Oprah Winfrey Filmography

The Great Debaters

Crew: Producer

Actors: Denzel Washington, Forest Whitaker, Nate Parker, Jurnee Smollett, Denzel Whitaker

Synopsis: Drawing inspiration from the true story of a temperamental debate coach who molded the students of a small East Texas college into a formidable team that gave even Harvard's elite squad a run for their money, Denzel Washington's The Great Debaters features the director himself as the ambitious Read More

Bee Movie

Actors: Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Patrick Warburton, John Goodman

Synopsis: Barry B. Benson (voice of Jerry Seinfeld) is your average honeybee. Despite having recently received his diploma from bee college and being virtually guaranteed a bright future in honey, Barry feels he has the skills to pursue a number of different career paths and resents the fact that his Read More

Finding Oprah's Roots, Finding Your Own

Synopsis: Actress and television talk show host Oprah Winfrey shares her knowledge on how to construct a detailed African American family tree in this companion to the best-selling book by author Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Genealogist Tony Burroughs and historian John Thornton offer expert advice on researching Read More

Oprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom's For One More Day

Crew: Executive Producer

Actors: Michael Imperioli, Ellen Burstyn, Scott Cohen, Samantha Mathis, Vadim Imperioli

Synopsis: Emmy Award-winner Michael Imperioli and Academy Award-winner Ellen Burstyn headline this made for television adaptation of author and radio personality Mitch Albom's bestselling book about a suicidal ex-baseball player who finds redemption after being granted one more day with his dearly departed Read More

Charlotte's Web

Actors: Julia Roberts, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Oprah Winfrey, Cedric the Entertainer

Synopsis: E.B. White's classic children's story comes to the screen in this live-action adaptation with an all-star voice cast. Fern Arable (Dakota Fanning) is a young girl growing up on her family's farm. When a sow gives birth to some piglets, Fern's father (Kevin Anderson) intends to do away with the Read More

We Are the Future - You Are the Answer

Synopsis: As the twentieth anniversary of "We Are the World" draws near, conductor Quincy Jones gathers the world's most popular recording artists and media personalities for a global concert staged to mark the launch of an international humanitarian effort to benefit the children of war-ravaged cities the Read More

Emmanuel's Gift

Actors: Emmanuel Ofusu Yeboah

Synopsis: While being born with physical handicaps presents challenges no matter where you're born or under what economic circumstances, in many respects it's even more difficult when you're raised in Ghana, a Third World nation where much of the country's population lives in severe poverty and conventional Read More

Oprah Winfrey Presents: Their Eyes Were Watching God

Crew: Executive Producer

Actors: Ruby Dee, Terrence Howard, Ruben Santiago-Hudson, Lorraine Toussaint, Halle Berry, Michael Ealy

Synopsis: Originally telecast March 6, 2005, by ABC, this "Oprah Book Club" TV movie is adapted from Zora Neale Hurston's novel Their Eyes Were Watching God, a certified classic of African-American literature. Covering the first 30 years of the 20th century, the film is set in Eatonville, FL, a largely Read More

100 Years of Hope & Humor

Actors: Bob Hope, Jane Pauley

Synopsis: Taped approximately six weeks before the 100th birthday of comedy legend Bob Hope, this elaborate (and highly-rated) TV "love letter" to "Old Ski Nose" is hosted by former Today Show anchor Jane Pauley. The special covers the familiar biographical ground, tracing British-born Leslie Townes Hope Read More

Dr. Phil [TV Series]

Crew: Executive Producer

Actors: Phil McGraw

Synopsis: Having achieved nationwide fame as a frequent guest on Oprah Winfrey's daily chatfest, professional "life strategist" Dr. Phil McGraw inevitably graduated to his own Monday-through-Friday talk show, produced by Winfrey's Harpo Productions and syndicated by Paramount Television. In an engagingly Read More

Oprah After the Show [TV Series]

Crew: Executive Producer

Synopsis: Since talk-show queen Oprah Winfrey virtually owned the Oxygen Channel cable service lock, stock and barrel, it was hardly surprising that she would provide original programming for the operation. Actually, Oprah After the Show was "original" only in the sense that it provided viewers with Read More

Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives

Synopsis: Among the tasks undertaken by the WPA's Federal Writers' Project in the 1930s was to transcribe the memories of those former African-American slaves who were still living. The result was a massive collection of notes, documents, and recordings, all of which found their way into the Library of Read More

Tracey Ullman's Visible Panty Lines [TV Series]

Crew: Executive Producer

Actors: Tracey Ullman

Oprah Winfrey Presents: Amy and Isabelle

Crew: Executive Producer

Actors: Elisabeth Shue, Hanna R. Hall, Martin Donovan, James Rebhorn, Conchata Ferrell

Synopsis: Executive produced by Oprah Winfrey, the made-for-TV Oprah Winfrey Presents: Amy & Isabelle was based on the bestselling 1999 novel by Elizabeth Strout. The scene is the mining town of Shirley Falls, ME; the year is 1971. Seeking escape from the iron rule of her domineering, social-climbing single Read More

