June 5, 1987
Less than a year after kicking off The Oprah Winfrey Show, she sat down with former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn.
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Image Credit: Photo Credit: Harpo, Inc./George Burns -
October 18, 1996
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. Toni Morrison's Song of Solomon was one of Winfrey's first book club selections. That same year, which she kicked it off, she also had the group read The Deep End of the Ocean by Jacquelyn Mitchard and The Book of Ruth by Jane Hamilton.
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February 21, 1997
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. Winfrey danced with Tina Turner for her "Wildest Dreams" episode. She has said, "I was so nervous, especially because when we'd practiced our dance moves backstage, Tina looked at me and said, 'You really don't have any rhythm, do you?' During the performance, I could hardly concentrate on what was actually happening. In the last few moments of the song, I remember saying this to myself: "Okay, girl, this is about to be over—so you'd better enjoy it."
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September 25, 1997
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. Chris Rock has been on Oprah's show 26 times – the most of any male guests. (Celine Dion wins for most visits overall with 26.)
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1997
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. Oprah’s Angel Network/Small Change Campaign, which she launched in 1997, has raised more than $80 million to improve acess to education (it built 55 schools in 12 countries), protecting basic rights and more.
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September 25, 1998
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. Oprah selected Wally Lamb's I Know This Much Is True for her book club. It has gone on to become on of her catchphrases. "It's not just a book, it's a life experience," Oprah has said.
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1999
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. Launched on September 17, 1996, Oprah has chosen 65 selections for her book club.
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April 5, 2000
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. "I have to really keep myself from going into the ugly cry," Oprah has said of interviewing Ross. "Because of how much this legend, this woman means to me and my life. … I'm going to try to keep it together."
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April 7, 2000
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. Oprah has hailed Sidney Poitier as her personal hero ever since she watched him win an Oscar on her black and white TV when she was 10 years old. She told him during their first conversation, ""In my spirit I knew that because you had won the Oscar, I too could do something special—and I didn't even know what it was."
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September 11, 2000
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. Former Vice President Al Gore appeared on the 15th season premeire while running against then-Texas Governor George W. Bush. It was her first political interview: "I've stayed away from politicians really for one main reason: I never felt I could have a real honest conversation with them. To me, there seems to be this wall that exists between the people and the authentic part of the candidate. I thought, 'Well, okay, 15 years. I need to try to penetrate that wall.'"
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Sept. 19, 2000
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc./Getty Images One week after Winfrey interivewed Gore, she interviewed the then-Republican Presidential candidate George W. Bush. "What we hope is that at the end of these two shows, you'll be able to answer for yourself some of the bigger questions, like 'Who do you trust?'" she said.
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November 27, 2000
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. "It is one of the greatest honors of my career to welcome Nelson Mandela," Oprah said before interviewing the first black president of postapartheid South Africa on her show.
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October 19, 2001
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. "I first met my friend Mattie Stepanek nearly four years ago, when he thought he was a goner—he had a rare form of muscular dystrophy that had already claimed the lives of his three siblings and was threatening his," Winfrey has said. "When I asked Mattie what he wanted for Christmas that year, he said, 'If it's not too much trouble, pray for me.' I and thousands of others did—and 30 days later, Mattie's healing could be explained only as a medical miracle.
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April 4, 2002
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. "Since the moment I opened I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings , I've felt deeply connected to Maya Angelou," Oprah said of her mentor in 2002. "And it still is, only now I sit at Maya's feet, beside her fireplace, hardly believing that, years after reading Caged Bird, she is my mentor and close friend."
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Sept. 20, 2002
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. In discussing poverty, Bono said on the show: "There's the country of America, which you have to defend, but there's also the idea of America. America is more than just a country, it's an idea. An idea that's supposed to be contagious."
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December 22, 2003
Image Credit: Photo Credit: Benny Gool/Harpo Inc. Winfrey and her staff traveled to South Africa for the ChristmasKindness episode, in which they brought holiday joy to schoolchildren and orphans affected by the AIDS epidemic.
