Whoopi Goldberg

Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955),<ref name="CBS"/><ref name="Huff"/><ref name="GH"/> known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (Template:IPAc-en), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.<ref name="1984APintv">Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer). "Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade" Template:Webarchive. The Fremont News-Messenger. November 29, 1984. Retrieved January 22, 2021. "I'm an actor. That's what I do. I'm not a stand-up comic ... I do characters. I'm very good. I'll be better. But right now I'm a very good actor."</ref><ref name="guardian">Template:Cite web</ref> The recipient of numerous accolades, she is one of few people to receive an Emmy Award, Grammy Award, Academy Award, and Tony Award, collectively known as the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony). In 2001, she received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Goldberg began her career on stage in 1983 with her one-woman show, Spook Show, which transferred to Broadway under the title Whoopi Goldberg, running from 1984 to 1985. She won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for the recording of the show. 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 acted in Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986), Clara's Heart (1988), Soapdish (1991), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), and Till (2022). She also voiced roles in The Lion King (1994) and Toy Story 3 (2010).

On stage, Goldberg has starred in the Broadway revivals of Stephen Sondheim's musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum and August Wilson's play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. She won a Tony Award as a producer of the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. In 2011 she received her third Tony Award nomination for the stage adaptation of Sister Act (2011). On television, Goldberg portrayed Guinan in the science fiction series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988–1993), and Star Trek: Picard (2022). Since 2007,<ref> Verne Gay, "Coffee's All These Hosts Are Brewing, " Newsday, September 5, 2007, p. A10. </ref> 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.

Early life

Caryn Elaine Johnson was born in Manhattan, New York City,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> on November 13, 1955,<ref name="CBS">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Huff">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="GH">Template:Cite web</ref> the daughter of Emma Johnson (née Harris),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a nurse and teacher,<ref name="clergyman">Template:Cite book</ref> and Robert James Johnson Jr., a Baptist<ref>Whoopi Goldberg: her journey from poverty to megastardom by James Robert Parish Carol Pub. Group, 1997 – 390, p. 282</ref> clergyman. She was raised in a public housing project, the Chelsea-Elliot Houses, in New York City.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Goldberg described her mother as a "stern, strong, and wise woman" who raised her as a single mother with her brother Clyde (Template:Circa – 2015).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She attended a local Catholic school, St Columba's. Her more recent forebears migrated north from Faceville, Georgia; Palatka, Florida; and Virginia.<ref name="bookref1">Template:Cite book</ref> She dropped out of Washington Irving High School.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

She has stated that her stage forename ("Whoopi") was taken from a whoopee cushion: "When you're performing on stage, you never really have time to go into the bathroom and close the door. So 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."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

About her stage surname, she claimed in 2011, "My mother did not name me Whoopi, but Goldberg is my name—it's part of my family, part of my heritage, just like being black," and "I just know I am Jewish. I practice nothing. I don't go to temple, but I do remember the holidays."<ref name=JC>Whoopi Goldberg: I'm Jewish and I talk to God Template:Webarchive, The Jewish Chronicle, Jessica Elgot, May 12, 2011</ref> She has stated that "people would say 'Come on, are you Jewish?' And I always say 'Would you ask me that if I was white? I bet not.'"<ref name=JC/> One account suggests that her mother, Emma Johnson, thought the family's original surname was "not Jewish enough" for her daughter to become a star.<ref name=JC/> Goldberg has said that her family is "Jewish, Buddhist, Baptist, and Catholic."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Researcher Henry Louis Gates Jr. found that all of Goldberg's traceable ancestors were black, that she had no known German or Jewish ancestry, and that none of her ancestors were named Goldberg.<ref name="bookref1" /> Results of a DNA test, revealed in the 2006 PBS documentary African American Lives, traced part of her ancestry to the Papel and Bayote people of modern-day Guinea-Bissau of West Africa.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The show identified her great-great-grandparents as William and Elsie Washington, who had acquired property in northern Florida in 1873, and mentions they were among a very small number of black people who became landowners through homesteading in the years following the Civil War. The show also mentions that her grandparents were living in Harlem, and that her grandfather was working as a Pullman porter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

According to an anecdote told by Nichelle Nichols in Trekkies (1997), a young Goldberg was watching Star Trek, and on seeing Nichols' character Uhura, exclaimed, "Momma! There's a black lady on television and she ain't no maid!"<ref>Template:Cite AV media</ref> 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.

