奥普拉•温弗瑞（Oprah Winfrey），1954年1月29日出生于密西西比州科修斯科，美国演员，制片，主持人。

是当今世界上最具影响力的妇女之一，她的成就是多方面的：通过控股哈普娱乐集团的股份，掌握了超过10亿美元的个人财富；主持的电视谈话节目《奥普拉脱口秀》，平均每周吸引3300万名观众，并连续16年排在同类节目的首位。2009年11月20日，据国外媒体报道，在播出了23年之后，脱口秀女王奥普拉•温弗瑞的节目《奥普拉脱口秀》于2011年9月9日结束。

Oprah Winfrey has come a long way from her poor childhood homeina small Mississippi town.

欧普拉•温芙芮来自遥远的密西西比一个小镇的贫穷的家庭。

She was an unwanted child whoseparentsnever married. She was brought up on her grandmother’s farm.Thepossibility that she would become rich and famous was notverygood.

她是父母的非婚生子，在外婆的农场里长大成人，发财和成名的可能性都不被看好。

Oprah’s mother center her child in her mother’s care, soshecould go to work in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

欧普拉•温芙芮的妈妈把自己的孩子交给她自己的妈妈看管，自己得以去威斯康星的米尔瓦基去工作。

It was a strictanddifficult life for Oprah. But it also led the way for herfuture.

生活对欧普拉•温芙芮来说既严格又艰难，这引领她走向属于她的未来。

She was a highly intelligent child. By the age of three, shehadlearned to read and write. She also made her firstpublicappearance at that age.

她是个非常聪明的孩子，三岁时，已经学会了读书习字，并第一次在舞台上公开演出。

She gave a talk in church, whichimpressedeveryone.” That child is gifted,” people said.Oprah’sintelligencewas resented by other children her age.

欧普拉•温芙芮在教堂的讲话，给大家留下很好的印象，人们都说她“很有天赋”。欧普拉•温芙芮的聪明遭到了同龄孩子的嫉恨。

They called herunkindnames and pushed her away. Oprah felt very isolated andunwanted.It made her feel worse that she didn’t live with hermother andfather.She felt that no one loved her.

他们辱骂她，排斥她。欧普拉•温芙芮感到孤独无助。不能和爸爸妈妈住在一起使她心情更糟，她感到没人喜欢她。

This made herangry,resentful, and rebellious. These feelings brought her muchtroubleas she was growing up.

这一切造就了她愤怒、怨恨和反叛的性格。随着年龄的增长，这给她带来了很多麻烦。

She often behaved badly, ausinghergrandmother to punish her.

她经常不守规矩，招来外婆的惩罚。

By the time Oprah was seven, she wastoomuch for grandmother to discipline.

七岁时，外婆再也管不了她了。

Then Oprah went to livewithher mother, Vernita, in Milwaukee.Vernita worked very hard atherjob as a housekeeper.

后来，欧普拉就去在米尔瓦基的妈妈——沃尼塔。为人做女管家，沃尼塔干得非常卖力。

It was hard for her to work and take careofher bcenter, troublesome child. Oprah was a burden, and she knewit.She was difficultchild

既要工作又要照顾她聪明而又惹是生非的孩子使她很做难，欧普拉也感觉到自己是妈妈的负担。

They lived in poverty in a small apartment in the city. Oprahtookout all her angry feelings on her mother.

他们住在市里的一个小公寓里，日子过得很清贫。欧普拉将所有的火气都发到了妈妈的身上，孩子成了沃尼塔的一大麻烦。

When Oprah was eight, Vernita sent her to live her fatherandstepmother in Nashville, Tennessee.

欧普拉八岁时，妈妈把她送到了田纳西州的那斯维尔（Nashville）的生父和继母那里。

But she moved again afewmonths later when Vernita married a man with two children.Vernitawanted Oprah with her and her new family.

后来，沃尼塔又和一个带有两个孩子的男人结了婚，又把欧普拉接了回来，因为沃尼塔想要欧普拉与她和她的新家在一起。

Unfortunately feltshedidn’t belong with them. She believed she wasn’t loved byanyone.Her angry and frustration grew stronger.

不幸的是，欧普拉感到自己不属于这个家，她觉得谁也不爱她。

She struck backbymisbehaving and running away from home.

她的愤恨与挫折感越发强烈，就用不守规矩和离家出走进行反击。

Her parents foundherimpossible to discipline. When she was 14 they tried to send hertoa special center for troubled girls.

她的爸爸妈妈觉得无望管教好他们的女儿，14岁那年试图把她送到麻烦女孩的特别中心。

But there was no room forher.So Vernita sent Oprah back to live with her father.

但那里已经没有地方了，于是沃尼塔又把她送到她爸爸那里去。

VernonWinfreywas by then a successful businessman and family man.

佛蒙•温芙芮当时已是成功的商人和有家的男人。

He tookonelook at his daughter and knew she needed guidance, love,anddiscipline.

他看了一次他的女儿，了解她需要引导、爱和管教。

He gave her all three. It was a turning pointinOprah’s life. Vernon Winfrey was strict about hisdaughter’seducation.

