking for someone to play Sofia and offered the part to Oprah. The Color Purple, directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Whoopi Goldberg and Danny Glover, was a high moment in Oprah's career and helped her with her show. Oprah was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at both the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes for her role in her first film.

The next year, Oprah starred alongside Elizabeth McGovern and Matt Dillon in the film "Native Son." She also founded Harpo Studios in 1986, which would go on to buy The Oprah Winfrey Show and produce a number of programs, miniseries, and features. Winfrey played Mattie Michael in Harpo's 1989 miniseries "The Women of Brewster Palace," which was warmly appreciated by audiences. Oprah would also feature in and produce two Harpo TV movies, "There Are No Children Here" (1993) and "Before Women Had Wings," both of which she produced (1997). She returned to the silver screen in 1998 with "Beloved," but the film failed to entice audiences.

Gussie the Goose in the 2006 animated rendition of "Charlotte's Web," Judge Bumbleton in the 2007 "Bee Movie," Eudora in the 2009 "The Princess and the Frog," and Deborah the Camel in the 2017 "The Star" are among Oprah's most well-known children's characters. She has become more well-known as an actress since the end of her chat show in 2011. Her portrayal in the 2013 film "The Butler" was well-received, earning her nominations for multiple accolades, including the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress. A year later, her co-production "Selma," in which she also plays Annie Lee Cooper, was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. She starred in and produced the television series "Greenleaf" and the television film "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks" in 2016-17. Oprah Winfrey has a successful acting career and production company which is considered one of her major achievements of Oprah Winfrey.

With the support of Hearst Communications, Winfrey launched a monthly American magazine, "O, The Oprah Magazine" or "O," on April 19, 2000. The goal of the journal was to inspire young, confident, and intellectual women to pursue their aspirations, express their own style, and make sensible decisions. It also includes a celebration of life, style, spirituality, the arts, and culture. "O" outsold leading American women's magazines in less than a month after its debut, with a circulation of more than 2 million copies. "O" was named the most successful start-up in the history of the business by Fortune in 2002, it is also considered one of the major achievements of Oprah Winfrey.

It has been nominated for the American Society of Magazine Editors General Excellence Award multiple times since then. Its first international edition was released in April 2002 in South Africa, with a readership of over 300,000. O Magazine had a circulation of more than 16 million by 2008. O Magazine boosted its newsstand sales by 5.8% to 662,304 copies in 2009 when most US magazine sales were declining. Winfrey's personal engagement with the journal has influenced all elements of its design and editorial content. The O magazine has acquired a considerable online readership of close to 8 million monthly visitors in the previous decade as advertisers steadily shifted online.

Oprah Winfrey made history when she became the first African American woman to appear on Forbes' "World's Richest People" list in February 2003, at the age of 49. She was the first African-American woman to become a billionaire, coming in at number 427. She was also one of 37 women named to the Forbes list of the world's 476 billionaires. After being born into rural poverty and surviving on government welfare handouts in a disadvantaged urban neighborhood, this was a tremendous achievement.

To commemorate her accomplishment, the University of Illinois created "History 298: Oprah Winfrey, The Tycoon," a course concentrating on Winfrey's commercial acumen. Aside from that, from 2004 to 2006, Forbes named Oprah the world's sole Black Billionaire. She was placed 10th on Forbes' list of America's Wealthiest Self-Made Women in 2019. Winfrey has a stated net worth of $2.6 billion, according to Forbes, with income flow from her cable network OWN (Oprah Winfrey Network), her job as a film producer, and her role as a board member and brand ambassador for Weight Watcher. She is an African American who can do what no other woman has done before. This shows that she is a multi-talented, intelligent woman.

Throughout her long and successful career, Oprah has been one of the most influential people on the planet. She spoke before the US Senate Judicial Committee in support of the National Child Protection Act in 1991, sharing her personal story of child abuse. Bill Clinton signed the Act into law in 1993 with Winfrey's help. It was termed the "Oprah Bill" because it sought the creation of a national database of all child abuse and sex offense indictments and convictions, as well as violent crimes, arson, and felony drug offenses. In 2008, Oprah put her political clout to the test once more, using her program as a platform to promote the Combating Child Exploitation Act. On air, she urged her audience to contact their senators in favor of the bill, leading the bill to be passed into law.