In the 1970s, Goldberg moved to San Diego, California, where she became a waitress, then to Berkeley,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> where she worked odd jobs, including as a bank teller, a mortuary cosmetologist, and a bricklayer.<ref name=berkeley>Template:Cite web</ref> She joined the avant-garde theater troupe the Blake Street Hawkeyes<ref name=berkeley /> and gave comedy and acting classes; Courtney Love was one of her acting students.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Goldberg was also in a number of theater productions.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> In 1978, she witnessed a midair collision of two planes in San Diego, causing her to develop a fear of flying and post-traumatic stress disorder.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Career

1980–1985: Early work and breakthrough

Goldberg trained under acting teacher Uta Hagen at the HB Studio<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in New York City. She first appeared onscreen in Citizen: I'm Not Losing My Mind, I'm Giving It Away (1982), an avant-garde ensemble feature by San Francisco filmmaker William Farley.

In 1983<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and 1984, she "first came to national prominence with her one-woman show"<ref>Brevar, Lisa Pertillar. Whoopi Goldberg on Stage and Screen, McFarland, 2013, p. 12.</ref> in which she portrayed Moms Mabley, Moms, first performed in Berkeley, California, and then at the Victoria Theatre in San Francisco; the Oakland Museum of California preserves a poster advertising the show.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

She created The Spook Show, a one-woman show composed of different character monologues in 1983. Director Mike Nichols "discovered" her when he saw her perform.<ref name="NYT">Template:Cite news</ref> In an interview, he recalled that he "burst into tears", and that he and Goldberg "fell into each other's arms" when they first met backstage.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Goldberg considered Nichols her mentor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Nichols helped her transfer the show to Broadway, where it was retitled Whoopi Goldberg. The show ran from October 24, 1984, to March 10, 1985, and was taped and broadcast by HBO as Whoopi Goldberg: Direct from Broadway.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The recording of the special was awarded the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album, making Goldberg the first Black female comedian to win the Grammy.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Goldberg's Broadway performance caught the eye of director Steven Spielberg while she performed in The Belly Room at The Comedy Store.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> Spielberg gave her the lead role in his film The Color Purple, based on the novel by Alice Walker. It was released in late 1985, and was a critical and commercial success. Film critic Roger Ebert described Goldberg's performance as "one of the most amazing debut performances in movie history".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> It was nominated for 11 Academy Awards, including a nomination for Goldberg as Best Actress.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama for her portrayal of Celie, becoming the first Black actress to win in this category.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

1986–1999: Film stardom

File:Whoopi Goldberg 1996.jpg

Goldberg in 1996

Between 1985 and 1988, Goldberg was the busiest female star, making seven films.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> She starred in Penny Marshall's directorial debut Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986) and began a relationship with David Claessen, a director of photography on the set; they married later that year. The film was a modest success, and during the next two years, three additional motion pictures featured Goldberg: Burglar (1987), Fatal Beauty (1987), and The Telephone (1988). Though they were not as successful, Goldberg garnered awards from the NAACP Image Awards. Goldberg and Claessen divorced after the poor box office performance of The Telephone, in which she was contracted to perform. She tried unsuccessfully to sue the film's producers. Clara's Heart (1988) did poorly at the box office, though her own performance was critically acclaimed.