他给了她这三样东西，这成了欧普拉人生的转折点。

He gave her homework in addition to herschoolwork. Shewas allowed to watch only one hour of television aday.

佛蒙•温芙芮对女儿的教育要求非常严格，除学校的作业外，他还给她布置家庭作业，一天只允许她看一个小时的电视。

She becamean A student and a popular girl in her class.Oprahwatched BarbaraWalters, a famous journalist and interviewer, anddecided that waswhat she wanted to be.

欧普拉成了班上的最优秀学生，成了受人欢迎的女孩。欧普拉看到了著名的新闻记者和采访人芭芭拉•瓦尔特丝，决心成为象她那样的人。

When she was still in highschool, she got apart-time job reading news on the radio.

上高中时，就兼职在广播电台播新闻。

In hersenior year she wona beauty contest and a four-year scholarship toTennessee StateUniversity.

高年级时，在选美大赛中胜出，赢取了田纳西州立大学四年的助学金。

While still in college she was offered ajob as a newsbroadcaster at a local television station.

到了大学时期，她在当地一家电视台播报新闻。

She was thefirst femaleand the first African- American newscaster inNashville.

她是那斯维尔市获取这种工作的第一位女性和第一位美国黑人。

She waspromoted to anchor, the most important positionon the news team,while still a senior.After Oprah graduated she gota job with aBaltimore news station.

大学四年级时，欧普拉晋升为新闻播报负责人，这是新闻组最重要的位置。大学毕业后，欧普拉在巴尔的摩电视台谋得工作。

But she soon realized thatbroadcastingnews wasn’t enough for her.She had to let herpersonality shinethrough. She wanted to show emotion when she tolda story, not justreport it.

她很快不满足于播报新闻，想要充分展示自己的个性，满怀激情的讲述而非简单播送。

Meanwhile the station manager werethinking the sameway.

与此同时，电视台的经理也在琢磨这个问题。

They couldn’t stop her from commenting on thenews she read.

他们无法阻拦她播送新闻时的评论。

They removed her from the anchor spot and wonderedwhat to do withher.

他们将她调出新闻负责人的位子，但不知道她干什么好。

Finally they put her on an early morning talkshow calledPeople Are Talking. No one knew what to expect.

最后安排她主持早晨脱口秀——“大家谈”，没人知道结果会是什么。

The showwas a greatsuccess. In a very short time, the managers and Oprahall knew whatshe was born to do.

节目取得极大的成功！经理认为欧普拉天生就是干这个的，欧普拉也这么认为。

She was funny, witty, charming,warm, andcompassionate. She was everything a talk show host shouldbe.

风趣、机智、热情、魅力四射、富有同情心，她具有了脱口秀主持人所应具备的全部素质。

Shewas so successful that she got show with a bigger stationinChicago.

她非常成功，在更大的一个芝加哥电视台主持脱口秀——“早安芝加哥”。

It was called A. M. Chicago within one month theshow’sratings were the best in years.

一个月内这档节目的收视率就创历年新高。

Twice she center the show tomakemovies, The Color Purple and Native Son. In 1985 the showwaschanged to The Oprah Winfrey Show.

她第二次离开脱口秀主持人位置，转而去拍电影——《紫色与本土人》。

It was broadcast nationallyandsoon became the most popular talk show on television . By theageof 35, Oprah Winfrey was one of the most famous celebritiesinAmerican.

1985年，她主持的节目更名为欧普拉秀，在全国播放，欧普拉一跃成为最富人气的电视脱口秀。到了35岁时，欧普拉•温芙芮是全美知名度最高的人士之一

与一般谈话节目不同的是，“奥普拉脱口秀”的邀请嘉宾并非是某一领域的专家或学者，而是普通大众，谈论的主题也集中在个人生活方面。为启发嘉宾“实话实说”，奥普拉常不惜将自己的一些秘密也告诉对方。当嘉宾的故事令人感动时，她会和嘉宾一起抱头痛哭。相比其他节目，“奥普拉脱口秀”更直接、坦诚，也更具个性化，因此深受那些白天在家无所事事、知识层次不是很高的中年人，尤其是中年女性的极力欢迎，而这些人正是收看电视节目的主流人群。

美国《名利场》杂志评价她说：“在大众文化中，她的影响力，可能除了教皇以外，比任何大学教授、政治家或者宗教领袖都大。”而对经历过不堪回首的童年、叛逆堕落的少女时代的奥普拉来说，她只是靠着“一个人可以非常清贫、困顿、低微，但是不可以没有梦想”的简单信念，实现了丑小鸭到黑天鹅的美丽蜕变。

奥普拉2013同期的收入是7700万美元，虽然在收入上及不上麦当娜的1亿2500万，但是福布斯仍然将她位列榜首，正因为在好莱坞的崇高地位以及电视荧屏和社交媒体上的高曝光率。

“奥普拉依旧拥有许多力量，我们认为这足以证明她的名望还在最高点，她涉足有线网络领域，这反过来也是她表达愿望，加强沟通，增加能力的重要途径。”道罗西•珀姆朗兹说。