Media queen Oprah Winfrey lives life to the fullest

If there were one woman who could easily take over the world, it would be Oprah Winfrey.

Some might even argue that she is quite close to that feat already. Gorgeous at age 50, the talk show host, educator, philanthropist, actress, media mogul and producer - known to millions of fans by her unique first name - has enough under her fashionable belt to out-smart, out-savvy and out-talk just about anyone in the business.

From her very modest childhood in rural Mississippi, Winfrey broke through the grime and the grit to become a broadcasting pioneer.

John Heidelberg, owner of WVOL radio in Nashville and credited as "the man who discovered Oprah," was just a disc jockey, and she was just a teenager, when he decided to put her on staff.

"I was impressed with her and recognized that she had an abundance of talent for her young age," Heidelberg said.

When she was only 19, Winfrey became the youngest person and the first African-American woman to anchor the news at Nashville's WTVF-TV. She later moved to Baltimore's WJZ-TV where she co-anchored the Six o'clock News. Soon she was co-hosting local talk shows, and in 1984 she began hosting a morning program in Chicago that eventually became the highest-rated, award-winning talk show, The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Her show boasts an estimated 23 million viewers a week and reaches viewers in 107 countries.

What makes Winfrey's show stand out among the other programs competing in that time slot? "She is brutally honest," Heidelberg said. "Oprah is pure and does not hide anything on her show. She is extremely sincere and that is what attracts so many people to her. It's a downright wholesome television show."

Winfrey's talents and energy have led to acclaim in other fields as well.

She was nominated for an Academy Award for her acting debut in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple in 1985, and in 1998 she played Sethe in Toni Morrison's Beloved.

She has appeared in various made-for-television movies including There Are No Children Here and Before Women Had Wings.

Along with acting and hosting, Winfrey has filled the role of producer and creator for Harpo Films and Harpo Productions, Inc.; magazine founder and editorial director for O, The Oprah Magazine; and teacher at Northwestern University's Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Through her charity, The Oprah Winfrey Foundation, she has helped millions of people, including low-income families and underprivileged students.

In December 2002 Winfrey traveled to South Africa where she visited orphanages and rural schools and provided children with food, clothing, shoes and other basic needs that were lacking in their villages.

Her newest project, The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls South Africa, is planned to open in 2006.

Heidelberg said Winfrey's strength and charisma are influential not just for women, or African Americans, but for people of all backgrounds.

"I absolutely saw it coming," Heidelberg said of Winfrey's success. "I knew that she had the potential to just explode."