Celeb Causes - Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi, whose real name is Caryn Johnson, was born and raised in New York City. She did some acting before she was 10 but eventually decided to try her luck in San Francisco. Whoopi didn't become a waitress but she did become a bricklayer and even did the hair and makeup for dead peeps in a funeral parlor. Eventually she came up with the idea of a one-woman show where she successfully changed characters quickly. The Spook Show was a hit and landed her a role in The Color Purple as an oppressed farmer's wife. She received an Oscar nomination for the role.
Other movies Whoopi has been in are Ghost (which won her the Oscar and the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress,) Sister Act, Corrina, Corrina, The Lion King (as a voice - not a lion) and several more. One of her most recent movies was Girl, Interrupted. Whoopi recently completed roles in More Dogs than Bones and Monkeybone.
Movies aren't the only thing Whoopi's been successful at. She appeared for five seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation where she played an extraterrestrial who wore a funky hat and helped solve everyone's problems. She also hosted her own late night talk show The Whoopi Goldberg Show. Right now Whoopi is the executive producer of the game Hollywood Squares and makes the center square her home.
With all the acting Whoopi's done, it's easy to overlook her other accomplishments. After all, she has won over 35 awards in her career. Another one to add to the collection is the Angel Award which she received in August of 2001. The award was presented by Project Angel Food, a Los Angeles non-profit organization that delivers food and nutritional counseling for free to men, women and children living with AIDS or HIV. Whoopi's been supporting the organization for a long time and is co-chair of the Project Angel Food Tenth Anniversary Fund. This fund will help out the organization when money isn't available from the government or other resources.
For a single mom on welfare, becoming rich and famous was just a dream but Whoopi made it come true. She hasn't let her fame or fortune (and lots of it) go to her head. For more information about Whoopi's inspiration success story check out her great Web site. Turn up the volume and start surfing.
She is anything but fake. She dazzles the people who know her and the ones that don't.
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