Profile of Whoopi Goldberg on Famous Like Me

Caryn Elaine Johnson, better known by her stage name, Whoopi Goldberg (born November 13, 1955 (although many sources indicate 1949), in New York City), is a well-known American movie actress, comedian, and singer. Although her father was a Protestant preacher, Goldberg says that her family is of mixed religious heritage - including Catholic, Buddhist and Jewish ancestry.

Background

After succeeding as a stand-up comedian in the San Francisco Bay Area, Goldberg created a one woman show in 1983 called The Spook Show. This show caught the attention of Mike Nichols who produced a one-woman show for Goldberg on Broadway, called simply Whoopi Goldberg, which ran from October 24, 1984 to March 10, 1985, for a total of 156 performances. Goldberg's performance caught the eye of Steven Spielberg, who was inspired to cast Goldberg in her film debut, an adaption of the award-winning novel The Color Purple by Alice Walker. This performance garnered her an Oscar nomination for best actress in 1986. She followed up this performance with a sell-out, highly acclaimed one-woman show on Broadway. The majority of the films she made in the 1980s featured her in tough-woman comedic roles (Burglar, Fatal Beauty, Jumpin' Jack Flash), though she regularly balanced them out by performing in family-oriented films (Clara's Heart).

In danger of fading from public acclaim, she revitalized her career in the role of a fake "spiritualist" who manages to actually make contact with the dead in the tear-jerker Ghost, for which she won her first Oscar award for best supporting actress. She cemented her status as a legendary comedic actress in 1992 as a lounge singer who is hidden in a convent (and consequently revitalises their choir) in Sister Act. She had a recurring role on Star Trek: The Next Generation as Guinan, which she also reprised in two of the Star Trek feature films. A life-long Star Trek fan, as a girl she saw Nichelle Nichols portraying Lieutenant Uhura, and exclaimed, "Momma! Everybody! Come quick— there's a black lady on television, and she ain't no maid!"

Goldberg has appeared in 149 films as of October 2002. She has received two Oscar nominations and won one. She has received five Daytime Emmy nominations, winning one. She has received five Emmy nominations. She has received three Golden Globe nominations, winning two. She has won three People's Choice Awards. In 1999 she received the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Vanguard Award for her continued work in supporting the gay and lesbian community. She has been nominated for five American Comedy Awards with two wins. In 2001 she won the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. She also hosted the Oscars in 1994, 1996, 1999 and 2002.

Goldberg was paired with Jean Stapleton in the CBS sitcom Bagdad Café (with a plot differing from the 1987 movie in several respects), which lasted two seasons (1990-1991). She hosted a syndicated talk show (The Whoopi Goldberg Show) in 1992-1993. She also starred in the sitcom, Whoopi, which began broadcasting in fall 2003 on NBC. Whoopi starred as Mavis Rae, the owner of a small New York Hotel (called the Le Mont Hotel). An ex-singer in a girl group, Mavis was as much of a diva running the hotel as she was in the group’s glory days. The sitcom was cancelled due to low ratings in May 2004.

Rather than the traditional autobiography, Goldberg wrote Book in October 1997, a collection of stories from her past and opinions. She is a strong supporter of abortion rights being that she has publicly admitted to having six. In August 2004, Goldberg announced that she would be reviving her one-woman show on Broadway at the Lyceum Theatre.

Goldberg also hosts the Arts and Entertainment section of Trivial Pursuit Unhinged, the PC game from Atari.

Goldberg appeared in TV ads as a spokeswoman for Slim Fast diet shakes, but the company dropped her in July 2004 after she made crude comments about President George W. Bush's last name during a Democratic fund-raiser.

Her stage name apparently came from her early tendency to have gas onstage ("whoopy" being slang for "flatulence").

Her most recent appearance on film is in the very explicit The Aristocrats, which features over 100 comics doing their interpretations of an old, rather filthy joke.