As the 1980s concluded, she hosted numerous HBO specials of Comic Relief with fellow comedians Robin Williams and Billy Crystal.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In January 1990, Goldberg starred with Jean Stapleton in the situation comedy Bagdad Cafe (inspired by the 1987 film of the same name). The sitcom ran for two seasons on CBS. Simultaneously, she starred in The Long Walk Home, portraying a woman in the US civil rights movement. She played a psychic in the film Ghost (1990) and became the first black woman to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in nearly 50 years, and the second black woman to win an Academy Award for acting (the first being Hattie McDaniel for Gone with the Wind in 1940). She also won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role and the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture. Premiere named her character Oda Mae Brown in its list of Top 100 best film characters.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Goldberg starred in Soapdish (1991) and had a recurring role on Star Trek: The Next Generation between 1988 and 1993 as Guinan, a character she reprised in two Star Trek films. She made a cameo in the Traveling Wilburys 1991 music video "Wilbury Twist".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On May 29, 1992, the film Sister Act was released. It grossed well over US$200 million (equivalent to $Template:Inflation million in Template:Inflation year), and Goldberg was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. That year, she starred in The Player and Sarafina!. She also hosted the 34th Annual Grammy Awards, receiving praise from the Sun-SentinelTemplate:'s Deborah Wilker for bringing to life what Wilker considered "stodgy and stale" ceremonies.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During the next year, Goldberg hosted a late-night talk show, The Whoopi Goldberg Show, and starred in two more films: Made in America and Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. With an estimated salary of $7–12 million for Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), she was the highest-paid actress at the time.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> From 1994 to 1995, she appeared in Corrina, Corrina, The Lion King (voice), Theodore Rex, The Little Rascals, The Pagemaster (voice), Boys on the Side, and Moonlight and Valentino, and guest-starred on Muppets Tonight in 1996.

File:Photograph of Whoopi Goldberg Delivering Remarks at a White House Special Olympics Dinner - NARA - 6037508.jpg

Goldberg performing at The White House in 1998

In 1994, Goldberg became the first black woman to host the Academy Awards ceremony starting with the 66th Oscar telecast.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She hosted it again in 1996, 1999, and 2002, and has been regarded as one of the show's best hosts.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Goldberg starred in four motion pictures in 1996: Bogus (with Gérard 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, she began dating co-star Frank Langella, a relationship that lasted until early 2000. In October 1997, she and ghostwriter Daniel Paisner cowrote Book, a collection featuring Goldberg's insights and opinions.<ref>Paisner Template:Webarchive at Penguin web site</ref> Also in 1996, Goldberg replaced Nathan Lane as Pseudolus in the Broadway revival of Stephen Sondheim's musical comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Greg Evans of Variety regarded her "thoroughly modern style" as "a welcome invitation to a new audience that could find this 1962 musical as dated as ancient Rome".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The Washington PostTemplate:'s Chip Crews deemed Goldberg "a pip and a pro", and that she "ultimately [...] steers the show past its rough spots".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

From 1998 to 2001, Goldberg took supporting roles in How Stella Got Her Groove Back with Angela Bassett, Girl, Interrupted with Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie, Kingdom Come, and Rat Race with an all-star ensemble cast. She starred in the ABC versions of Cinderella and A Knight in Camelot. 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 four Emmy Awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She left the series in 2002. In 1999, she voiced Ransome in the British animated children's show Foxbusters by Cosgrove Hall Films. AC Nielsen EDI ranked her as the actress appearing in the most theatrical films in the 1990s, with 29 films grossing $1.3 billion in the U.S. and Canada (equivalent to $Template:Inflation billion in Template:Inflation year).<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

2000–2019: Established actor

File:US Navy 100527-N-1831S-236 Whoopi Goldberg, Elisabeth Hasselbeck and Sherri Shephard hosts of the ABC talk show, The View, pose with Sailors, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen attending a live taping of the show (cropped).jpg

