Caryn Elaine Johnson was born in
Manhattan, New York City,[6] on November 13, 1955,[1][2][3] the daughter of Emma Johnson (
née Harris; 1931–2010),[7] a nurse and teacher,[8] and Robert James Johnson Jr. (1930–1993), a
Baptist[9] clergyman. She was raised in a public housing project, the
Chelsea-Elliot Houses, in New York City.[10]
She has stated that her stage forename ("Whoopi") was taken from a
whoopee cushion: "When you're performing on stage, you never really have time to go into the bathroom and close the door. So if you get a little
gassy, you've got to let it go. So people used to say to me, 'You're like a whoopee cushion.' And that's where the name came from."[16]
About her stage surname, she claimed in 2011, "My mother did not name me Whoopi, but Goldberg is my name—it's part of my family, part of my heritage, just like being black," and "I just know I am Jewish. I practice nothing. I don't go to temple, but I do remember the holidays."[17] She has stated that "people would say 'Come on, are you Jewish?' And I always say 'Would you ask me that if I was white? I bet not.'"[17] One account suggests that her mother, Emma Johnson, thought the family's original surname was "not Jewish enough" for her daughter to become a star.[17] Researcher
Henry Louis Gates Jr. found that all of Goldberg's traceable ancestors were black, that she had no known German or Jewish ancestry, and that none of her ancestors were named Goldberg.[13] Results of a
DNA test, revealed in the 2006
PBS documentary African American Lives, traced part of her ancestry to the
Papel and Bayote people of modern-day
Guinea-Bissau of West Africa.[18] The show identified her great-great-grandparents as William and Elsie Washington, who had acquired property in northern Florida in 1873, and mentions they were among a very small number of black people who became landowners through homesteading in the years following the Civil War. The show also mentions that her grandparents were living in Harlem, and that her grandfather was working as a Pullman porter.[19]
According to an anecdote told by
Nichelle Nichols in Trekkies (1997), a young Goldberg was watching Star Trek, and on seeing Nichols's character
Uhura, exclaimed, "Momma! There's a black lady on television and she ain't no maid!"[20] This spawned Goldberg's lifelong Star Trek fandom. Goldberg lobbied for and was eventually cast in a recurring guest starring role as
Guinan on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
In the 1970s, Goldberg moved to
San Diego, California, where she became a waitress, then to
Berkeley,[21] where she worked odd jobs, including as a bank teller, a mortuary cosmetologist, and a bricklayer.[22] She joined the avant-garde theater troupe the Blake Street Hawkeyes[22] and gave comedy and acting classes;
Courtney Love was one of her acting students.[23] Goldberg was also in a number of theater productions.[24] In 1978, she witnessed a
midair collision of two planes in San Diego, causing her to develop a fear of flying and
post-traumatic stress disorder.[25][26]
In 1983[28] and 1984, she "first came to national prominence with her one-woman show"[29] in which she portrayed
Moms Mabley, Moms, first performed in Berkeley, California, and then at the
Victoria Theatre in San Francisco; the
Oakland Museum of California preserves a poster advertising the show.[30]
She created The Spook Show, a one-woman show composed of different character monologues in 1983. Director
Mike Nichols "discovered" her when he saw her perform.[31] In an interview, he recalled that he "burst into tears", and that he and Goldberg "fell into each other's arms" when they first met backstage.[32] Goldberg considered Nichols her mentor.[33] Nichols helped her transfer the show to
Broadway, where it was retitled Whoopi Goldberg. The show ran from October 24, 1984, to March 10, 1985, and was taped and broadcast by
HBO as Whoopi Goldberg: Direct from Broadway.[34]
Goldberg's Broadway performance caught the eye of director
Steven Spielberg while she performed in
The Belly Room at
The Comedy Store.[35] Spielberg gave her the lead role in his film The Color Purple, based on the novel by
Alice Walker. It was released in late 1985, and was a critical and commercial success. Film critic
Roger Ebert described Goldberg's performance as "one of the most amazing debut performances in movie history".[36] It was nominated for 11
Academy Awards, including a nomination for Goldberg as
Best Actress.[37]
Between 1985 and 1988, Goldberg was the busiest female star, making seven films.[38] She starred in
Penny Marshall's directorial debut Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986) and began a relationship with