Filmography

• Citizen (1982)
• The Color Purple (1985)
• Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986)
• Burglar (1987)
• Fatal Beauty (1987)
• The Telephone (1988)
• Clara's Heart (1988)
• Comicitis (1989) (short subject)
• Beverly Hills Brats (1989) (cameo)
• Homer & Eddie (1989)
• Ghost (1990)
• The Long Walk Home (1990)
• Wisecracks (1991) (documentary)
• Blackbird Fly (1991) (short subject)
• Soapdish (1991)
• The Player (1992)
• Sister Act (1992)
• Sarafina! (1992)
• The Magical World of Chuck Jones (1992) (documentary)
• Naked in New York (1993) (Cameo)
• National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1 (1993) (cameo)
• Made in America (1993)
• Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993)
• Liberation (1994) (documentary) (narrator)
• The Lion King (1994) (voice)
• The Little Rascals (1994)
• Corrina, Corrina (1994)
• Star Trek: Generations (1994)
• The Pagemaster (1994) (voice)
• Boys on the Side (1995)
• The Celluloid Closet (1995) (documentary)
• Moonlight and Valentino (1995)
• Theodore Rex (1995)
• Eddie (1996)
• Tales from the Crypt: Bordello of Blood (1996) (cameo)
• Bogus (1996)
• The Associate (1996)
• Ghosts of Mississippi (1996)
• Pitch (1997) (documentary)
• Mary Pickford: A Life on Film (1997) (documentary) (narrator)
• In & Out (1997) (Cameo)
• An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1997) (cameo)
• Alegria (1998)
• How Stella Got Her Groove Back (1998)
• Junket Whore (1998) (documentary)
• The Rugrats Movie (1998) (voice)
• Get Bruce (1999) (documentary)
• The Deep End of the Ocean (1999)
• Girl, Interrupted (1999)
• The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle (2000) (cameo)
• A Second Chance at Life (2000) (documentary) (narrator)
• More Dogs Than Bones (2000)
• Golden Dreams (2001) (short subject)
• Kingdom Come (2001)
• Monkeybone (2001)
• Rat Race (2001)
• Searching for Debra Winger (2002) (documentary)
• Showboy (2002) (Cameo)
• Star Trek: Nemesis (2002)
• Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives (2003) (documentary) (narrator)
• Bitter Jester (2003) (documentary)
• Pauly Shore Is Dead (2003)
• Beyond the Skyline (2003) (short subject)
• Blizzard (2003) (voice)
• Pinocchio 3000 (2004) (voice)
• The N-Word (2004) (documentary)
• SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2 (2004) (cameo)
• Jiminy Glick in La La Wood (2004) (cameo)
• The Aristocrats (2005) (documentary)
• Racing Stripes (2005) (voice)

TV work

• Whoopi Goldberg: Direct from Broadway (1985)
• Carol, Carl, Whoopi, and Robin (1987)
• Whoopi Goldberg: Fontaine... Why Am I Straight (1988) (also writer)
• Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988-1993)
• My Past Is My Own (1989)
• Kiss Shot (1989)
• Tales from the Whoop: Hot Rod Brown Class Clown (1990)
• Bagdad Cafe (1990–1991)
• Captain Planet and the Planeteers (1990-1993) (voice)
• Defenders of Dynatron City (1992) (voice)
• The Whoopi Goldberg Show (1992-1993)
• Yuletide in the 'hood (1993) (voice)
• A Cool Like That Christmas (1994) (voice)
• The Sunshine Boys (1995) (Cameo)
• Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (1995-1999) (voice)
• Mother Goose: A Rappin' and Rhymin' Special (1997) (voice)
• Cinderella (1997)
• A Knight in Camelot (1998)
• Hollywood Squares (center square from 1998-2002) (also producer)
• Alice in Wonderland (1999)
• Jackie's Back! (1999)
• Foxbusters (1999-2000) (voice)
• The Magical Legend of the Leprechauns (1999)
• What Makes a Family (2001) (also executive producer)
• Call Me Claus (2001) (also executive producer)
• Madeline: My Fair Madeline (2002) (voice)
• It's a Very Merry Muppet Christmas Movie (2002)
• Good Fences (2003) (also producer)
• Whoopi (2003–2004) (also executive producer)
• Littleburg (2004) (canceled after five episodes)
• Whoopi: Back to Broadway - the 20th Anniversary (2005) (also executive producer and writer)

She has made numerous guest appearances on Sesame Street, and guest hosting Live with Regis and Kelly.

Discography

• Original Broadway Recording (1985)
• Sister Act 2 - Soundtrack (1993)

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