Goldberg in 2010

In 2001, Goldberg hosted the documentary short The Making of A Charlie Brown Christmas and later portrayed Death in Monkeybone. In 2003, she returned to television in Whoopi, which was canceled after one season. On her 46th birthday, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She also appeared alongside Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett in the HBO documentary Unchained Memories (2003), narrating slave narratives. During the next two years, she became a spokeswoman for Slim Fast and produced two television series: Lifetime's original drama Strong Medicine, which ran six seasons; and Whoopi's Littleburg, a children's television series on Nickelodeon. In 2002, Goldberg completed the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards) when she received the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Special Class Special as a producer of Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel and the Tony Award for Best Musical for producing Thoroughly Modern Millie. She is the first Black woman to be an EGOT recipient.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Goldberg returned to the stage in 2003, starring as blues singer Ma Rainey in the Broadway revival of August Wilson's historical drama Ma Rainey's Black Bottom at the Royale Theatre. She was also one of the show's producers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Goldberg was involved in controversy at a fundraiser for John Kerry at Radio City Music Hall in New York in July 2004 when she made a sexual joke about President George W. Bush by waving a bottle of wine, pointed toward her pubic area, and said, "We should keep Bush where he belongs, and not in the White House." As result, Slim-Fast dropped her from their ad campaign.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Later that year, she revived her one-woman show at the Lyceum Theatre on Broadway in honor of its 20th anniversary; Charles Isherwood of The New York Times called the opening night performance an "intermittently funny but sluggish evening of comic portraiture".<ref name="NYT"/> Goldberg made guest appearances on Everybody Hates Chris as elderly character Louise Clarkson.<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>

From August 2006 to March 2008, Goldberg hosted Wake Up with Whoopi, a nationally syndicated morning radio talk and entertainment program.<ref name=":1" /> In October 2007, Goldberg announced on the air that she was going to retire from acting because she was no longer sent scripts, saying, "You know, there's no room for the very talented Whoopi. There's no room right now in the marketplace of cinema".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On December 13, 2008, she guest starred on The Naked Brothers Band, a Nickelodeon rock- mockumentary television series. Before the episode premiered, on February 18, 2008, the band performed on The View and the band members were interviewed by Goldberg and Sherri Shepherd.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> That same year, Goldberg hosted 62nd Tony Awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

File:Whoopi Goldberg (2011).jpg

Goldberg in 2011

In 2010, she starred in the Tyler Perry movie For Colored Girls, alongside Janet Jackson, Phylicia Rashad, Thandie Newton, Loretta Devine, Anika Noni Rose, Kimberly Elise, Kerry Washington, and Macy Gray. The film received generally good reviews from critics and grossed over $38 million worldwide.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> The same year, she voiced Stretch in the Disney/Pixar animated movie Toy Story 3. The movie received critical acclaim and grossed $1.067 billion worldwide.<ref name="mojo1">Template:Cite web</ref> Goldberg had a recurring role on the television series Glee during its third and fourth seasons as Carmen Tibideaux, a renowned Broadway performer and opera singer and the dean at a fictional performing arts college NYADA (New York Academy of the Dramatic Arts).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2011, she had a cameo in The Muppets.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2012, Goldberg guest starred as Jane Marsh, Sue Heck's guidance counselor on The Middle. She voiced the Magic Mirror on Disney XD's The 7D. In 2014, she also portrayed a character in the superhero film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014).<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She also appeared as herself in Chris Rock's Top Five and starred in the romantic comedy film Big Stone Gap.<ref name="Unknown 2014">Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2016, Goldberg executive produced a reality television series called Strut, based on transgender models from the modeling agency Slay Model Management in Los Angeles. The series aired on Oxygen.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2017, she voiced Ursula, the Sea Witch and Uma's mother, in the TV movie Descendants 2.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2018, she starred in the Tyler Perry's film Nobody's Fool, alongside Tiffany Haddish, Omari Hardwick, Mehcad Brooks, Amber Riley, and Tika Sumpter.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> That same year, she also starred in the comedy-drama film Furlough, alongside Tessa Thompson, Melissa Leo, and Anna Paquin.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In 2019, Goldberg's voice was used for the role of the Giant's Wife in the Hollywood Bowl production of Into the Woods.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