David Claessen, a director of photography on the set; they married later that year. The film was a modest success, and during the next two years, three additional motion pictures featured Goldberg: Burglar (1987), Fatal Beauty (1987), and The Telephone (1988). Though they were not as successful, Goldberg garnered awards from the
NAACP Image Awards. Goldberg and Claessen divorced after the poor box office performance of The Telephone, in which she was contracted to perform. She tried unsuccessfully to sue the film's producers. Clara's Heart (1988) did poorly at the box office, though her own performance was critically acclaimed. As the 1980s concluded, she hosted numerous HBO specials of Comic Relief with fellow comedians
Robin Williams and
Billy Crystal.[39]
In 1994, Goldberg became the first black woman to host the Academy Awards ceremony starting with the
66th Oscar telecast.[45] She hosted it again in
1996,
1999, and
2002, and has been regarded as one of the show's best hosts.[46][47]
Also in 1996, Goldberg replaced
Nathan Lane as Pseudolus in the Broadway revival of
Stephen Sondheim's musical comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum.[49] Greg Evans of Variety regarded her "thoroughly modern style" as "a welcome invitation to a new audience that could find this 1962 musical as dated as ancient Rome".[50]The Washington Post's Chip Crews deemed Goldberg "a pip and a pro", and that she "ultimately [...] steers the show past its rough spots".[51]
Goldberg hosted the documentary short The Making of
A Charlie Brown Christmas (2001). In 2003, she returned to television in Whoopi, which was canceled after one season. On her 46th birthday, she was honored with a star on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame. She also appeared alongside
Samuel L. Jackson and
Angela Bassett in the HBO documentary Unchained Memories (2003), narrating slave narratives. During the next two years, she became a spokeswoman for
Slim Fast and produced two television series: Lifetime's original drama Strong Medicine, which ran six seasons; and Whoopi's Littleburg, a children's television series on
Nickelodeon.
Goldberg was involved in controversy at a fundraiser for
John Kerry at
Radio City Music Hall in New York in July 2004 when she made a sexual joke about President
George W. Bush by waving a bottle of wine, pointed toward her pubic area, and said, "We should keep Bush where he belongs, and not in the White House." As result,
Slim-Fast dropped her from their ad campaign.[55] Later that year, she revived her one-woman show at the
Lyceum Theatre on Broadway in honor of its 20th anniversary;
Charles Isherwood of The New York Times called the opening night performance an "intermittently funny but sluggish evening of comic portraiture".[31] Goldberg made guest appearances on Everybody Hates Chris as elderly character Louise Clarkson.[56]
From August 2006 to March 2008, Goldberg hosted Wake Up with Whoopi, a nationally syndicated morning radio talk and entertainment program.[56] In October 2007, Goldberg announced on the air that she was going to retire from acting because she was no longer sent scripts, saying, "You know, there's no room for the very talented Whoopi. There's no room right now in the marketplace of cinema".[57] On December 13, 2008, she guest starred on The Naked Brothers Band, a
Nickelodeonrock-mockumentary television series. Before the episode premiered, on February 18, 2008,
the band performed on The View and the band members were interviewed by Goldberg and
Sherri Shepherd.[58] That same year, Goldberg hosted
62nd Tony Awards.[59]
Goldberg had a recurring role on the television series Glee during its
third and
fourth seasons as
Carmen Tibideaux, a renowned Broadway performer and opera singer and the dean at a fictional performing arts college
NYADA (New York Academy of the Dramatic Arts).[62] In 2011, she had a cameo in The Muppets.[63] In 2012, Goldberg guest starred as Jane Marsh, Sue Heck's guidance counselor on The Middle. She voiced the Magic Mirror on
Disney XD's The 7D. In 2014, she also portrayed a character in the superhero film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (2014).[64] She also appeared as herself in
Chris Rock's Top Five and starred in the romantic comedy film Big Stone Gap.[65]
On September 4, 2007, Goldberg became the new moderator and co-host of The View, replacing
Rosie O'Donnell.[83] Goldberg's debut as moderator drew 3.4 million viewers, 1 million fewer than O'Donnell's debut ratings. However, after 2 weeks, The View was averaging 3.5 million total viewers under Goldberg, a 7-percent increase from 3.3 million under O'Donnell the previous season.[84]
