Caryn Elaine Johnson dropped out of high school and became addicted to heroin. She ended up marrying her drug counselor. She cleaned up and later divorced him. In 1974, she moved to California and helped found the San Diego Repertory Company, where she used the name, Whoopi Cushion. Before making it as an actress, she worked as a bank teller, a bricklayer and in a mortuary.
"Nobody ever encouraged me in this business. I encouraged myself. I was a very dull and shy child. I was the last person you would expect to be a success in this business. But I always felt if I kept going something would happen. But I even surprised myself at times. When I was doing ensemble theater and comedy work, I felt I had some talents. But when I started doing my shows in Berkeley and found that I could be funny on my own, I was shocked."
Whoopi Goldberg won the part of Celie in "The Color Purple" (1985) in her audition for Steven Spielberg, by doing a comedy act she had developed about a stoned E.T. getting arrested in Oakland, California for possession. The audition was attended by many of Spielberg's famous friends, including producer Quincy Jones and Michael Jackson.
With Goldberg being Oscar nominated for Best Actress, and Margaret Avery and Oprah Winfrey for Best Supporting Actress, this is the first film to feature three performances by black actors of any gender which were nominated for Academy Awards. It is also the first film to feature multiple Oscar nominated performances by black women, and the first film to have two black actors of any gender be nominated in the same category (in this case, Best Supporting Actress). However, none of them won Oscars for their performances in this film, though Goldberg would eventually win Best Supporting Actress for "Ghost "(1990). (IMDb)
Happy Birthday, Whoopi Goldberg!
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