Whoopi Goldberg

 

"My name is Caryn Elaine Johnson, but everyone knows me as Whoopi Goldberg. I am an EGOT artist (meaning I hold the four most prestigious American entertainment awards: Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony), signifying an actress who has excelled in everything—television, music, film, and theater. They say I have an irresistible charm and an energy so powerful that I could go to the Vatican and ask Pope Francis to act in Sister Act 3, while also celebrating on my American show the tribute paid to me by Fiorello on Italian TV.

I won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for Ghost in 1990 (becoming the second African American woman to win after Hattie McDaniel, who played Mammy in Gone with the Wind) and was nominated for Best Actress for Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple. I have also won two Golden Globes, two Emmys, a Saturn Award, four People's Choice Awards, five Kids' Choice Awards, seven Image Awards, two Drama Desk Awards, and a BAFTA. In 2002, I was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

I have directed and produced documentaries, musicals, and films acclaimed by both audiences and critics. I am an activist for human rights, AIDS research, and children's rights. I have appeared in countless American TV shows and series and, among other projects, co-hosted nine seasons of Comic Relief, a charitable television special benefiting the underprivileged, alongside Billy Crystal and Robin Williams. Since 2007, I have been one of the hosts of The View, a popular and progressive ABC program.

At the age of 68, I wrote my autobiography titled Fragments of Memory.

In this memoir, which I also wrote to help me cope with the loss of my mother Emma, I recount my life from my childhood (growing up in New York City’s housing projects, trips to Coney Island, ice skating shows, and museum visits) to my career, successes, and failures. The book is a tribute to the pivotal figures in my life—my mother and my brother Clyde, both of whom passed away in recent years. My mother, proud, practical, and indomitable, instilled in us the love and wisdom needed to succeed in life, always encouraging us to be honest, at least with ourselves."

Whoopi Goldberg

From Facebook Black American History & Soul

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Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg , is an American actor, comedian, author and television personality. A recipient of numerous accolades, she is one of 18 entertainers to win the EGOT, which includes an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award. In 2001, she received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Her film breakthrough came in 1985 with her role as Celie, a mistreated woman in the Deep South, in Steven Spielberg's period drama film The Color Purple, for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama. For her role as an eccentric psychic in the romantic fantasy film Ghost (1990), she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a second Golden Globe Award. She starred in the comedy Sister Act (1992) and its sequel Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), becoming the highest-paid actress at the time. She also starred in Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986), Clara's Heart (1988), Soapdish (1991), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), and Till (2022). She also is known for voicing roles in The Lion King (1994), and Toy Story 3 (2010).

According to an anecdote told by Nichelle Nichols in Trekkies (1997), a young Goldberg was watching Star Trek, and on seeing Nichols's character Uhura, exclaimed, "Momma! There's a black lady on television and she ain't no maid!" This spawned Goldberg's lifelong Star Trek fandom. Goldberg lobbied for — and was eventually cast — in a recurring guest starring role as Guinan on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

On television, Goldberg portrayed Guinan in the science fiction series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988-1993), and Star Trek: Picard (2022). Since 2007, she has co-hosted and moderated the daytime talk show The View, for which she won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host. She has hosted the Academy Awards ceremony four times.

SOURCE: Wikipedia