2020–present

File:Around the Library of Congress Spring 2024, Whoopi Goldberg looks over a special collections display in the Whittall Pavilion, May 10, 2024 (cropped).jpg

Goldberg at the Library of Congress in 2024

In an appearance on The View on January 22, 2020, Patrick Stewart invited Goldberg to reprise her role as Guinan during the second season of Star Trek: Picard.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She immediately accepted his offer.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Goldberg also starred in The Stand, a CBS All Access miniseries based on the 1978 novel of the same name by Stephen King, portraying Mother Abagail, a 108-year-old woman.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2020, it was announced Goldberg was set to return in Sister Act 3 with Tyler Perry producing. The film is slated to debut on Disney+.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Goldberg also stars in the biographical film Till (2021), written and directed by Chinonye Chukwu, which she also produced.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film focuses on abduction and lynching of Emmett Till with Goldberg playing Till's grandmother, Alma Carthan.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film debuted at the 60th New York Film Festival. Goldberg guest starred on the Disney Channel show Amphibia as the character Mother Olms.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2023, she appeared in a cameo role in the musical film The Color Purple playing a midwife.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She also took supporting roles in the drama Ezra (2023) and the western Outlaw Posse (2024).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Goldberg returned to the stage playing Miss Hannigan in the musical Annie as part of a limited engagement at The Theater at Madison Square Garden from December 4, 2024 to January 5, 2025. The New York Times praised Goldberg's performance describing her as a "holiday gift" adding, "In a just sweet enough production with a strong cast, the "View" host delivers a performance that reaffirms her savvy as a comic actor."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Patrick Ryan of USA Today agreed writing, "[She] is perfectly prickly and altogether hilarious in her first stage acting role in more than 15 years".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Other ventures

Activism and philanthropy

File:Ms. magazine Cover - Spring 2003.jpg

Goldberg (lower right) on the Spring 2003 cover of Ms. magazine

In 2006, Goldberg appeared during the 20th anniversary of Comic Relief.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Goldberg is an advocate for human rights, moderating a panel at the Alliance of Youth Movements Summit on how social networks can be used to fight violent extremism in 2008,<ref>Details of 2008 SummitTemplate:Webarchive at Youth Movements web site</ref><ref>"AYM '08: Alliance Of Youth Movements"Template:Webarchive at Howcast</ref> and also moderating a panel at the UN on human rights, children and armed conflict, terrorism, and reconciliation in 2009.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On an episode of The View that aired on May 9, 2012, Goldberg stated she is a member of the National Rifle Association of America.<ref>"10 Celebrity NRA Members from Chuck Norris to Tom Selleck" Template:Webarchive, thedailybeast.com. Retrieved April 17, 2014.</ref><ref name="twsBBC1">Template:Cite web</ref>

On April 1, 2010, Goldberg joined Cyndi Lauper in the launch of her Give a Damn campaign to bring a wider awareness of discrimination of the LGBT community and to invite straight people to ally with the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender community.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Her high-profile support for LGBT rights and AIDS activism dates from the 1987 March on Washington, in which she participated.<ref>"30 Voices, 30 Years" Template:Webarchive, Advocate.com, May 5, 2011. Retrieved May 19, 2014.</ref> In May 2017, she spoke in support of transgender rights at the 28th GLAAD Media Awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Goldberg is on the Board of Selectors of Jefferson Awards for Public Service.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She also serves on the National Council Advisory Board of the National Museum of American Illustration.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She was a speaker at the 2017 Women's March in New York City and was such again at the following year's event.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On January 24, 2021, Goldberg appeared with Tom Everett Scott as guests on the AmAIRican Grabbuddies marathon fundraising episode of The George Lucas Talk Show, where she spoke of her time working on Snow Buddies and raised money for the ASPCA.

