3 T V E L ; M R J V I ]
Age: 55
Hometown: Kosciusko, Miss.
Best Known As: Talk-show host,
magazine publisher, actress, producer
O, Yes: Born into poverty to an unwed
teenage mother, Winfrey has achieved
the seemingly impossible, becoming
arguably the country’s most infl uential
woman. She started by beating Phil
Donahue’s ratings in the male-
dominated TV talk-show genre. Her
affable on-air interviewing style, paired
with her willingness to work through
personal struggles in public, gained
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her viewers’ trust and ballooned her
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P audience to 8.5 million each day. When
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she switched the focus to self-help, her
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infl uence exploded. Her show has been
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the scene of epic celebrity interviews,
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including Tom Cruise’s couch moment,
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and a launching pad for best-selling
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books and the careers of self-help stars,
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including Dr. Phil and personal trainer
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Bob Greene. This Academy Award-
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winning actress further diversifi ed her
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career by adding a television channel and
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O, The Oprah Magazine. The payoff for
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H “The Oprah Effect”? She is worth more
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than $2.7 billion, according to Forbes.
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