Whoopi Goldberg

In 2002, Whoopi Goldberg became one of a very elite group of artists who have won the Grammy (Whoopi Goldberg, 1985), the Academy Award (Ghost, 1991), the Golden Globe (The Color Purple, 1985 and Ghost, 1991), the Emmy® (as host of AMC's Beyond Tara: The Extraordinary Life of Hattie McDaniel, 2002), and a Tony (producer of Thoroughly Modern Millie, 2002). In August 2009, Ms. Goldberg added a Daytime Emmy to her roster for The View. She is equally well known for her humanitarian efforts on behalf of children, the homeless, human rights, education, substance abuse, and the battle against AIDS, as well as many other causes and charities. Among her many charitable activities, Ms. Goldberg is a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations.

Born and raised in New York City, Ms. Goldberg worked in theatre and improvisation in San Diego and the Bay Area, where she performed with the Blake Street Hawkeyes theatre troupe. It was there that she created the characters which became The Spook Show and evolved into her hit Broadway show, her Grammy Award-winning album and the HBO special that helped launch her career.

Ms. Goldberg made her motion picture debut in Steven Spielberg's film version of Alice Walker's The Color Purple, for which she earned an Academy Award nomination and a Golden Globe Award. Her performance in Ghost earned her the Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. She has also appeared in such films as Jumpin' Jack Flash, Clara's Heart, The Long Walk Home, Soapdish, The Player, Sarafina!, Sister Act, Made in America, Corrina, Corrina, Boys on the Side, Eddie, The Associate, Ghosts of Mississippi, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Girl, Interrupted, Kingdom Come, and Rat Race. She has voiced characters in such animated features as The Lion King, Racing Stripes, Doogal, and Everyone's Hero.

On television, Ms. Goldberg appeared for five seasons on Star Trek: The Next Generation,  co-starred with Jean Stapleton in Bagdad Cafe, and hosted her own syndicated late-night talk show. She appeared in the Emmy-nominated HBO drama In the Gloaming, directed by Christopher Reeve, as well as The Wonderful World of Disney's Rogers & Hammerstein's Cinderella and A Knight in Camelot, and appeared in the miniseries Alice in Wonderland and The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns. She starred in the NBC sitcom Whoopi, which she executive-produced, and co-starred in the television movies It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie and Showtime's Good Fences, which she co-produced with co-star Danny Glover. She produced and appeared on Nick Jr.'s Whoopi's Littleburg. In 2007, Ms. Goldberg was named moderator of ABC's The View, and most recently has guest-starred on the critically-acclaimed A&E series, The Cleaner. 

As she has in every other facet of her career, Ms. Goldberg has made her mark as a producer. She executive-produced the Lifetime original drama series Strong Medicine, the longest-running original drama created for basic cable and the first cable show to go into syndication. From 1998-2002, she executive-produced and appeared in the center square on the Emmy Award-winning Hollywood Squares. She executive-produced the Lifetime original movie What Makes a Family, Showtime's Ruby's Bucket of Blood, and executive-produced and starred in the TNT Original Movie, Call Me Claus, and the Showtime original, Good Fences. Ms. Goldberg executive-produced the hit Broadway musical, Thoroughly Modern Millie, which won six Tony Awards including Best Musical. She has numerous projects in the works for stage, screen, and television, and is one of the producers of London's West End premiere of Sister Act: The Musical.  Whoopi also produces the irreverent trivia series, Head Games, which airs on Science Channel.  Hosted by comedian and actor Greg Proops, Head Games uses humor and fascinating science facts to put the intellect of contestants and viewers alike to the test.

Ms. Goldberg has appeared on many television series and specials, including her own comedy specials for HBO and Bravo, been a three-time host of ABC's A Gala for the President at Ford's Theatre, and eight Comic Relief telecasts with Billy Crystal and Robin Williams. She received Emmy Award nominations for hosting the 66th, 68th, and 71st Academy Awards telecasts, and returned to host the 2002 telecast at the new Kodak Theatre. In 2008, she hosted the Tony Awards for the first time. 

Ms. Goldberg returned to Broadway in 1997, garnering rave reviews in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. In 2001 she returned again to her roots, on tour for the first time in over 10 years, performing one-night-only engagements across the U.S. In 2003, she produced and starred in the title role of the Broadway revival of Ma Rainey's Black Bottom. She commemorated the 20th anniversary of her original one-woman show with a Tony-nominated special engagement production on Broadway last year, and the HBO broadcast of the show was nominated for an Emmy Award. She returned to the stage in 2008 with a limited run in the hit Broadway musical Xanadu.

In addition to the Oscar, the Grammy, and two Golden Globe Awards, Ms. Goldberg has been honored with multiple NAACP Image Awards, numerous People's Choice Awards (including a special tribute in 1998), and five Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards as Favorite Movie Actress -- as well as various awards and honors for her many humanitarian efforts.

In 1992, Ms. Goldberg made her debut as an author with her first children's book, Alice. Her second literary endeavor, simply entitled Book, became a bestseller in the U.S. and around the world. Her children's book Whoopi's Big Book of Manners was published in 2006, and she is also the author of the Sugarplum Ballerinas book series for young readers.

In July 2006, she conquered yet another frontier when she made her debut as a radio host with Clear Channel's nationally-syndicated, Wake Up with Whoopi.

Ms. Goldberg has placed prints of her hands, feet, and braids in the forecourt of the famed Grauman's Chinese Theatre and received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which resides in front of the Kodak Theatre.