Oprah Winfrey

One critic, Myrna Blyth, editor-in-chief of Ladies' Home Journal magazine from 1981 to 2002, charges in her book Spin Sisters: How the Women of the Media Sell Unhappiness— and Liberalism—to the Women of America, that the "elite women of media" allegedly sell unhappiness to women and tout false advice when in contrary women's life has been getting better lately than ever.[2] (http://www.700club.com/cbnnews/news/040423a.asp). Van Dyke received a Grammy Award for his performance on the soundtrack to Mary Poppins. Oprah Winfrey has been criticized by conservatives for allegedly championing liberal causes. Dick's son Barry Van Dyke and grandson Carry Van Dyke are also actors: both Barry and Carry acted with Dick on Diagnosis: Murder. She also plans to host 140 episodes per season, until her final season, when it will return to its current number, 130.[1] (http://thecelebritycafe.com/features/1724.html). Dick Van Dyke is the brother of actor Jerry Van Dyke. Winfrey recently made a deal to extend her show until the 2010-2011 season, by which time it will have been on the air twenty-five years. He created many of the 3D rendered effects shown in Diagnosis: Murder himself, and continues to work with LightWave 3D.

Winfrey is based in Chicago, Illinois but has a home in Montecito, California; she is reported to have recently been buying property on Maui. One of Van Dyke's modern passions is producing 3D computer graphics. She is the president of Harpo Productions (Oprah spelled backwards), which, among other things, produced the screen adaptation of the Toni Morrison novel Beloved. Winfrey has also ventured into acting, most notably in the screen adaptation of the Alice Walker novel The Color Purple (for which she received an Oscar nomination) and in her own production Beloved. Winfrey is also a published author, and was the recipient of the first Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 2002 Emmy Awards. His career seemed essentially over by 1990 when Van Dyke, whose usual role had been the amiable hero, took a villainous turn in Dick Tracy. He received positive reviews that led him to star in a series of TV movies on CBS that became the foundation for his popular television drama, Diagnosis: Murder, which ran from 1993 to 2001. She publishes her own magazines, O: The Oprah Magazine (http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/omag_landing.jhtml) and O at Home, and cofounded the women's cable television network Oxygen. It was at this time that Van Dyke admitted he had recently overcome a real-life drinking problem. Winfrey has started The Angel Network (http://www.oprah.com/uyl/oan_landing.jhtml), an organization that collects millions of dollars a year for charities. The final scene in particular is regarded by many as chilling and unforgettable.

After the trial, Oprah received a postcard from Rosie O'Donnell reading, "Congratulations, you beat the meat!". Regarded by many as the most realistic television film ever made dealing with alcoholism, it is sometimes shown at treatment centers. After a trial spanning over two months in a court in the thick of Texas cattle country, the jury found on February 26 that Oprah was not guilty, did not act with malice, and was not liable for damages. Van Dyke received wide acclaim and an Emmy nomination. During a show about Mad Cow disease with Howard Lyman aired on April 16, 1996, Winfrey exclaimed, "It has just stopped me cold from eating another burger!" Texas cattlemen sued Oprah and Lyman in early 1998 for "false defamation of perishable food" and "business disparagement", claiming that Winfrey's remarks subsequently sent cattle prices tumbling, costing beef producers some $12 million. In 1974, however Van Dyke surprised everyone by appearing in his first dramatic role, as an alcoholic businessman in The Morning After. Whenever Winfrey introduced a new book as her book-club selection, the book almost instantly became a best-seller, a powerful demonstration of Winfrey's influence. After the mid-1960s, Van Dyke was in a number of relatively unsuccessful movies (though one, a children's film called Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, is still well-known, especially with the recent stage musical).

In the late 1990s, Winfrey introduced her book club on television. He said Laurel only laughed and said "I've noticed that". Her own weight fluctuations have caused her to be considered a weight-loss guru. He once met Laurel and told him he had copied a great deal from him. Winfrey has often discussed openly various aspects of her life, including those more unpleasant ones, with the media, including a sexually abusive childhood and a problem with drugs as an adult. Dick Van Dyke was a great admirer of Stan Laurel and even gave the eulogy at his funeral. Winfrey began to do a lot of charity work, and her show featured people suffering from poverty or the victims of unfortunate accidents. Van Dyke's attempt at a Cockney accent was widely ridiculed (especially in the UK), but the film also showed his versatility as a singer and dancer.

By the mid 1990s, however, the format became more serious, addressing issues that Winfrey thought were of direct importance and of crucial consequence to women. He slowly transitioned out of television into movie acting in Bye Bye, Birdie (1963), What a Way to Go! (1964) and, most notably, Walt Disney's Mary Poppins (1964), in which he played Bert, a Cockney chimney sweep, and also played, in heavy disguise, the elderly owner of the bank. Originally, the show followed traditional talk show formats. He then starred in his own sitcom, The Dick Van Dyke Show, which ran for five seasons – in the lead role of Rob Petrie, Van Dyke won three Emmy Awards. An African American woman born to humble beginnings, she started as a Baltimore news anchor. In 1986, her local Chicago daytime talk show, called The Oprah Winfrey Show (and later abbreviated to Oprah), debuted nationally. Van Dyke's first major role was on stage in Bye Bye Birdie in 1960, for which he won a Tony Award. Eventually, Oprah became the accepted name. He is most famous for his starring roles on The Dick Van Dyke Show (with Mary Tyler Moore) in the 1960s and Diagnosis: Murder in the 1990s.

Her birth certificate has Orpah, after the Moabite woman in the Book of Ruth, but family and neighbors transposed the R and the P when pronouncing and writing her name. December 13, 1925 in West Plains, Missouri), usually credited as Dick Van Dyke, is a noted American television and movie actor. Oprah Gail Winfrey (born 29 January 1954 in Kosciusko, Mississippi) is one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the United States. Richard Wayne Van Dyke (b.