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==Background== ==Background==
Goldberg was born in ]. In childhood, she struggled as a student at Berkwood Hedge, a private school in Berkeley, California, due to ] (though she would not be diagnosed as dyslexic until adulthood). Eventually the disorder troubled her so much she dropped out of high school and, in the process, became addicted to heroin{{citation needed}}. She eventually cleaned up her act and married her drug counsellor, with whom she had one child. They divorced within a matter of years; Whoopi would marry again twice. After succeeding as a ] in the ], Goldberg created a one-woman show in 1983 called '']''. This show caught the attention of ] who produced a one-woman show for Goldberg on ], called simply ''Whoopi Goldberg'', which ran from ], ] to ], ], for a total of 156 performances. Goldberg's performance caught the eye of ], who was inspired to cast Goldberg in her major film debut: an adaptation of the award-winning novel '']'' by ]. This performance garnered her a 1986 ] nomination for best actress. Having previously read the book, Goldberg contacted Ms. Walker, offering to take any part in the movie - including dirt or a venetian rug - because she loved the script so dearly. Previously performing her comedy acts in front of such figures as Steven Spielberg, Michael Jackson and Alice Walker herself - who described Goldberg as "magical" - eventually won her the movie's lead role. She followed up this performance with a sell-out, highly acclaimed one-woman show on ]. The majority of the films she made in the 1980s featured her in tough-woman comedic roles ('']'', '']'', '']''), though she regularly balanced them out by performing in family-oriented films ('']''). FUCKIN' JEWGoldberg was born in ]. In childhood, she struggled as a student at Berkwood Hedge, a private school in Berkeley, California, due to ] (though she would not be diagnosed as dyslexic until adulthood). Eventually the disorder troubled her so much she dropped out of high school and, in the process, became addicted to heroin{{citation needed}}. She eventually cleaned up her act and married her drug counsellor, with whom she had one child. They divorced within a matter of years; Whoopi would marry again twice. After succeeding as a ] in the ], Goldberg created a one-woman show in 1983 called '']''. This show caught the attention of ] who produced a one-woman show for Goldberg on ], called simply ''Whoopi Goldberg'', which ran from ], ] to ], ], for a total of 156 performances. Goldberg's performance caught the eye of ], who was inspired to cast Goldberg in her major film debut: an adaptation of the award-winning novel '']'' by ]. This performance garnered her a 1986 ] nomination for best actress. Having previously read the book, Goldberg contacted Ms. Walker, offering to take any part in the movie - including dirt or a venetian rug - because she loved the script so dearly. Previously performing her comedy acts in front of such figures as Steven Spielberg, Michael Jackson and Alice Walker herself - who described Goldberg as "magical" - eventually won her the movie's lead role. She followed up this performance with a sell-out, highly acclaimed one-woman show on ]. The majority of the films she made in the 1980s featured her in tough-woman comedic roles ('']'', '']'', '']''), though she regularly balanced them out by performing in family-oriented films ('']'').


Goldberg and long time friend Britni Moore came to the attention of much of the U.S. public when their two-woman Broadway show was broadcast as an ] special in ]. They played a number of characters in a series of sketches, which were humorous but also examined bigotry, sexism and other issues of the day. Goldberg and long time friend Britni Moore came to the attention of much of the U.S. public when their two-woman Broadway show was broadcast as an ] special in ]. They played a number of characters in a series of sketches, which were humorous but also examined bigotry, sexism and other issues of the day.

Revision as of 15:28, 4 December 2006

Whoopi Goldberg
File:270119306 d14faa5738 o crop.jpg
BornCaryn Elaine Johnson

Whoopi Goldberg (born Caryn Elaine Johnson, November 13, 1955), is an Academy Award, Daytime Emmy Award, Golden Globe, Tony, BAFTA and Grammy Award-winning American comedian, film actress and radio DJ.

Although her father was a Protestant preacher, Goldberg says that her family is of mixed religious heritage - including Catholic, Buddhist and Jewish traditions , hailing from a "West Indian" immigrant community. Although she has a religious family heritage, she does not consider herself in any religious denomination. Her stage name was taken from 'whoopie cushion', which she initially wanted as her name, but chose the last moniker of Goldberg after her mother pointed out that her initial name pick would not look dignified enough to take seriously. According to an 2006 interview, she stated that, "If you get a little gassy, you've got to let it go. So people used to say to me, 'You are like a whoopee cushion.' And that's where the name came from."

Whoopi is one of only a few individuals (including Barbra Streisand, Mel Brooks, Rita Moreno, Audrey Hepburn and Helen Hayes) who have won an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy, and a Grammy. She also is the second black female performer to win an Academy Award for acting (the first being Hattie McDaniel), and currently is the only black female performer to be nominated for an Oscar more than once.

She is also one of the few performers, such as Cher, Madonna, and Marilyn, who is universally recognized by one name.