Goldberg has made controversial comments on the program on several occasions.[85] One of her first appearances involved defending
Michael Vick's participation in
dogfighting as a result of "cultural upbringing".[86][87] In 2009, she opined that
Roman Polanski's rape conviction of a thirteen-year-old in 1977[88][89] was not "rape-rape".[90][91] She later clarified that she had intended to distinguish between
statutory rape and
forcible rape.[92] The following year, in response to alleged comments by
Mel Gibson considered racist, she said: "I don't like what he did here, but I know Mel and I know he's not a racist".[93]
In 2015, Goldberg was initially a defender of
Bill Cosby from the
rape allegations made against him, questioning why Cosby had never been arrested or tried for them.[94][90] She later changed her stance, stating that "all of the information that's out there kinda points to 'guilt'."[95] After learning that the
statute of limitations on these allegations had expired and thus Cosby could not be tried, she also stated her support for removing the statute of limitations for rape.[96]
On January 31, 2022, Goldberg drew widespread criticism for stating on the show that
the Holocaust was not based on
race but "about man's inhumanity to man",[97] telling her co-hosts: "This is white people doing it to white people, so y'all going to fight amongst yourselves."[98] She apologized on Twitter later that day.[99] She maintained that the
Nazis' issue was with
ethnicity and not
race on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert that same day, which drew further criticism.[100] Goldberg issued another apology on air the following day.[101] She was subsequently suspended from The View for two weeks over the comments.[102]
Media appearances
Goldberg performed the role of
Califia, the Queen of the
Island of California, for a theater presentation called Golden Dreams at
Disney California Adventure Park, the second gate at the Disneyland Resort, in 2000. The show, which explains the history of the
Golden State (California), opened on February 8, 2001, with the rest of the park. Golden Dreams closed in September 2008 to make way for the
upcoming Little Mermaid ride planned for DCA. In 2001, Goldberg co-hosted the 50th Anniversary of I Love Lucy.[103]
In July 2006, Goldberg became the main host of the
Universal Studios Hollywood Studio Tour, in which she appears multiple times in video clips shown to the guests on monitors placed on the trams.[104]
She made a guest appearance on the situation comedy 30 Rock during the series' fourth season, in which she played herself, counseling
Tracy Jordan on winning the "
EGOT", the coveted combination of Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards.[105] On July 14, 2008, Goldberg announced on The View that from July 29 to September 7, she would perform in the Broadway musical Xanadu.[106] On November 13, 2008, Goldberg's birthday, she announced live on The View that she would be producing, along with
Stage Entertainment, the premiere of Sister Act: The Musical at the
London Palladium.[107][108]
She gave a short message at the beginning of the
Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2008 wishing all the participants good luck, and stressing the importance of
UNICEF, the official charity of the Junior Eurovision Song Contest.[109] Since its launch in 2008, Goldberg has been a contributor for
wowOwow.com, a new website for women to talk culture, politics, and gossip.[110]
Goldberg made her
West End debut as the Mother Superior in a
musical version of Sister Act for a limited engagement set for August 10–31, 2010,[113] but prematurely left the cast on August 27 to be with her family; her mother had had a severe stroke.[114] However, she later returned to the cast for five performances.[115] The show closed on October 30, 2010.[116]
Entrepreneurship
Goldberg co-founded Whoopi & Maya, a company that made
medical cannabis products for women seeking relief from
menstrual cramps.[117] Goldberg says she was inspired to go into business by "a lifetime of difficult periods and the fact that cannabis was literally the only thing that gave me relief".[118] The company was launched in April 2016 but announced in February 2020 that it was ceasing operations.[118][119] In 2021, Goldberg announced the launch of a new line of cannabis products, "Emma & Clyde", named for her late mother and brother.[120][121]
On January 24, 2021, Goldberg appeared with
Tom Everett Scott as guests on the AmAIRican Grabbuddies marathon fundraising episode of The George Lucas Talk Show, where she spoke of her time working on Snow Buddies and raised money for the
ASPCA.
