Oprah Winfrey turns 70! - ‘I brought a lot of joy to people'
ok.co.ukDespite growing up on a humble farm in Mississippi, Oprah Winfrey said she “always knew she was destined for greatness”. Describing her hugely successful career as a talk-show host, actress, philanthropist and author as something of a “calling”, the star had a feeling that her life would end up being miles away from where she grew up, both literally and metaphorically.This self-belief from such a young age is all the more remarkable when you consider that Oprah, who is set to celebrate her 70th birthday on 29 January, had something of a traumatic childhood and start in life.
Having spent the first six years of her life living apart from her teenage mother Vernita (who had already split from dad Vernon), she was brought up by her grandmother on a pig farm.
She said, “I remember a specific moment, watching my grandmother hang the clothes on the line, and her saying to me, ‘You are going to have to learn to do this,’ and me being in that space of awareness and knowing that my life would not be the same as my grandmother’s life.” She certainly wasn’t wrong, and Oprah overcame horrific events – such as being sexually abused by her teenage cousin at just nine years old, after she had moved to Wisconsin to live with her mother – going on to become one of the most powerful and influential women in the world, as well as a billionaire to boot.
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