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Whoopi Goldberg
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Whoopi Goldberg was born Caryn Johnson in New York City. Her mother, a nurse and teacher, raised her daughter and a son on her own after Whoopi's preacher father left the family. The future star spent the first years of her life in a public housing project in Manhattan. Drawn to the theater from earliest childhood, she made her performing debut at age eight with the Helena Rubinstein Children's Theatre at the Hudson Guild. After dropping out of high school at 14, she lied about her age to find work as a summer camp counselor, and singing in the choruses of the Broadway shows Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar and Pippin. After surviving an early experience with drug addiction, she married at age 18, and gave birth to a daughter, Alexandrea.
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Whoopi Goldberg was born Caryn Elaine Johnson in 1955. She started her career as a stand-up comedian, which led to her one woman show on Broadway. This show led to a role in Steven Spielberg's film The Color Purple. In 1990 Goldberg starred in the hit film Ghost alongside Patrick Swazy and Demi Moore. Whoopi has won two Academy Awards.
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Whoopi Goldberg has done—and won—it all. She's among the few entertainers who have netted an Oscar, Tony, Emmy and Grammy. Nowadays, she's ... a popular radio talk show host, with her "Wake Up With Whoopi" morning rush program airing in 12 markets around the United States. Goldberg will be reuniting in Las Vegas on Nov. 18 with Billy Crystal and Robin Williams to put on another Comic Relief, a concert featuring more than 20 comedians that airs at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and TBS to raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina. Steve Friess spoke to Goldberg about bringing back Comic Relief for the first time since 1998, her fear of flying and why there still aren't many black people on television. Excerpts:
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Whoopi Goldberg had a daughter called Alexandra and in the same year she got a divorce in her marriage. She left New York and went to work with a theater group in San Diego and San Francisco.
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Whoopi Goldberg first came to prominence with her starring role in The Color Purple (1985). She received much critical acclaim, and an Oscar nomination for her role and became a major star as a result. Subsequent efforts in the late 1980s were, at best, marginal hits. These movies mostly were off-beat to formulaic comedies like Burglar (1987), The Telephone (1988), and Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986). Goldberg made her mark as a household name and a mainstay in Hollywood for her Oscar-winning role in the box office smash Ghost (1990). Whoopi Goldberg was at her most famous in the early 1990s, making regular appearances on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987).
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![[Chris Rock]](http://retrieverimages.lycos.com/images/w/h/o/whoopi-goldberg/i/002.jpg)
Actress Whoopi Goldberg has signed on to appear in two episodes of the CW comedy Everybody Hates Chris starting October 8, 2006. Whoopi will play Louise, a woman from Queens who moves in next door to Chris’ family, the family loosely based on the upbringing of actor and comedian Chris Rock. Louise is ... the grandmother of the latest object of Chris' affections. While mostly known for a film career that includes roles in films such as Ghost, Sister Act and The Color Purple, Whoopi is no stranger to the small screen including a shot at her own sitcom, Whoopi, and a recurring role for five years on Star Trek: Next Generation. Chris Rock talked about the addition of Whoopi Goldberg to the show. "I saw her in a movie (How Stella Got Her Groove Back) that wasn’t that good but she was great in it," Chris said, when asked why he chose to cast Whoopi.
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