Since 2004, Oprah has appeared on the TIME list of the 100 most important persons in the world ten times, including being named one of the 100 most influential individuals of the twentieth century. She comes in second only to Barack Obama, who has 11 appearances on the list. Through her talk show, Oprah has a tremendous amount of clout. The "Oprah Effect" was coined as a result of this. It alluded to the impact that an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" or an endorsement by Oprah Winfrey can have on a company. The publishing industry was the most affected by the Oprah Effect. According to available data, 59 of Oprah's book club selections made the top ten list of USA Today, with 29 making the top spot. For example, Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison's works are said to have benefited more from Oprah's recommendations than from her receiving the prize.

Oprah's power came from the confidence of her 42 million-strong audience and her honesty. Unlike most celebrity endorsements, she backed small family companies. Several businesses and professionals grew as a result of their appearances on her show, while a throwaway remark about beef in 1996 sent cattle prices soaring, costing ranchers $11 million. Weight Watchers' stock skyrocketed in 2015 after Oprah Winfrey said she had purchased a 10% investment in the firm.

Long before he announced himself a contender, Winfrey stated in 2006 that Obama was her favorite senator and that she hoped he would run for president. On September 8, 2007, when Obama launched his candidacy for President of the United States, Winfrey hosted a fundraiser for him at her Santa Barbara estate, raising several million dollars. She made her first campaign appearances for him in December 2007, bringing over 30,000 people, the highest attendance for any political event in 2007.

The endorsement of Oprah Winfrey made a significant influence. In the Democratic primary, Obama received 1,015,559 votes. It is commonly assumed that her backing was instrumental in his securing the Democratic nomination and ultimately the presidency. The then-Governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich, was so delighted by Winfrey's backing that he considered awarding her Obama's former Senate seat. Her support for Barack Obama was one of the most talked-about moments of the 2008 presidential campaign. She was dubbed the "Most Influential Woman in the World" as a result of it. Many media heavyweights have urged Oprah to run for President in 2020, citing her ground-breaking endorsement of Barack Obama in 2007. Influencing Obama to become president is considered one of the major achievements of Oprah Winfrey.

Winfrey created the Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa in 2007 after being inspired by her own underprivileged beginnings. The boarding school, which is spread out across 22 acres, began with 150 students and eventually grew to 450. Winfrey is said to have invested $40 million in the school's construction. It began with the goal of providing educational and leadership opportunities for academically brilliant girls from underprivileged homes in South Africa who had leadership abilities and the desire to make a difference in the world.

The Leadership Academy for Girls has cutting-edge classrooms, computer and science labs, a library, an auditorium/gymnasium, an amphitheater, sports fields, modern dorms, and a dining hall. The school's graduation rate has remained at 100 percent, with a high majority of these young women going on to college, many of them in the United States. Nelson Mandela, who lauded Winfrey for overcoming her own disadvantaged upbringing to become a benefactor for others and for investing in the future of South Africa, has been one of the academy's most prominent supporters. Bill Clinton also recognized the Academy when he included it as an example of how to give back to the world in his book "Giving: How Each of Us Can Change the World."

Winfrey is well-known for her extensive community service and equally significant philanthropy. She has given millions of dollars to a variety of charities and organizations, with the majority of her funds going to three foundations: The Angel Network, and The Oprah Winfrey Foundation (managed by Oprah and backed by an endowment), and The Oprah Winfrey Operating Foundation.

