TALK show icon Oprah Winfrey had a difficult and turbulent childhood.
Her mother died in 2018 and her father reportedly passed away on July 8, 2022, at the age of 88.
Who are Oprah's parents?
Oprah was born in 1954 to Vernita Lee and Vernon Winfrey, who were together for a short time but never married.
Who was Vernon Winfrey?
Vernon Winfrey was a former Metro councilman who operated a barbershop in East Nashville, Tennessee for more than 50 years.
Vernon, who was born on January 31, 1933, was a member of the National Barber Museum and Hall of Fame.
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It was reported that he passed away at the age of 89 on the night of July 8, 2022, according to Metro Councilmember Sharon Hurt.
Vernon had been battling cancer, according to Oprah Daily,
A week before his death, Oprah surprised Vernon with an Appreciation Day barbeque on July 4, 2022.
She shared an Instagram post with the caption that reads, "Giving my father his “flowers” while he’s still well enough to smell them."
"Happy 4th of July as you gather with your family and friends. Remember to celebrate each other," she continued.
Who was Vernita Lee?
Vernita Lee worked as a housekeeper throughout her life.
She was just 18 when she met Vernon Winfrey. The two spent a single night together when they conceived their successful daughter.
After Oprah was born in Mississippi, Vernita left for Milwaukee and left Oprah to be raised by her grandmother for six years.
Vernita gave birth to four children but she lost her son Jeffrey Lee in 1989 and daughter Patricia Lee Lloyd in 2003.
Mom Vernita died on November 22, 2018, in Milwaukee, at the age of 83.
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"Thank you all for your kind words and condolences regarding my mother Vernita Lee’s passing," Oprah wrote on Instagram at the time.
"It gives our family great comfort knowing she lived a good life and is now at Peace."
Where did Oprah grow up?
Oprah was initially raised on the Mississippi pig farm of her maternal grandmother, according to the New York Post.
As a young child, she was sent to live with her mother, her half-sister, and her half-brother in Milwaukee.
Oprah has said that she was sexually abused starting when she was nine years old.
She admitted to being a promiscuous and wild girl and became pregnant when she was 14, according to the Post.
Oprah was sent to live with her father in Tennessee when she was pregnant.
“I was so ashamed, I hid the pregnancy until my swollen ankles and belly gave me away. The baby died in the hospital weeks later,” Oprah would write in her magazine years later.
She added, "I went back to school and told no one. My fear was that if I were found out, I would be expelled."
"Even when I found the courage to publicly reveal the [sexual] abuse, I still carried the shame and kept the pregnancy a secret."
Who are Oprah's siblings?
Oprah has one half-brother and two half-sisters. All the half-siblings share the same mother.
Her half-brother Jeffrey Lee died in 1989 after complications with AIDS.
Patricia Lee Lloyd, her half-sister, passed away in 2003 at the age of 43.
She was survived by her husband Kenny Lloyd, Sr, and her two daughters.
In 2011, Oprah discovered that Vernita had given up a child for adoption in 1963.
The talk show host invited her half-sister, Patricia Amanda Faye Lee, to The Oprah Winfrey Show.
Vernita told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that she never told her daughter about the adoption because she felt ashamed.
She said, "I thought it was a terrible thing for me to do."
Oprah said she came to terms with her mother’s decision, saying, "To my mother, I say, ‘You can let this shame go.'"