Entrepreneurship

Goldberg co-founded Whoopi & Maya, a company that made medical cannabis products for women seeking relief from menstrual cramps.<ref name="usa today marijuana">Template:Cite news</ref> Goldberg says she was inspired to go into business by "a lifetime of difficult periods and the fact that cannabis was literally the only thing that gave me relief".<ref name="press release marijuana">Template:Cite press release</ref> The company was launched in April 2016 but announced in February 2020 that it was ceasing operations.<ref name="press release marijuana" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2021, Goldberg announced the launch of a new line of cannabis products, "Emma & Clyde", named for her late mother and brother.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite press release</ref>

Media appearances

File:Whoopi Goldberg New York City No on Proposition 8 protest.jpg

In New York City protesting the 2008 California Proposition 8

Goldberg performed the role of Califia, the Queen of the Island of California, for a theater presentation called Golden Dreams at Disney California Adventure Park, 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. Golden Dreams closed in September 2008 to make way for the upcoming Little Mermaid ride planned for DCA. In 2001, Goldberg co-hosted the 50th Anniversary of I Love Lucy.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>

In July 2006, Goldberg became the main host of the Universal Studios Hollywood Studio Tour, in which she appears multiple times in video clips shown to the guests on monitors placed on the trams.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

She made a guest appearance on the situation comedy 30 Rock during the series' fourth season, in which she played herself, counseling Tracy Jordan on winning the "EGOT", the coveted combination of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On July 14, 2008, Goldberg announced on The View that from July 29 to September 7, she would perform in the Broadway musical Xanadu.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On November 13, 2008, Goldberg's birthday, she announced live on The View that she would be producing, along with Stage Entertainment, the premiere of Sister Act: The Musical at the London Palladium.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

She gave a short message at the beginning of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008 wishing all the participants good luck, and stressing the importance of UNICEF, the official charity of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Since its launch in 2008, Goldberg has been a contributor for wowOwow.com, a new website for women to talk culture, politics, and gossip.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Goldberg has been a frequent guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She made a guest appearance in Michael Jackson's short film for the song "Liberian Girl". She also appeared on the seventh season of the cooking reality series Hell's Kitchen as a special guest. On January 14, 2010, Goldberg made a one-night-only appearance at the Minskoff Theatre to perform in the mega-hit musical The Lion King.<ref>Template:Cite webTemplate:Cbignore</ref> That same year, she attended the Life Ball in Austria.

Goldberg made her West End debut as the Mother Superior in a musical version of Sister Act for a limited engagement set for August 10–31, 2010,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> but prematurely left the cast on August 27 to be with her family; her mother had had a severe stroke.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> However, she later returned to the cast for five performances.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The show closed on October 30, 2010.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The View

File:Barack Obama guests on The View.jpg

The ViewTemplate:'s panel (L-R: Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd, and Elisabeth Hasselbeck) interview Barack Obama on July 29, 2010

On September 4, 2007, Goldberg became the new moderator and co-host of The View, replacing Rosie O'Donnell.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Goldberg's debut as moderator drew 3.4 million viewers, 1 million fewer than O'Donnell's debut ratings. However, after 2 weeks, The View was averaging 3.5 million total viewers under Goldberg, a 7-percent increase from 3.3 million under O'Donnell the previous season.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Goldberg has made controversial comments on the program on several occasions.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> One of her first appearances involved defending Michael Vick's participation in dogfighting as a result of "cultural upbringing".<ref name="Vick">Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2009, she opined that Roman Polanski's rape conviction of a thirteen-year-old in 1977<ref name="test1">"Personalities Column" Template:Webarchive, Roman Polanski Media Archive</ref><ref name="Broadsheet">Template:Cite news</ref> was not "rape-rape".<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She later clarified that she had intended to distinguish between statutory rape and forcible rape.<ref name="MSNBC">Template:Cite news</ref> The following year, in response to alleged comments by Mel Gibson considered racist, she said: "I don't like what he did here, but I know Mel and I know he's not a racist".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 2015, Goldberg was initially a defender of Bill Cosby from the rape allegations made against him, questioning why Cosby had never been arrested or tried for them.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref name=":0" /> She later changed her stance, stating that "all of the information that's out there kinda points to 'guilt'."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> After learning that the statute of limitations on these allegations had expired and thus Cosby could not be tried, she also stated her support for removing the statute of limitations for rape.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On January 31, 2022, Goldberg drew widespread criticism for stating on the show that the Holocaust was not based on race but "about man's inhumanity to man",<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> telling her co-hosts: "This is white people doing it to white people, so y'all going to fight amongst yourselves."<ref name="NYT Holocaust">Template:Cite news</ref> She apologized on Twitter later that day.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She maintained that the Nazis' issue was with ethnicity and not race on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that same day, which drew further criticism.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Goldberg issued another apology on air the following day.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She was subsequently suspended from The View for two weeks over the comments.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Artistry

