Oprah Winfrey was born Orpah Gail Winfrey on January 29, 1954. She is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011.She has been ranked the richest African-American of the 20th century, the greatest black philanthropist in American history,and was for a time the world's only black billionaire.She is also, according to some assessments, the most influential woman in the world.