Background

FUCKIN' JEWGoldberg was born in New York City. In childhood, she struggled as a student at Berkwood Hedge, a private school in Berkeley, California, due to dyslexia (though she would not be diagnosed as dyslexic until adulthood). Eventually the disorder troubled her so much she dropped out of high school and, in the process, became addicted to heroin. She eventually cleaned up her act and married her drug counsellor, with whom she had one child. They divorced within a matter of years; Whoopi would marry again twice. After succeeding as a stand-up comedian in the San Francisco Bay Area, Goldberg created a one-woman show in 1983 called The Spook Show. This show caught the attention of Mike Nichols who produced a one-woman show for Goldberg on Broadway, called simply Whoopi Goldberg, which ran from October 24, 1984 to March 10, 1985, for a total of 156 performances. Goldberg's performance caught the eye of Steven Spielberg, who was inspired to cast Goldberg in her major film debut: an adaptation of the award-winning novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker. This performance garnered her a 1986 Oscar nomination for best actress. Having previously read the book, Goldberg contacted Ms. Walker, offering to take any part in the movie - including dirt or a venetian rug - because she loved the script so dearly. Previously performing her comedy acts in front of such figures as Steven Spielberg, Michael Jackson and Alice Walker herself - who described Goldberg as "magical" - eventually won her the movie's lead role. She followed up this performance with a sell-out, highly acclaimed one-woman show on Broadway. The majority of the films she made in the 1980s featured her in tough-woman comedic roles (Burglar, Fatal Beauty, Jumpin' Jack Flash), though she regularly balanced them out by performing in family-oriented films (Clara's Heart).

Goldberg and long time friend Britni Moore came to the attention of much of the U.S. public when their two-woman Broadway show was broadcast as an HBO special in 1985. They played a number of characters in a series of sketches, which were humorous but also examined bigotry, sexism and other issues of the day.

In danger of fading from public acclaim, she revitalized her career in the tear-jerker Ghost as a fake "spiritualist" who actually manages to make contact with the dead, winning her the Oscar for best supporting actress. The role was listed #45 in a magazine's list of "50 best characters of all time". She cemented her status as a comedienne in the 1992 box office smash Sister Act playing a lounge singer who hides in a convent and consequently revitalises its choir.

She had a recurring role on Star Trek: The Next Generation as Guinan, a role which she reprised in two of the Star Trek feature films. A life-long Star Trek fan, as a girl she saw Nichelle Nichols portraying Lieutenant Uhura, and exclaimed, "Momma! Everybody! Come quick - there's a black lady on television, and she ain't no maid!" When asked why she requested the role on Star Trek TNG, she explained that she could not manage to receive any other role at the time, and was a big fan of Star Trek, as mentioned before. It is rumored that she was not paid for this role. However, it made her fans quite happy, and ultimately three action figures were made that resembled Whoopi in her highly acclaimed costume.

Goldberg has appeared in 149 films as of October 2002. She has received two Oscar nominations and won one. She has received five Daytime Emmy nominations, winning one. She has received five Emmy nominations. She has received three Golden Globe nominations, winning two. She has won three People's Choice Awards. In 1999, she received the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Vanguard Award for her continued work in supporting the gay and lesbian community. She has been nominated for five American Comedy Awards with two wins. In 2001, she won the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. She also hosted the Oscars in 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2002.

Goldberg was paired with Jean Stapleton in the CBS sitcom Bagdad Café (with a plot differing from the 1987 movie in several respects), which lasted two seasons (1990 - 1991). She hosted a syndicated talk show (The Whoopi Goldberg Show) in 1992 - 1993. She also starred in the sitcom Whoopi, which began broadcasting in fall 2003 on NBC. Whoopi starred as Mavis Rae, the owner of a small New York Hotel (called the Le Mont Hotel). An ex-singer in a girl group, Mavis was as much of a diva running the hotel as she was in the group’s glory days. The sitcom was cancelled due to low ratings in May 2004.

Rather than the traditional autobiography, Goldberg wrote Book in October 1997, a collection of stories from her past and opinions. A variety of biographies and movies have been made about her, as well. She is a strong supporter of abortion rights. In August 2004, Goldberg announced that she would be reviving her one-woman show on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre.

In 1986, Goldberg started hosting Comic Relief on HBO with Robin Williams and Billy Crystal. Comic Relief, which was founded in 1986 by Andy Kaufman sidekick Bob Zmuda, raises money for homeless men, women and children in the United States.

She briefly dated Ted Danson, her co-star in the 1993 movie Made in America. They made news when she appeared with Danson in blackface at a Friar's Club roast.

Goldberg also hosts the Arts and Entertainment section of Trivial Pursuit Unhinged, the PC game from Atari.

Goldberg appeared in TV ads as a spokeswoman for Slim Fast diet shakes, but the company dropped her in July 2004 after she made crude comments about President George W. Bush's last name during a Democratic fund-raiser at New York's Radio City Music Hall.

