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Fans Are Grieving For Oprah Today

Hearts are breaking all over the world today.

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Fans are grieving for Oprah Winfrey.

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Scroll on to find out more.

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Now, Oprah Winfrey is an American icon and self-made billionaire…

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But it wasn’t always easy for the star.

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Oprah came from humble beginnings…

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According to Forbes she was born to a teen mom in Mississippi and raised in poverty, being brought up in a building without indoor plumbing.

Shortly after being born, her mom and dad split, and she was raised by her grandmother.

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As she got older, she would split time between her parents and lived with each separately during her teen years.

Despite her hardships, where she reportedly suffered from s*xual and physical abuse, she still went on to achieve great things at school.

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She studied hard and eventually won a scholarship to Tennesse State University.

At 19, she got her very first job in TV at the CBS station WTVF in Nashville.

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Then in 1977, after dabbling in reporting, she became co-host of People Are Talking, in Baltimore.

After trying out the talk-show format, she realized she was a natural, and in 1984 she moved to Chicago to host AM Chicago.

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Oprah’s warm and likeable nature made the show a huge success, and a year later it was renamed The Oprah Winfrey Show.

The show quickly became the best talk show in the U.S.

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It went on to earn multiple Emmy Awards.

This catapulted Oprah into the spotlight and began her career on the big screen.

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In 1985 Winfrey appeared in The Color Purple, which only furthered her rise to stardom.

Since then she has appeared in many acclaimed movies and TV series.

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Most recently hitting our screens in 2018 as Mrs. Which in the adaptation of the 1962 sci-fi novel, A Wrinkle in Time.

She has achieved a lot over the years, with one of her biggest accolades being her charitable donations to notable causes.

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And it seems as though her father’s influence in her life is a huge driving force for her success.

Oprah regularly mentions her father’s impact on her life.

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Which makes the recent news of his passing even more heartbreaking.

Oprah announced the death of her father, Vernon Winfrey on social media

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And many fans have shared their condolences to the star.

One Twitter user wrote: “@Oprah my deepest sympathies. I was honored to meet and photograph your father in 2019 as part of the Returning to the Roots of Civil Rights Bus Tour led by Dr. Todd Allen from @messiah_univ.”

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A second added: “I’ve never met and am sure I never will meet Oprah, but I know what it’s like to lose a parent. May your dad rest in peace, Miss Winfrey. I am confident he was quite a guy.”

“@Oprah Winfrey and family, I pray that peace continues to abide in your hearts, minds, and lives forever! I am grateful that he was able to have a living tribute/celebration on Father’s Day. Continue to live, be and do!!!” a third wrote.

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Another commented: “Precious Ms. Oprah Winfrey, I have been there, I understand. I’m so sorry for the loss of your father. Please accept my deepest condolences to you and your family. May God strengthen you as the days go by.”

Oprah’s beloved father, Vernon Winfrey, passed away at the age of eighty-eight years old.

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Vernon died on July 8 in East Nashville.

Sharing a “poignant” tribute to him, Oprah posted a video on July 4 showing friend and gospel singer Wintley Phipps with his hand on Vernon, as they prayed to God.

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She had surprised her father by organizing a Vernon Winfrey appreciation day on that day.

But it was Oprah’s tribute video that touched our hearts…

“Less than a week ago we honored my father in his own backyard. My friend and gospel singer Wintley Phipps saluted him with song. He FELT the love and reveled in it until he could no longer speak.

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“Yesterday with family surrounding his bedside, I had the sacred honor of witnessing the man responsible for my life, take his last breath. We could feel Peace enter the room at his passing,” Oprah wrote on Instagram.

Oprah said the day was special because she wanted to “celebrate him while he’s able to receive the joy.”

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“My father is ill, so we wanted to be able to have all of his friends come and celebrate him while he’s able to receive the joy. So that’s what we’re doing,” she said.

While Oprah shared that she had a strained relationship with her mother, the same couldn’t be said about her father…

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She said that her father took her in after she experienced “s*xual abuse” and that “changed the course” of her life.

TMZ reports that Vernon’s long-time employees were the first to confirm his death to a television station in Nashville…

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Vernon died after battling cancer.

Rest in peace, Vernon Winfrey.