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January 29, 2004
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc./Getty Images Oprah's 50th birthday party episode featured guest appearances by (from left) Stevie Wonder, John Travolta, best friend Gayle King and Tina Turner – among others.
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June 22, 2004
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. "My conversation with Bill Clinton really began three days before I met him at his house in Chappaqua, New York, when the pages of his (then still unbound) autobiography, My Life (Knopf), were delivered to me. By the time I finished the last sentence, I felt as if I had walked with Clinton through every step of his life and through part of American history," Oprah has said.
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November 23, 2005
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. Oprah’s Angel Network helped build homes for victims of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans.
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January 26, 2006
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. Oprah first endorsed James Frey's A Million Little Pieces in her book club, but then eviscerated him on TV after it came to light that parts of the memoir were fabricated. She had him on twice in 2011 to explain the situation.
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May 24, 2006
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. Winfrey tralved with Night author and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel to Auschwitz to tell the story of his experience there. "It is just a miracle—it feels like a miracle—that you did survive," she told him. Said Wiesel, "Believe me, Oprah, I can't understand it. I was the wrong person for it. I was always timid, frightened, bashful…I had never taken any initiative to try to live. I never pushed myself, never volunteered. I was the wrong person."
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November 2, 2006
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. Dr. Oz — one of Oprah's trusted experts — explained the difference between fat and carbs.
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May 7, 2010
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. Oprah taped an episode called "Harpo Friends" at New York City's Radio City Music Call. From left: Nate Berkus, Dr. Oz, Oprah, Dr. Phil McGraw and Suze Orman.
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November 10, 2010
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. Oprah interviewed all her former competition: (from left) Geraldo Rivera, Ricki Lake, Phil Donahue, Sally Jesse Raphael, Montel Williams. "I have said this many times before," Oprah has said. "If it weren't for Phil Donahue, there would never have been an Oprah Show."
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January 18, 2011
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc./Getty Images For her 25th season premiere, Oprah announced she was taking her entire audience of superfans to Australia for a week.? Here, she tapes an episode from the Sydney Harbor.
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January 24, 2011
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. Oprah introduced her half sister Patricia on an episode that went on to become one of her highest-rated ever. "I think I've seen just about everything and heard every story," she said then. "I thought nothing could surprise me anymore. But let me tell you, I was wrong."
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May 2, 2011
Image Credit: Photo Credit: George Burns/Harpo Productions Inc. It was the first time Oprah welcomed a sitting president, and her first joint interivew of the Barack and Michelle Obama since 2008. "I am so honored that in these remaining days of The Oprah Show, they chose to be here," she said. The President, who lives in Chicago when not in the White House, replied, "We're thrilled to be here. It's always nice to find an excuse to come home."
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Jan. 17, 2013
Image Credit: Photo Credit: OWN Lance Armstrong finally came clean about using banned substances in a highly anticipated interview with Winfrey that aired on OWN. The retired cyclist told her that he used banned substances — EPO, testosterone and human growth hormone — as well as blood doping or blood transfusion to enhance his performance. The admission came after years of denials.
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Aug. 18, 2013
Image Credit: Photo Credit: OWN During an interview that aired on OWN, Lindsay Lohan admitted to lying about how many times she used cocaine. While the actress has previously stated that she used the drug three or four times, she told Winfrey that the actual number is more like 10-15 times. "I was terrified of being judged," she said, adding that she snorted — but never injected — the drug. Lohan also admitted, "I'm an addict," yet insisted that her addiction is only to alcohol.
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Dec. 11, 2013
Image Credit: Photo Credit: Joe Pugliese Winfrey graced the cover of The Hollywood Reporter's Women in Entertainment Power 100 issue. She also was honored with the Sherry Lansing Leadership Award at the Power 100 breakfast, where she brought the star-packed room to tears.