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Whoopi Goldberg

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Whoopi Goldberg
Goldberg at Comic Relief 2006
Born
Caryn Elaine Johnson
Occupation(s)actress, comedian, radio DJ, author, singer, rapper, talk show host
Years active1970–present
Spouse(s)Alvin Martin (1973–1979)
David Claessen (1986–1988)
Lyle Trachtenberg (1994–1995)
AwardsNBR Award for Best Actress
1985 The Color Purple
Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress (film)
1990 Ghost
Websitehttp://www.whoopi.com/

Whoopi Goldberg (born Caryn Elaine Johnson; November 13, 1955) is an Academy Award winning American actress, comedian, radio host, TV personality/talk show host, game show host, singer, rapper and author.

She is one of only thirteen individuals who have won an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony Award, counting Daytime Emmy Awards. She is the second African American female performer to win an Academy Award for acting (the first being Hattie McDaniel). She has won two Golden Globe Awards and two Saturn Awards for her performances in Star Trek Generations and Ghost.

On the August 1 2007 broadcast of The View, Barbara Walters introduced her as the show's new moderator as of September 4. Meredith Vieira and Rosie O'Donnell previously held the position.[1]

In October 2007, she announced on Larry King Live that she would be retiring from acting because she is no longer sent scripts: "You know, there's no room for the very talented Whoopi. There's no room right now in the marketplace of cinema. Being a Black intellectual with a Jewish surname finally caught up to me," Goldberg told King.[2]

Early life

Goldberg was born Caryn Elaine Johnson in New York City, the daughter of Emma (née Harris), a nurse and teacher, and Robert James Johnson, a clergyman.[3][4] Goldberg's mother was a "stern, strong and wise woman" who raised her as a single mother after Goldberg's father had left the family.[5] Her stage name was taken from "whoopee cushion", which she initially used as her stage name; she stated that "If you get a little gassy, you've got to let it go. So people used to say to me, 'You're like a whoopee cushion.' And that's where the name came from."[6] She chose the surname "Goldberg" after Jewish ancestors of hers who bore the surname, having said that "Goldberg's a part of my family somewhere".[5][7] In a 1991 interview, Goldberg referred to herself as a "Jewish-Catholic girl from New York";[8] in a 1993 Chicago Sun-Times piece, she stated that her mother is Jewish[9] and referred to herself as a "Jewish-American Princess" in an interview for The Fresno Bee.[10] A DNA test, broadcast in the 2006 PBS documentary African American Lives, traced most of her ancestry to the Papel and Bayote people of modern-day Guinea-Bissau. Her racial admixture test revealed her genetic makeup to be 92% sub-Saharan African and 8% European.[11][12][13]

In an anecdote told by Nichelle Nichols in the documentary film Trekkies, a young Goldberg was watching Star Trek, and upon seeing Nichols' character Uhura, exclaimed, "Momma! There's a black lady on TV and she ain't no maid!".[14] This spawned life-long fandom of Star Trek for Goldberg, who would eventually achieve a recurring guest-starring role in 1987's Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Career

Goldberg's on-screen talent first emerged in 1981-82 in Citizen : I'm Not Losing My Mind, I'm Giving It Away, an avant-garde ensemble feature by San Francisco filmmaker William Farley. Goldberg created The Spook Show, a one-woman show devised of different character monologues, in 1983. Director Mike Nichols was instantly impressed and offered to bring the show to Broadway. The self-titled show ran from October 24, 1984 to March 10, 1985 for a total of 156 sold-out performances. While performing on Broadway, Goldberg's performance caught the eye of director Steven Spielberg. He was about to direct the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Color Purple, written by Alice Walker. Having read the novel, she was ecstatic at being offered a lead role in her first motion picture. Goldberg received compliments on her acting from Spielberg, Walker, and music consultant Quincy Jones. The Color Purple was released in the late autumn of 1985, and was a critical and commercial success. It was later nominated for 11 Academy Awards including a nomination for Goldberg as Best Leading Actress. The movie did not win any of its Academy Award nominations, but Goldberg won the Golden Globe Award.