Personal life
Goldberg has been married three times. She was married to drug counselor Alvin Martin from 1973 to 1979;[135][136] to cinematographer
David Claessen from 1986 to 1988;[136][137] and to union organizer Lyle Trachtenberg from 1994 to 1995.[136] She has had live-in relationships with actor
Frank Langella[138] and playwright David Schein.[139] Her other ex-boyfriends include businessman Michael Visbal,[140] orthodontist Jeffrey Cohen,[141] camera operator Edward Gold,[142] and actors
Timothy Dalton[143] and
Ted Danson.[144] Danson controversially appeared in
blackface during his 1993
Friars Club roast; Goldberg wrote some of his jokes for the event and defended Danson after a media furor.[145]
She has stated that she has no plans to marry again: "Some people are not meant to be married and I am not meant to. I'm sure it is wonderful for lots of people."[136] In a 2011 interview with
Piers Morgan, she explained that she was never in love with the men she married[146] and commented: "You have to really be committed to them...I don't have that commitment. I'm committed to my family."[135]
On May 9, 1974, Goldberg gave birth to a daughter,
Alexandrea Martin, who also became an actress and producer.[147] Through her daughter, Goldberg has three grandchildren and a great-granddaughter.[148] On August 29, 2010, Goldberg's mother, Emma Johnson, died after having a stroke.[149] She left London at the time, where she had been performing in the musical Sister Act, but returned to perform on October 22, 2010. In 2015, Goldberg's brother Clyde died of a
brain aneurysm.[150]
Goldberg has stated that she was once a "functioning" drug addict.[154] She has stated that she smoked marijuana before accepting the
Best Supporting Actress award for Ghost in 1991.[155][156]
Goldberg has
dyslexia.[157] She has lived in
Llewellyn Park, a neighborhood in
West Orange, New Jersey, saying she moved there to be able to be outside in private.[158] She maintains an additional summer residence on the coast of
Sardinia.[159] She has expressed a preference for defining herself by the gender-neutral term "actor" rather than "actress", saying: "An actress can only play a woman. I'm an actor–I can play anything."[5] In March 2019, Goldberg revealed that she had been battling
pneumonia and
sepsis, which caused her to take a leave of absence from The View.[160]
On a season 9 episode of PBS's "Finding Your Roots", featuring
Pro Football Hall of Fame tight end
Tony Gonzalez, it was revealed Goldberg and Gonzalez are distant cousins.[161]
Having acted in over 150 films, Goldberg is one of the 19 people to
achieve the EGOT, having won the four major American awards for professional entertainers: an
Emmy (Television), a
Grammy (Music), an
Oscar (Film), and a
Tony (Theater).[162][163][164] She is the first black woman to have achieved all four awards.[165]
She won a
Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording in 1985 for "Whoopi Goldberg: Direct from Broadway", becoming only the second solo woman performer—not part of a duo or team—at the time to receive the award, and the first African-American woman. Goldberg is one of only three single women performers to receive that award.[170][171] She won a
Tony Award in 2002 as a producer of the Broadway musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. She has received eight
Daytime Emmy nominations, winning two. She has received nine
Primetime Emmy nominations. In 2009, Goldberg won the
Daytime Emmy Award for
Outstanding Talk Show Host for her work on The View. She shared the award with her then co-hosts
Joy Behar,
Sherri Shepherd,
Elisabeth Hasselbeck, and
Barbara Walters.
In 1990, Goldberg was officially named an honorary member of the
Harlem Globetrotters exhibition basketball team by the members.[174] In 1999, she received the
Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation Vanguard Award for her continued work in supporting the gay and lesbian community, as well as the
Women in FilmCrystal Award for outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry.[175] In July 2010, the
Ride of Fame honored Goldberg with a double-decker tour bus in New York City for her life's achievements.[176] In 2017, Goldberg was named a
Disney Legend for her contributions to
the Walt Disney Company.[177]
Discography
1985: Original Broadway Recording (Geffen/Warner Bros. Records)
1985: The Color Purple (Qwest/Warner Bros. Records)
Goldberg, Whoopi (October 2015). Whoopi's Big Book of Relationships: If Someone Says "You Complete Me," RUN!. New York:
Hachette.
ISBN978-0-316-30200-5.
^Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer).
"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade"Archived February 8, 2021, at the
Wayback Machine. The Fremont News-Messenger. November 29, 1984. Retrieved January 22, 2021. "I'm an actor. That's what I do. I'm not a stand-up comic ... I do characters. I'm very good. I'll be better. But right now I'm a very good actor."
^Whoopi Goldberg: her journey from poverty to megastardom by James Robert Parish Carol Pub. Group, 1997 – 390, p. 282
^Staff Writer (June 21, 2005).
"Whoopi-ing it up for Hudson Guild". amNY - The Villager. Schneps Media.
Archived from the original on February 3, 2022. Retrieved February 3, 2022.
^McDonald, Soraya Nadia (October 29, 2020).
"Movies Were Better When Whoopi Goldberg Was in Them". New York.
Archived from the original on December 20, 2020. Retrieved December 20, 2020. That singularity is evident in her EGOT status; she's the only Black woman in history to have nabbed each of the major award statues, and she did it with a handicap.