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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 12:56, Jun 19, 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 19 Jun 2013].
"Whoopi Goldberg." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Jun 19 2013, 12:56 http://www.biography.com/people/whoopi-goldberg-9314384.
"Whoopi Goldberg," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/whoopi-goldberg-9314384 [accessed Jun 19, 2013].
"Whoopi Goldberg," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/whoopi-goldberg-9314384 (accessed Jun 19, 2013).
Whoopi Goldberg [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 Jun 19] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/whoopi-goldberg-9314384.
Whoopi Goldberg, http://www.biography.com/people/whoopi-goldberg-9314384 (last visited Jun 19, 2013).
Whoopi Goldberg. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/whoopi-goldberg-9314384. Accessed Jun 19, 2013.
The View
Whoopi Goldberg became moderator of the daytime talk show The View on September 4, 2007. She replaced a sometimes combative Rosie O'Donnell, who left the show in May 2007 after a little less than a year.
Goldberg wasted no time jumping into controversy. On her first day, she defended football star Michael Vick in his dogfighting case, saying "from where he comes from" in the South (he grew up in Newport News, Virginia), dogfighting isn't that unusual. "It's like cockfighting in Puerto Rico, " she said. "There are certain things that are indicative to certain parts of the country." On the next day's broadcast, Goldberg insisted she had repeated several times she did not condone what Vick did.
Personal Life
In the early 1970s, Goldberg was briefly married to the man who had been her drug counselor. The couple had one child, Alexandrea, and divorced in 1974. She was married to cameraman David Claessen from 1986 to 1988. Goldberg then had a high-profile romance with actor Ted Danson in the early 1990s. She has a daughter, Alexandrea Martin, two granddaughters, Amarah Skye and Jerzey, and one grandson Mason.
Goldberg holds a Ph.D. in literature from New York University and an honorary degree from Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
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View groupFrom the early comedy of Nipsey Russell, Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby to the contemporary routines of Steve Harvey, Mo'Nique, Chris Rock, Wanda Sykes and Dave Chappelle, black comedians have often used their wit to become the voice and face of the African-American experience. These legendary comedians have also set a very high bar—not only for African Americans, but for all comics trying to make it in show business. Learn more about these famous jokesters, from their early days to their comic beginnings, to their side-splitting performances and more.
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U.N. Goodwill Ambassadors
View groupUnited Nations Goodwill Ambassadors are prominent individuals who volunteer to highlight important areas of the U.N.'s work. Actors, athletes, authors and musicians use their celebrity to raise awareness of the issues faced by victims of poverty, famine, and violence worldwide. Goodwill ambassadors make widely publicized visits to the world's most troubled locales, and make appeals on behalf of their people. Here are some of the stars who use their famous names to promote causes close to their hearts.
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Female Talk Show Hosts
View groupTaking on topics of politics, entertainment, women's issues and more, female talk show hosts have proven to be every bit as engaging, intelligent, and funny as their male counterparts. Oprah Winfrey's 25-year-reign as the queen of talk is unparalleled, but many other female talk show hosts have come into their own as well, including Tyra Banks, Ellen DeGeneres, Sally Jessy Raphael and Kelly Ripa.
Visit Biography.com's Women's History group to explore more biographies, photos and videos of some the world's most fascinating women.
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