Winfrey was born into poverty in rural Mississippi to a single teenage mother and later raised in inner-city Milwaukee.

She has stated that she was molested during her childhood and

early teenage years and became pregnant at 14;

her son was born prematurely and died in infancy.

11] Winfrey was then sent to live with the man she calls her father, Vernon Winfrey, a barber in Nashville,

Tennessee, and landed a job in radio while still in high school.

[4] By 19, she was a co-anchor for the local evening news.

Winfrey’s often emotional, extemporaneous delivery eventually led to her transfer to the daytime talk show arena,

and after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place,[12] she launched her own production company…

Winfrey’s often emotional, extemporaneous delivery eventually led to her transfer to the daytime talk show arena,

and after boosting a third-rated local Chicago talk show to first place,

[12] she launched her own production company…