THE ANGEL NETWORK

The Oprah Winfrey Angel Network was founded in 1997. It was a benevolent organization that funded charitable projects and provided grants to nonprofit organizations all around the world. The Oprah Winfrey Network collects millions of dollars in donations and awards grants to Winfrey's humanitarian causes, with 100% of the money going to the projects and Oprah covering all administrative costs. The following are some of the network's projects:

• Over 55 schools have been built in 12 countries, offering education to thousands of children in rural locations around the world.
• In 2005, 18,000 underprivileged South African children received $1 million in supplies.
• In 2007, we raised over $11 million for Hurricane Katrina and Rita relief efforts, and we assisted in the construction or restoration of approximately 300 houses in eight areas across Texas, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. Oprah also contributed a personal donation of $10 million to the charity.

OPRAH’S CHRISTMAS KINDNESS

• In 2004, Winfrey and her team taped an episode of Oprah's Christmas Kindness in South Africa to raise awareness about the situation of young children affected by poverty and AIDS. 50,000 youngsters received Christmas gifts from Winfrey and her crew during the 21-day journey, which included visits to schools and orphanages in impoverished communities. They collected almost $7 million in donations as a result of presenting their dilemma on Oprah's show and after Oprah's request for donations.

MOREHOUSE SCHOLARSHIPS

• In 2006, Winfrey took her workers and their families (1,065 individuals in total) to Hawaii to celebrate two decades on national television and to thank them for their hard work. She set a record in 2012 when she donated about $400 million to educational charities, including over 400 scholarships to Atlanta's Morehouse College. Winfrey gave $12 million to the National Museum of African American History and Culture at the Smithsonian Institution in 2013. Winfrey donated a $13 million commitment to Morehouse College's scholarship fund on the college's 30th anniversary, increasing her total donation to $25 million, the greatest endowment in the school's history, according to the school.

ROUND UP

• Oprah supports a number of different charities, including the Clinton Foundation, which supports a variety of issues, including HIV/AIDS treatment and climate change mitigation. She has generously donated to a variety of charities, including Project Cuddle, Free the Children, UNICEF, and the ALS Association. Oprah Winfrey has given away more than $300 million of her personal fortune and has vowed $1 billion in her will to charitable causes. She is now regarded as one of the most generous philanthropists of the twenty-first century, having been named one of the 50 most giving Americans.

The President of the United States bestows the Presidential Medal of Freedom on individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the country's national interests, world peace, culture, or other major public or private efforts. President John F. Kennedy formed the organization in 1963. It is also the highest civilian award in the United States, along with the Congressional Gold Medal. Oprah Winfrey was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 by Barack Obama, the 44th President of the United States, in recognition of her outstanding journey from poverty and abuse as a kid to the summit of the entertainment universe. Winfrey was awarded an honorary doctorate by Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the same year.

The Presidential Medal of Freedom is a medal given by the President of the United States to individuals who have made outstanding achievements to public safety, the national interest of the United States, international peace, or the arts. An individual's or a group's significant efforts are referred to as culture. Oprah Winfrey has made a tremendous contribution to the United States, as seen by this. Not only that, the Medal of Freedom that Oprah Winfrey received is the highest honor in the United States. And this means that receiving the medal is considered one of the major achievements of Oprah Winfrey.

Oprah wrote a monthly column in O, The Oprah Magazine called "What I Know For Sure." In her piece, she emphasized the need of pursuing greatness, practice appreciation, and use unpleasant events to become stronger in order to live the life you want. These thought-provoking nuggets were rewritten, updated, and compiled in the same-named book in 2014. In essay style, Oprah's insight and revelations about joy, resilience, connection, appreciation, opportunity, awe, clarity, and power were crammed into the Column turned book. The book debuted at number one on the New York Times Best Sellers list in October 2014 and remained in the top three for the next six months.

Oprah Winfrey received the coveted Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes in January 2018, which is granted to a gifted individual for extraordinary achievements in the world of entertainment. She made history once more when she was named the first African American woman to receive the Golden Globe Award for Lifetime Achievement at the 75th Golden Globe Awards. Winfrey, 63, is the 15th woman to receive the award, which was established in 1952. She paid respect to all the women who have endured years of torture and those who have spoken out against sexual abuse in an amazing speech. Oprah's electrifying Acceptance Speech prompted a standing ovation from the Hollywood audience.