A comedic and dramatic balance, 1986-2007

Goldberg starred in Penny Marshall's directorial debut, 1986's Jumpin' Jack Flash, and began a relationship with David Claessen, a director of photography on the set, and the couple married later that year. The movie was a success, and during the next two years, three additional motion pictures featured Goldberg, Burglar, Fatal Beauty, and The Telephone. Though not as successful as her prior motion pictures, Goldberg still garnered awards from the N.A.A.C.P. Image Awards. Claessen and Goldberg divorced after the box office failure of The Telephone, which Goldberg was under contract to star in. She tried to sue the producers, but with no luck. The 1988 movie, Clara's Heart, was critically acclaimed ,and featured a young Neil Patrick Harris. As the 1980s concluded, she participated in the numerous HBO specials of Comic Relief with fellow comedians Robin Williams and Billy Crystal.

In January 1990, Goldberg starred with Jean Stapleton in the TV situation comedy Bagdad Café. The show ran for two seasons on CBS. Simultaneously, Goldberg starred in The Long Walk Home, portraying a woman in the Civil Rights Movement. She played a psychic in the 1990 film Ghost, and became the first African-American female to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in nearly 50 years. Premiere Magazine named her character, Oda Mae Brown, the 95th best movie character of all time.[15]

Goldberg starred in Soapdish and had a recurring role on Star Trek: The Next Generation as Guinan which she would reprise in two Star Trek movies. On May 29, 1992, Sister Act was released. The motion pictured grossed well over $100 million dollars and Goldberg was nominated for a Golden Globe. Next, she starred in Sarafina!. During the next year, she hosted a late-night talk show, The Whoopi Goldberg Show and starred in two more motion pictures Made in America and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. From 1994 to 1995, Whoopi appeared in Corrina, Corrina, The Lion King (voice), The Pagemaster (voice), Boys on the Side, and Moonlight and Valentino. Goldberg became the first African-American female to host the Academy Awards in 1994.[16] She hosted the Awards again in 1996, 1999, and 2002. Goldberg released four motion pictures in 1996: Bogus (with Gerard Depardieu and Haley Joel Osment), Eddie, The Associate with Dianne Wiest) and Ghosts of Mississippi (with Alec Baldwin and James Woods). During the filming of Eddie, Goldberg began dating co-star Frank Langella, a relationship which lasted until early 2000.

Goldberg wrote Book in October 1997, a collection featuring insights and opinions. In November and December of 2005, Goldberg revived her one-woman show on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre in honor of its 20th anniversary.

From 1998 to 2001, Goldberg took supporting roles in the Angela Bassett vehicle How Stella Got Her Groove Back and Kingdom Come. She starred in the successful ABC-TV versions of Cinderella, A Knight in Camelot, and the TNT Original Movie, Call Me Claus. In 1998, she gained a new audience when she became the "Center Square" on Hollywood Squares, hosted by Tom Bergeron. She also served as Executive Producer, for which she was nominated for 4 Emmys. She left the show in 2002, and the "Center Square" was filled in with celebrities for the last two on-air seasons without Goldberg. In 2003, Goldberg returned to television, starring in the NBC comedy, Whoopi, which was cancelled after one season. On her 48th birthday, Goldberg was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. During the next two years, she became a spokeswoman for Slim Fast and produced two television sitcoms: Lifetime's original drama Strong Medicine that ran for six seasons and Whoopi's Littleburg, a Nickelodeon show for younger children. Goldberg made guest appearances on the Hit CW Network comedy, Everybody Hates Chris, as an elderly character named Louise Clarkson. She produced the Noggin sitcom Just For Kicks, in early 2006. She was a guest at Elton John's 60th birthday bash and concert at Madison Square Garden on March 25, 2007.

Goldberg has recently announced her retirement from acting. She said in interviews that she wants to focus on The View and her broadcasting career.

The View

On September 4 2007, Goldberg became the new moderator and co-host of The View, replacing Rosie O'Donnell. O'Donnell stated on her official blog[17] that she wanted Goldberg to assume her role as moderator.

