Loud Thinking May 29, 2014 at 09:17AM
Oprah Winfrey
TV’s queen of talk grew up with poverty and child abuse.
She tried her hand at being a television reporter.
But she was fired from her TV job because she wasn’t considered fit for TV.
Emotional problems stemming from childhood had made her eat obsessively, creating her weight problem.
She also tried smoking crack cocaine, and had a number of disastrous romantic relationships.
But she reinvented herself as a talk show host, producing and starring in her own “Oprah Winfrey Show.”
She changed the way talk shows were conducted by focusing on geopolitics, health, spirituality, and charity.
Her show went on to become the most viewed talk show on the planet, turning Oprah into a billionaire.