Goldberg has stated that her influences are Richard Pryor,<ref name="dead">Richard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$@!!, 2003, Comedy Central</ref> George Carlin,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Moms Mabley,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Lenny Bruce,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Joan Rivers, Eddie Murphy, Bill Cosby, Sidney Poitier, and Harry Belafonte.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

Goldberg has been married three times. She was married to drug counselor Alvin Martin from 1973 to 1979;<ref name="bet-2011">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="sfchronicle">Template:Cite news</ref> to cinematographer David Claessen from 1986 to 1988;<ref name="sfchronicle" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and to union organizer Lyle Trachtenberg from 1994 to 1995.<ref name="sfchronicle" /> She has had live-in relationships with actor Frank Langella<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and playwright David Schein.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Her other ex-boyfriends include businessman Michael Visbal,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> orthodontist Jeffrey Cohen,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> camera operator Edward Gold,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and actors Timothy Dalton<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and Ted Danson.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Danson controversially appeared in blackface during his 1993 Friars Club roast; Goldberg wrote some of his jokes for the event and defended Danson after a media furor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

She has stated that she has no plans to marry again: "Some people are not meant to be married and I am not meant to. I'm sure it is wonderful for lots of people."<ref name="sfchronicle" /> In a 2011 interview with Piers Morgan, she explained that she was never in love with the men she married<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> and commented: "You have to really be committed to them...I don't have that commitment. I'm committed to my family."<ref name="bet-2011"/>

On May 9, 1974, Goldberg gave birth to a daughter, Alexandrea Martin, who also became an actress and producer.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Through her daughter, Goldberg has three grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> On August 29, 2010, Goldberg's mother, Emma Johnson, died after having a stroke.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She left London at the time, where she had been performing in the musical Sister Act, but returned to perform on October 22, 2010. In 2015, Goldberg's brother Clyde died of a brain aneurysm.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1991, Goldberg spoke out about her abortion in The Choices We Made: Twenty-Five Women and Men Speak Out About Abortion. In that book, she spoke about using a coat hanger to terminate a pregnancy at age 14.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She said she had had six or seven abortions by the age of 25 and that birth control pills failed to stop several of her pregnancies.<ref name="Charen">Template:Cite web</ref> After the 2022 Kansas abortion referendum, Goldberg claimed that God would support abortion rights because he gave women freedom of choice.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Goldberg has stated that she was once a "functioning" drug addict.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> She has stated that she smoked marijuana before accepting the Best Supporting Actress award for Ghost in 1991.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Goldberg has dyslexia.<ref name=dis>Template:Cite news</ref> She has lived in Llewellyn Park, a neighborhood in West Orange, New Jersey, saying she moved there to be able to be outside in private.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She maintains an additional summer residence on the coast of Sardinia.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> She has expressed a preference for defining herself by the gender-neutral term "actor" rather than "actress", saying: "An actress can only play a woman. I'm an actor—I can play anything."<ref name="guardian"/> In March 2019, Goldberg revealed that she had been battling pneumonia and sepsis, which caused her to take a leave of absence from The View.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

On a season 9 episode of Finding Your Roots, featuring Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end Tony Gonzalez, it was revealed Goldberg and Gonzalez are distant cousins.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Acting credits and awards