Goldberg's first appearance on the show was controversial when she made statements about Michael Vick's dogfighting as being "part of his cultural upbringing" and "not all that unusual" in parts of the South.[18][19] Another comment that stirred controversy was the statement that the Chinese "have a very different relationship to cats" and that "you and I would be very pissed if somebody ate kitty."[20]

Some defended Goldberg, including her co-host Elisabeth Hasselbeck, saying that her comments were taken out of context by the press, because she repeated several times that she did not condone what Vick did.[21]

On more than one occasion, Goldberg has expressed strong disagreement and irritation with different remarks made by Elisabeth Hasselbeck. On October 3 2007, Hasselbeck and The View co-host Whoopi Goldberg were involved in a discussion about Hillary Clinton's new $5,000 baby entitlement. The discussion became a little heated due to Hasselbeck's commenting on how it would lead to fewer abortions because of women wanting to keep the money. Goldberg told Hasselbeck to "back off a little bit" and asked her if she "had ever been in that position to make that decision." Goldberg added, "Most people do not want to have abortions. Most women do not have them with some sort of party going on. It is the hardest decision that a woman ever- wait- ever has to make. So, when you talk about it, a little bit of reverence to the women out there who have had to make this horrible decision. And one of the reasons that we have had to make this decision is because so many women were found bleeding, dead, with hangers in their bodies because they were doing it themselves. The idea of this was to make it safe and clean. That was the reason the law came into effect. That was why it was done."[22][23][24]

Since Goldberg's debut on The View, the ratings for the show have been higher than Rosie O'Donnell's ratings as moderator.[25]

Personal life

At age 18, following Goldberg's marriage to Alvin Martin (who was 26), their first and only child Alexandrea was born c.1973. After Goldberg's divorce from Martin, she moved to California and helped found the San Diego Repertory Company, where she used the stage name Whoopi Cushion. Before succeeding as an actress, she worked as a bank teller, a bricklayer, and a mortuary cosmetologist. Goldberg later went on to marry David Claessen, but they divorced after two years, in 1988. Whoopi later married Lyle Trachtenberg, but their marriage lasted only one year. In 2000, Whoopi broke up with her boyfriend of five years, Frank Langella.

Goldberg has three grandchildren through her daughter, Alexandrea Martin. The eldest, named Amarah Skye, was born on November 13, 1989, Goldberg's birthday.

In 1993, Goldberg was briefly involved with Ted Danson, who was married at the time and caring for his wife, who had survived a stroke. There was controversy following a comedy routine at a Friars Club roast that was performed in blackface. The fact that Goldberg herself had written the script was often overlooked.

On Friday, December 7 2007, Goldberg stated on The View that she has been married and divorced four times.

Goldberg is currently a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador.

Awards

Goldberg has received two Academy Award nominations, for The Color Purple and Ghost, winning for Ghost. 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 won a Grammy Award in 1985 and a Tony Award as a producer of the Broadway musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. 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 prestigious Mark Twain Prize for American Humor at the Kennedy Center.

Goldberg is one of few to win an Oscar, a Grammy, a Tony, and an Emmy. She has starred in over 150 films, and during a period in the 1990s, Whoopi was the highest-paid actress of all time. Her humanitarian efforts include working for Comic Relief, recently reuniting with Billy Crystal and Robin Williams for the 20th Anniversary of Comic Relief.


In February 2002, Goldberg sent her Oscar statuette from Ghost to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to be cleaned and replated. During this time, the statuette was taken from its shipping container, and later retrieved by the shipping company, UPS.[26]

Other media appearances

Goldberg performed the role of Califia, the Queen of California, for a theater presentation called Golden Dreams at Disney's California Adventure, the second gate at the Disneyland Resort, in 2000. The show, which explains the history of the Golden State (California), opened on February 8, 2001, with the rest of the park.

Goldberg hosted a short Peanuts documentary called, "The Making Of A Charlie Brown Christmas" (2001). In July 2006, 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.

Goldberg made a guest appearance on the hit TV show, 30 Rock, in which she played herself. She is shown as endorsing her own workout video.

Lack of eyebrows is one of her trademarks.[27]

From August 2006 to March 2008, Goldberg hosted Wake Up With Whoopi, a nationally syndicated morning radio program.

