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Quick Facts
- NAME: Whoopi Goldberg
- OCCUPATION: Film Actress, Television Actress, Comedian, Talk Show Host
- BIRTH DATE: November 13, 1955 (Age: 57)
- PLACE OF BIRTH: New York, New York
- Originally: Caryn Elaine Johnson
- ZODIAC SIGN: Scorpio
Best Known For
Whoopi Goldberg is a Grammy-Award winning comedienne, an actress, a human rights advocate, and TV host of the daytime talk show The View.
Videos see all videos
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Whoopi Goldberg - Ghost (4:05)
Whoopi Goldberg - True to Herself
An inside look at the life of Whoopi Goldberg as told by Whoopi herself.
Whoopi Goldberg - The Color Purple
After working in stand up comedy, Whoopi Goldberg wanted to try her hand at film acting and was given her first major role by Steven Spielberg in the film "The Color Purple."
Whoopi Goldberg - Moving to California
At the age of 20 Whoopi Goldberg, then Caryn Johnson, decided to move out to California to try and break into show business.
Whoopi Goldberg - Ghost
In 1990 Whoopi Goldberg starred in "Ghost" as Oda Mae Brown, a role for which she won the Academy Award for best Actress in a Supporting Role.
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Play NowWhoopi Goldberg. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 10:10, May 24, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/whoopi-goldberg-9314384.
Whoopi Goldberg. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/whoopi-goldberg-9314384 [Accessed 24 May 2013].
"Whoopi Goldberg." 2013. The Biography Channel website. May 24 2013, 10:10 http://www.biography.com/people/whoopi-goldberg-9314384.
"Whoopi Goldberg," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/whoopi-goldberg-9314384 [accessed May 24, 2013].
"Whoopi Goldberg," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/whoopi-goldberg-9314384 (accessed May 24, 2013).
Whoopi Goldberg [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 May 24] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/whoopi-goldberg-9314384.
Whoopi Goldberg, http://www.biography.com/people/whoopi-goldberg-9314384 (last visited May 24, 2013).
Whoopi Goldberg. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/whoopi-goldberg-9314384. Accessed May 24, 2013.
Synopsis
Early Life
Actress, comedienne, TV host, human rights advocate. Born Caryn Elaine Johnson on November 13, 1955, in New York City. Goldberg and her younger brother Clyde were raised by their mother Emma in a housing project in the Chelsea section of Manhattan.
Goldberg's father abandoned the family, and her single mother worked at a variety of jobs--including teaching and nursing--to make ends meet. Goldberg changed her name when she decided that her given name was too boring. She claims to be half Jewish and half Catholic, and "Goldberg" is attributed to her family history.
With her trademark dreadlocks, wide impish grin, and piercing humor, Goldberg is best known for her adept portrayals in both comedic and dramatic roles, as well as her groundbreaking work in the Hollywood film industry as an African-American woman. Goldberg unknowingly suffered from dyslexia, which affected her studies and ultimately induced her to drop out of high school at the age of 17.
Big Break
In 1974, Goldberg moved to California, living variously for the next seven years in Los Angeles, San Diego, and San Francisco. At one point during this time, she worked as a mortuary beautician while pursuing a career in show business. During her stay in San Francisco, Whoopie Goldberg won a Bay Area Theatre Award for her portrayal of comedienne Moms Mabley in a one-woman show.
Shortly after receiving this honor, she returned to New York. In 1983, she starred in the enormously popular The Spook Show. The one-woman Off-Broadway production featured her own original comedy material that addressed the issue of race in America with unique profundity, style, and wit. Among her most poignant and typically contradictory creations are "Little Girl," an African-American child obsessed with having blond hair; and "Fontaine," a junkie who also happens to hold a doctorate in literature.
By 1984, director Mike Nichols had moved The Spook Show to a Broadway stage, and in 1985, Goldberg won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for the recording of skits taken from the show. At the same time, she began to receive significant attention from Hollywood insiders. Director Steven Spielberg cast Goldberg in the leading female role of his 1985 production of The Color Purple (adapted from the novel by Alice Walker), a film that went on to earn 10 Academy Award and five Golden Globe nominations. Goldberg herself received an Oscar nomination and her first Golden Globe for Best Actress.
Mainstream Success
Goldberg's success with The Color Purple launched a highly visible acting career.
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