ctress,
comedienne. Born Caryn Elaine Johnson on November 13, 1949 (some sources
say 1950 or 1955), in New York City. Goldberg and her younger brother,
Clyde, were raised by their mother, Emma, in a housing project in the
Chelsea section of Manhattan. Goldberg’s father abandoned the family,
and her single mother worked at a variety of jobs—including teaching and
nursing—to make ends meet. Goldberg changed her name when she decided
that her given name was too boring. She claims to be half Jewish and half
Catholic, and “Goldberg” is attributed to her family history. With her
trademark dreadlocks, wide impish grin, and piercing humor, Goldberg is
best known for her adept portrayals in both comedic and dramatic roles, as
well as her groundbreaking work in the Hollywood film industry as an
African-American woman. Goldberg unknowingly suffered from dyslexia, which
affected her studies and ultimately induced her to drop out of high school
at the age of 17.
In 1974, Goldberg moved to California, living
variously for the next seven years in Los Angeles, San Diego, and San
Francisco. At one point during this time she worked as a mortuary
beautician while pursuing a career in show business. During her stay in
San Francisco, she won a Bay Area Theatre Award for her portrayal of
comedienne Moms Mabley in a one-woman show.
Shortly after receiving this honor, she returned
to New York. In 1983, she starred in the enormously popular The Spook
Show. The one-woman Off-Broadway production featured her own original
comedy material that addressed the issue of race in America with unique
profundity, style, and wit. Among her most poignant and typically
contradictory creations are “Little Girl,” an African-American child
obsessed with having blond hair; and “Fontaine,” a junkie who also
happens to hold a doctorate in literature.
By 1984, director Mike Nichols had moved The
Spook Show to a Broadway stage, and in 1985, Goldberg won a Grammy
Award for Best Comedy Album for the recording of skits taken from the
show. At the same time, she began to receive significant attention from
Hollywood insiders. Director Steven Spielberg cast Goldberg in the leading
female role of his 1985 production of The Color Purple (adapted
from the novel by Alice Walker), a film that went on to earn 10 Academy
Award and five Golden Globe nominations. Goldberg herself received an
Oscar nomination and her first Golden Globe for Best Actress.
Goldberg’s success with The Color Purple
launched a highly visible acting career. Since 1985, she has appeared in
over 80 film and television productions. Her early film credits include
the spy comedy Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1986), directed by Penny
Marshall; Fatal Beauty (1987), costarring Sam Elliott; Clara’s
Heart (1988); Homer & Eddie (1989), costarring James
Belushi; and the civil rights period drama, The Long Walk Home
(1990), costarring Sissy Spacek.
Goldberg won numerous awards for her supporting
role as Oda Mae Brown in Ghost (1990), including an Oscar (becoming
only the second African-American actress ever to win) and her second
Golden Globe. The film, starring Demi Moore and Patrick Swayze, was a
public favorite. That same year, the National Association for the
Advancement of Colored People named Goldberg the Black Entertainer of the
Year, and she also collected an Excellence Award at the Women in Film
Festival.
In 1991, Goldberg appeared in the comedy Soapdish
with an all-star cast featuring Sally Field, Kevin Kline, and Elisabeth
Shue, among others. She then appeared as Detective Susan Avery in Robert
Altman’s well received parody of the Hollywood movie business, The
Player (1992), starring Tim Robbins. Also in 1992, she starred in the
enormously popular Sister Act as a world-weary lounge singer
disguised as a nun hiding from the mob. Directed by Emile Ardolino, Sister
Act earned Goldberg an American Comedy Award for Funniest Actress in a
Motion Picture, as well as another Golden Globe nomination for Best
Actress in a Comedy. The surprising success of this film led to Sister
Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), directed by Bill Duke, and featuring
Maggie Smith (reprising her role as Mother Superior), James Coburn, and
then-unknown R&B artist Lauryn Hill.
Goldberg launched her own television talk show, The
Whoopi Goldberg Show, in 1992. Featuring Goldberg in one-on-one
interviews with prominent political and Hollywood celebrities, the talk
show ran for 200 episodes until 1993 when it was cancelled due to low
ratings. That year, Goldberg also appeared in the feature film Made in
America (1993), costarring her then-boyfriend Ted Danson.
In 1994, 1996, and 1999, she hosted the Academy
Awards—making her the only woman to ever do so. Since 1986, she has also
co-hosted Comic Relief, an annual live showcase of big-ticket comedians
(including Comic Relief cohosts Robin Williams and Billy Crystal) to raise
money for the homeless.
In 1998, Goldberg began appearing on the
celebrity game show Hollywood Squares, for which she won a daytime
Emmy Award for two consecutive years. She has appeared in numerous other
television productions, most notably Star Trek: Generations (1994).
Goldberg’s recent film appearances include The
Deep End of the Ocean (1999), starring Michelle Pfeiffer, and Girl,
Interrupted (1999), costarring Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie (who
won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role).
In the early 1970s, Goldberg was briefly married
to the man who had been her drug counselor. The couple had one child,
Alexandra, and divorced in 1974. She was married to cameraman David
Claessen from 1986 to 1988. Goldberg then had a high-profile romance with
actor Ted Danson in the early 1990s. After their breakup, she became
engaged to Lyle Trachtenberg, a labor organizer, but their relationship
ended in the mid-'90s. Soon after, she began dating actor Frank Langella.
The couple split in 2000.
Goldberg holds a Ph.D. in literature from New
York University, and an honorary degree from Wilson College in
Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
© 2000 A&E Television Networks. All rights
reserved.
Twoofsix.net