Filmography

Year Film Role Other notes
1982 Citizen : I'm Not Losing My Mind, I'm Giving It Away Film debut
1985 The Color Purple Celie Harris Academy Award for Best Actress nomination,
Golden Globe - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama
1986 Jumpin' Jack Flash Terri Dolittle
1987 Burglar Bernice 'Bernie' Rhodenbarr
Fatal Beauty Rita Rizzoli
1988 The Telephone Vashti Blue
Clara's Heart Clara Mayfield
1989 Comicitis Herself Short subject
Beverly Hills Brats Herself Cameo
Homer & Eddie Eddie Cervi
1990 Ghost Oda Mae Brown Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress,
Golden Globe - Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture
The Long Walk Home Odessa Cotter
1991 Wisecracks Herself documentary
Blackbird Fly Herself short subject
Soapdish Rose Schwartz
1992 Sister Act Dolores Van Cartier/Sister Mary Clarence Golden Globe - Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical nomination
The Player Detective Susan Avery
Sarafina! Mary Masembuko
The Magical World of Chuck Jones Herself documentary
1993 National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon Sgt. Billy York
Naked in New York Tragedy Mask on Theater Wall
Made in America Sarah Mathews
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit Dolores Van Cartier/Sister Mary Clarence
1994 Liberation documentary narrator
The Lion King Shenzi the Hyena voice
The Little Rascals Buckwheat's mom
Corrina, Corrina Corrina Washington
Star Trek Generations Guinan uncredited
The Pagemaster Fantasy voice
1995 Boys on the Side Jane Deluca
The Celluloid Closet herself documentary
Moonlight and Valentino Sylvie Morrow
Theodore Rex Katie Coltrane
1996 Eddie Edwina 'Eddie' Franklin
Bordello of Blood Hospital Patient uncredited
Bogus Harriet Franklin
VR Troopers
The Associate Laurel Ayres/Robert S. Cutty
Ghosts of Mississippi Myrlie Evers
1997 Pitch Herself Documentary, uncredited
Mary Pickford: A Life on Film Host/narrator documentary
A Christmas Carol The Ghost of Christmas Past voice
Destination Anywhere Cabbie
In & Out Herself Special thanks
In the Gloaming Nurse Myrna
An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn Herself Special Appearance
1998 Titey The Iceberg (voice) short subject
Alegría Baby Clown
A Knight in Camelot Dr. Vivien Morgan
How Stella Got Her Groove Back Delilah Abraham
Junket Whore Herself documentary
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer: The Movie Stormella, The Evil Ice Queen (voice)
The Rugrats Movie Ranger Margaret (voice)
1999 Alice in Wonderland Cheshire Cat (voice)
The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns The Grand Banshee
Get Bruce Herself documentary
The Deep End of the Ocean Candy Bliss
Girl, Interrupted Valerie Owens, RN
2000 The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle Judge Cameo uncredited
A Second Chance at Life Narrator documentary
More Dogs Than Bones Cleo
2001 Golden Dreams Calafia, the Queen of California (Narrator) short subject
Kingdom Come Raynelle Slocumb
Monkeybone Death
Rat Race Vera Baker
The Hollywood Sign (2001) One of the women throwing dirt on coffin at funeral scene Cameo
Call Me Claus Lucy
2002 Searching for Debra Winger Herself documentary
Showboy Herself Cameo
Star Trek Nemesis Guinan Uncredited
2003 Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives Narrator documentary
Pauly Shore Is Dead Herself documentary
Bitter Jester Herself documentary
Beyond the Skyline Herself short subject
Blizzard Blizzard (voice)
Good Fences Mabel Spader
2004 Pinocchio 3000 Cyberina (voice)
The N-Word Herself documentary
SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2 Herself
Jiminy Glick in Lalawood Herself
The Lion King 1 1/2 Shenzi (voice)
2005 The Aristocrats Herself documentary
Racing Stripes Frannie (voice)
The Magic Roundabout Ermintrude
2006 Doogal Ermintrude (voice)
Everyone's Hero Darlin' (voice)
Farce of the Penguins Helen (voice)
2007 Homie Spumoni Thelma
If I Had Known I Was a Genius Mom
Nuremberg: A Vision Restored Herself documentary
Mr. Warmth: The Don Rickles Project Herself documentary
Our Country USA to Z Herself (voice) short subject
The Sophisticated Misfit Herself documentary
2008 Stream Jodi

TV work

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

Literary works

  • Goldberg, Whoopi. Whoopi's Big Book of Manners, Hyperion Books for Children, 2006 - ISBN 078685295X
  • Goldberg, Whoopi. Book, Bantam Books, 1996 - ISBN 068815252X (hardcover) / ISBN 0380729792 (paper back)
  • Goldberg, Whoopi. Alice, Bantam Books, 1992 - ISBN 0553089900

