Whoopi Goldberg — biography, films, roles and trivia

Biography

Whoopi Goldberg (born Caryn Elaine Johnson; November 13, 1955) is an American comedian, actress, singer-songwriter, political activist, and talk show host. Goldberg made her film debut in The Color Purple (1985) playing Celie, a mistreated black woman in the Deep South. She received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress and won her first Golden Globe Award for her role in the film. In 1990, she starred as Oda Mae Brown, a psychic helping a slain man (Patrick Swayze) find his killer in the blockbuster film Ghost. This performance won her a second Golden Globe and an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Notable later films include Sister Act and Sister Act 2, The Lion King, Made in America, How Stella Got Her Groove Back, Girl, Interrupted and Rat Race.

She is also acclaimed for her roles as the bartender Guinan in Star Trek: The Next Generation and as Terry Dolittle in Jumpin' Jack Flash. Her latest role is the voice of Stretch in Toy Story 3. Goldberg has been nominated for 13 Emmy Awards for her work in television. She was co-producer of the popular game show Hollywood Squares from 1998 to 2004. She has been the moderator of the daytime talk show The View since 2007. Goldberg has a Grammy, two Emmys, two Golden Globes, a Tony, and an Oscar. In addition, Goldberg has a British Academy Film Award, four People's Choice Awards and has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award.

Filmography

1

2026 Kevin Cupcake, voice

Interesting facts

10

1
Whoopi Goldberg does not hide her radical social views, openly criticizes the conservative actions of the US administration and the Republican Party, advocating for equality of cultures and religions and the legalization of same-sex marriage. In 1998 she published a book titled "The Book," in which, in her characteristic eccentric manner, she mocks the hypocrisy of modern society hiding behind a mask of political correctness.
2
She has been credited with several civil marriages and romances, mainly with Hollywood actors and other film figures: Frank Langella, Ted Danson, Timothy Dalton.
3
One of her first jobs was the lead role in the play "Mother Courage." After one evening Whoopi had to simultaneously substitute for one of the actors who had fallen ill while performing the lead role, she came up with the idea of a one-woman show in which she herself would play 6 roles — from a beggar woman to a millionaire.
4
Whoopi's maternal great-grandmother lived in Odessa.
5
She began her theater career already under the pseudonym Whoopi Goldberg. In San Diego she took part in founding the city's Repertory Theatre, then moved to the Black Street Theatre (San Francisco). She also performed with several amateur troupes.
6
In 1985, upon hearing about preparations for a film adaptation of Alice Walker's epic novel The Color Purple (which was called the African-American counterpart of Gone with the Wind), Whoopi sent the writer a letter asking to be invited to act in this film. Alice Walker, already familiar with Whoopi's theater work, approached director Steven Spielberg with this suggestion, and the actress received the lead role of Celie Johnson, a black American woman who evolves spiritually throughout the narrative from a downtrodden housewife into an independently thinking, determined woman. Whoopi Goldberg's striking film debut was marked by a Golden Globe Award and an Oscar nomination.
7
Her real name is Caryn Elaine Johnson.
8
In the late 1960s, Caryn joined the hippie movement and left home to live in a commune, where she became addicted to marijuana and later to harder drugs. For a long time she did not work anywhere and lived on unemployment benefits.
9
Whoopi Goldberg graduated from a performing arts school in New York. She performed on stage from the age of eight. Later she took part in small roles in Broadway musicals.
10
Whoopi Goldberg has a daughter from her first marriage to Alvin Martin - Alexandria Martin (born 1973).