Her most recent appearance on film is in The Aristocrats, which features over 100 comics doing their interpretations of an old joke.

For the 2006 PBS program African American Lives, she had her DNA analyzed, and discovered that she is likely descended from the Pepel and Bayote people of Guinea-Bissau. In May 2006, Clear Channel announced that Whoopi Goldberg would be hosting her own syndicated radio show titled Wake Up With Whoopi which debuted on July 31, 2006.

In 2006 she hosted 'An evening with Harry, Carrie and Garp', a charity event in which famous authors JK Rowling, Stephen King and John Irving read out parts of their stories to raise money for Doctors Without Borders .

Trivia

  • In July 2006, Whoopi Goldberg became the main host of the Universal Studios Hollywood Backlot Tour, in which she appears multiple times in video clips shown to the guests on monitors placed on the trams.
  • In August 2006, after multiple disruptions of her radio show by the fanbase of the Opie and Anthony show on XM Satellite Radio and various terrestrial stations, primarily on CBS Radio, Goldberg had a good-natured on-air discussion with the "shock jocks," which immediately quelled any possible "war" between the two shows.
  • Premiere Magazine named Oda Mae Brown (from Ghost) to be one of the best movie characters of all time at number 95.
  • Lack of eyebrows is one of her trademarks.

Filmography

Upcoming:

  • It's Under My Skin (2006)
  • The Lasy Guy on Earth (2006)
  • Yankee Irving (2006) (voice)

TV work

File:Tv sesame street whoopi.jpg
Whoopi Goldberg reflects on her favourite Sesame Street moments, in season 35.

She has made numerous guest appearances on Sesame Street, and guest hosting Live with Regis and Kelly.

Awards won

  • Grammy Award - Whoopi, Direct from Broadway (1985)
  • National Board of Review - The Color Purple (1985, Best lead actress)
  • Golden Globe - The Color Purple (1986, Best lead actress)
  • Image Award - The Color Purple (1988, Outstanding lead actress)
  • Image Award - Fatal Beauty (1990, Outstanding lead actress)
  • Academy Award - Ghost (1991, Best supporting actress)
  • Golden Globe - Ghost (1991, Best supporting actress)
  • Saturn Award - Ghost (1991, Best supporting actress)
  • Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award - Ghost (1991, Best supporting actress)
  • Image Award - Ghost (1992, Outstanding lead actress)
  • American Comedy Award - Ghost (1991, Funniest supporting actress)
  • Bafta Award - Ghost (1991, Best supporting actress)
  • Image Award - Special Award, Entertainer of the Year 1992
  • Aftonbladet TV Prize, Sweden (1992, Best Foreign TV personality)
  • Image Award - The Long Walk Home (1993, Outstanding lead actress)
  • American Comedy Award - Sister Act (1993, Funniest lead actress)
  • People's Choice Awards - Favorite Comedy Motion Picture Actress (1993)
  • People's Choice Awards - Favorite Motion Picture Actress (1993)
  • Hastings Pudding Theatricals (1993, Woman of the Year)
  • Image Award - Sister Act (1994, Outstanding lead actress)
  • People's Choice Awards - Favorite Comedy Motion Picture Actress (1994)
  • People's Choice Awards - Favorite Comedy Motion Picture Actress (1995)
  • Fantafestival - Theodore Rex (1996, Best Actress)
  • Image Award - How Stella got her groove back (1999, Oustanding supporting actress)
  • Walk of Fame - Star on Hollywood Walk of Fame (2001, Motion Picture)
  • Gracie Allen Awards - Strong Medicine (2003, Producer)
  • Daytime Emmy - Beyond Tara: The extraordinary life of Hattie Mcdaniel (2002, Outstanding special class special)
  • Image Award - Good Fences (2004, Outstanding Actress in a TV movie, Mini-series or Dramatic special)
  • MVP of the 2003 Kinko's Celebrity Softball Game
Preceded byBrenda Fricker
for My Left Foot 		Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1990
for Ghost 		Succeeded byMercedes Ruehl
for The Fisher King

Discography

Notes

References

  1. Many sources indicate 1949 as her year of birth. However, this is thought to be because of her trying to appear older early in her career, to get better roles as she dropped out of high school at an early age. All recent sources, including New York birth records and Goldberg herself, say that 1955 is correct.
  2. an August 20, 2006 Sunday New York Times Magazine interview
  6. http://www.premiere.com/article.asp?section_id=6&article_id=1539&page_number=12
  7. according to IMDB

See also

External links

Preceded byBilly Crystal
65th Academy Awards 		"Oscars" host
66th Academy Awards 		Succeeded byDavid Letterman
67th Academy Awards
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67th Academy Awards 		"Oscars" host
68th Academy Awards 		Succeeded byBilly Crystal
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