Discography

See also

References

Wikiquote has quotations related to Whoopi Goldberg.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Whoopi Goldberg.
  1. ^ CNN: Whoopi Goldberg joins 'The View'
  2. ^ IMDB Movie/TV News: Goldberg Retires From Acting
  3. ^ Clark Hine, Darlene (2005). Black Women in America. Michigan: University of Michigan. p. 531. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |month= (help)
  4. ^ Whoopi Goldberg Biography (1955-)
  5. ^ a b Chutkow, Paul. "Whoopi's Revenge. Cigar Aficionado Archives
  6. ^ Interview, August 20, 2006 Sunday New York Times Magazine
  7. ^ Lyman, Darryl (2005). Great African-American Women. Jonathan David Company, Inc. p. 94. ISBN0824604598. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |coauthors= and |month= (help)
  8. ^ Huffhines, Kathy (1991-04-01). "Whoopi reins herself in for a role She feels her character in `Long Walk Home' brings a big message". The Dallas Morning News. Retrieved 2007-12-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ Strauss, Bob (1993-12-12). "Oh, Sister! Goldberg Gets Her `Act' Together". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2007-12-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  10. ^ "WHOOPI: NO MORE "SIS' FILMS * THE ACTRESS ALSO TAKES SHOTS AT THE MEDIA AND OTHERS WHO DO NOT UNDERSTAND HER BRAND OF HUMOR". The Fresno Bee. 1993-12-11. Retrieved 2007-12-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  11. ^ Whoopi Goldberg’s DNA Hails from W. Africa
  12. ^ GOLDBERG REFUSES INVITE TO AFRICAN ANCESTRAL STATE
  13. ^ Whoopi Goldberg Turns Down Invite To Ancestral Home in Africa
  14. ^ Nichelle Nichols (1997). Trekkies (DVD). Neo Motion Pictures.
  15. ^ Borgeson, Kelly, et al. The 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time
  16. ^ List of Academy Awards ceremonies
  17. ^ Rosie.com
  18. ^ "Goldberg defends Vick in `View' debut". Associated Press. 2007-09-04. Retrieved 2007-09-04. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  19. ^ Gorman, Steve (2007 Sep 4, 9:30 PM ET). "Whoopi Goldberg defends Vick's dog-fighting role". Reuters. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  20. ^ Menon, Venay. The new View? No big whoop September 5, 2007.
  21. ^ de Moraes, Lisa. Whoopi on 'The View,' Day Two: She Doesn't Condone Michael Vick's Dogfighting September 6, 2007
  22. ^ Access Hollywood story
  23. ^ Jancelewicz, Chris. Whoopi, Elisabeth Butt Heads Over Abortion.
  24. ^ MSNBC.com
  25. ^ Learmonth, Michael. View on top. Whoopi-led show tops Rosie's ratings. Variety.com. 23 September 2007.
  26. ^ Silverman, Stephen M. (6 February 2002). "Whoopi Goldberg's Oscar: Lost & Found". [[People (magazine)|]]. Retrieved 2008-03-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ Goldberg's IMDB biography

Further reading

  • Adams, Mary Agnes. Whoopi Goldberg, Silver Burdett Press, 1996 - ISBN 0382394976
  • Caper, William. Whoopi Goldberg: Comedian and Movie Star, Enslow Publishers, Incorporated, 1999 - ISBN 0766012050
  • DeBoer, Judy. Whoopi Goldberg, The Creative Company, 1999 - ISBN 0886826969
  • Gaines, Ann. Whoopi Goldberg, Facts On File, Inc., 1999 - ISBN 0791049388
  • Parish, James Robert. Whoopi Goldberg: Her Journey from Poverty to Megastardom, Carol Pub. Group, 1997 - ISBN 1559724315
Preceded by Oscars host
66th Academy Awards 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Oscars host
68th Academy Awards 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Oscars host
71st Academy Awards 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Oscars host
74th Academy Awards 		Succeeded by
Preceded by The View moderator
2007 - present 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
Template:S-awards
Preceded by Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
1990
for Ghost 		Succeeded by
Preceded by BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role
1990
for Ghost 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama
1986
for The Color Purple 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
for Ghost
1991 		Succeeded by

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