File:Whoopi Goldberg graumans.jpg

Whoopi Goldberg signature at Grauman's Chinese Theater

Having acted in over 150 films, Goldberg is one of the 19 people to achieve the EGOT, having won the four major American awards for professional entertainers: an Emmy (Television), a Grammy (Music), an Oscar (Film), and a Tony (Theater).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She is the first black woman to have achieved all four awards.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Goldberg has received two Academy Award nominations, for The Color Purple and Ghost (winning for Ghost).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> She is the first African-American actor to have received Academy Award nominations for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress. She has received three Golden Globe Award nominations, winning two (Best Actress in 1986 for The Color Purple, and Best Supporting Actress in 1991 for Ghost). For Ghost, she also won a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in 1991.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="Oscar: Lost & Fo">Template:Cite news</ref>

She won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording in 1985 for Whoopi Goldberg: Original Broadway Show Recording, becoming only the second solo woman performer—not part of a duo or team—to receive the award, and the first African-American woman. Goldberg is one of only three single women performers to receive that award.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite magazineTemplate:Cbignore</ref> She won a Tony Award in 2002 as a producer of the Broadway musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. She has received eight Daytime Emmy Award nominations, winning two. She has received nine Primetime Emmy Award nominations. In 2009, Goldberg won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host for her work on The View. She shared the award with her then co-hosts Joy Behar, Sherri Shepherd, Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and Barbara Walters.

Goldberg is the recipient of the 1985 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding One-Person Show for her solo performance on Broadway. She has won three People's Choice Awards. She has been nominated for five American Comedy Awards with two wins (Funniest Supporting Actress in 1991 for Ghost and Funniest Actress in 1993 for Sister Act). She was the three-time (and inaugural) winner of the Kids' Choice Award for Favorite Movie Actress.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In 2001, she became the first African-American female to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

In 1990, Goldberg was officially named an honorary member of the Harlem Globetrotters exhibition basketball team by the members.<ref> "Harlem Globetrotters Historical Timeline" Template:Webarchive. Harlem Globetrotters website (scroll down and click on 1989). </ref> In 1999, she received the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Vanguard Award for her continued work in supporting the gay and lesbian community, as well as the Women in Film Crystal Award for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In July 2010, the Ride of Fame honored Goldberg with a double-decker tour bus in New York City for her life's achievements.<ref>Whoopi Goldberg Honored In Gray Line New York's Ride Of Fame Template:Webarchive Getty Images. July 26, 2010.</ref> In 2017, Goldberg was named a Disney Legend for her contributions to the Walt Disney Company.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Discography

• 1985: Original Broadway Recording (Geffen/Warner Bros. Records)
• 1985: The Color Purple (Qwest/Warner Bros. Records)
• 1988: Fontaine: Why Am I Straight? (MCA Records)
• 1989: The Long Walk Home (Miramax Films)
• 1992: Sarafina (Qwest/Warner Bros. Records)
• 1992: Sister Act – Soundtrack (Hollywood/Elektra Records)
• 1993: Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit – Soundtrack (Hollywood/Elektra Records)
• 1994: Corrina Corrina (New Line Cinema)
• 2001: Call Me Claus (One Ho Productions)
• 2005: Live on Broadway: The 20th Anniversary Show (DRG Records)

Bibliography

Children's books

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Non-fiction

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See also

• Broadcast journalism
• List of people who have won Academy, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards
• List of Black Academy Award winners and nominees
• List of Black Golden Globe Award winners and nominees
• New Yorkers in journalism

Further reading

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External links

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• Interview with The Sunday Telegraph, May 2009
• Whoopi Goldberg interview with KVUE-TV in 1987 about her movie Burglar from Texas Archive of the Moving Image.
• Whoopi Goldberg, on Enciclopedia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
• Whoopi Goldberg, on Discogs, Zink Media
• Whoopi Goldberg, on Billboard
• Whoopi Goldberg, on Rotten Tomatoes, Flixster Inc