About Us: The Dignity of Children

Synopsis: Previously seen as an ABC television special in March of 1997, this documentary features Oprah Winfrey, kids and adults speaking about their childhood. Onscreen, children tell stories of the every day horrors many of them face such as AIDS and abuse, while also conveying the innocence and purity Read More

Tuesdays With Morrie

Crew: Executive Producer

Actors: Jack Lemmon, Hank Azaria, Wendy Moniz, Caroline Aaron, Bonnie Bartlett

Synopsis: Detroit Free Press sports columnist Mitch Albom (Hank Azaria) has found success and popularity in his occupation, but emotionally and spiritually he is bankrupt. While watching television one night, he comes across an episode of the news showNightline and learns that his former university Read More

Beloved

Crew: Producer

Actors: Oprah Winfrey, Danny Glover, Thandie Newton, Kimberly Elise, Beah Richards

Synopsis: Jonathan Demme directed this adaptation of Toni Morrison's fact-based fifth novel (winner of a 1988 Pulitzer Prize), written in an experimental stream-of-consciousness flow and capturing the impact and aftermath of slavery on the human soul. In 1873, middle-aged Sethe (Oprah Winfrey) lives near Read More

The Real Ellen Story

Synopsis: Comedian Ellen DeGeneres' decision to publicly announce her lesbianism as her onscreen character did the same, altered the way mainstream media portrays homosexuality. The Real Ellen Story, an acclaimed British documentary, provides an intimate view of the controversy surrounding DeGeneres' move. Read More

Oprah Winfrey Presents: The Wedding

Crew: Executive Producer

Actors: Halle Berry, Eric Thal, Lynn Whitfield, Carl Lumbly, Mike Warren

Synopsis: This two-part TV miniseries, adapted from Dorothy West's novel The Wedding, takes a look at mid-century issues of race and class in well-to-do black society. On Martha's Vineyard in 1953, debutante Shelby Coles (Halle Berry) stirs discord in her social-climbing family when she chooses to marry Read More

David and Lisa

Crew: Executive Producer

Actors: Sidney Poitier, Lukas Haas, Brittany Murphy, Debi Mazar, Allison Janney

Synopsis: Oprah Winfrey co-produced this psychological drama, a TV movie remake of the acclaimed black-and-white low-budget ($180,000) 1962 David and Lisa. The original earned $1 million in its first run and also earned Oscar nominations for director Frank Perry and screenwriter Eleanor Perry, who adapted Read More

Before Women Had Wings

Actors: Ellen Barkin, Oprah Winfrey, Tina Majorino, Julia Stiles, John Savage

Synopsis: Connie May Fowler adapted her own novel for this dark drama about a dysfunctional family in northern rural Florida during the '60s. Alcoholic Billy (John Savage) reflects on his country-music career that never happened and beats his wife Glory Marie (Ellen Barkin), also a drunk. Grown-up son Hank (William Lee Scott Read More

Teens At-Risk: Providence-St. Mel - A Man and His School

Oprah: Make The Connection...It's About Changing Your Life

Synopsis: Successful talk show host and media maven Oprah Winfrey appears in this video to share personal thoughts about her own past struggles with weight and self-esteem problems. She discusses some of her own dieting errors and how she has learned to make exercise a regular part of her everyday life. Winfrey Read More

Intimate Portrait: Maya Angelou

Synopsis: Born dirt poor and raised in the rural South, an unmarried mother at 16 and prostitute at 18, Maya Angelou beat the odds to emerge a successful poet, musician, and the recipient of over 30 honorary degrees. Intimate Portrait: Maya Angelou tells the inspiring story of Angelou's tireless journey Read More

Scared Silent: Exposing and Ending Child Abuse

Scared Silent: Incest

Lincoln: I Want to Finish This Job, 1864

Synopsis: By the third year of the Civil War, personal and national tragedy had worn down President Lincoln. However, he focused on his job tenaciously, having a strong sense of history. This is the third of four programs in the Lincoln series, which originally aired on PBS. Produced and directed by Peter Read More

Lincoln: The Pivotal Year, 1863

Synopsis: President Abraham Lincoln leads the Union in the fight to end the awful bloodshed of the Civil War. The year is 1863. The president had a continuous struggle with the commanders of his army, and the bloodshed from the fighting at Antietam and Fredericksburg distressed him greatly. 1863 was the Read More

Lincoln: The Making of a President, 1860-1862

Synopsis: A shrewd politician, Abraham Lincoln had the intelligence, ambition, and principles to grow into his job as president. This is the first of four videos in the Lincoln series, which originally aired on PBS. Produced and directed by Peter W. Kunhardt, this program is narrated by renowned actor James Read More

Overexposed

Crew: Executive Producer

Actors: Terence Knox, Marcy Walker

Synopsis: Overexposed starts out as a "heavy breather of the week" TV movie and develops into a truly involving suspense tale. Marcy Walker plays a wife and mother, stalked by wacko Terence Knox. This isn't just the usual hit-and-run harassment; Knox is a businessman who has an "X-rated" video of an Read More

Lincoln: Now He Belongs to the Ages, 1865

Synopsis: This video is the fourth installment of the Lincoln series, originally aired on PBS. This volume focuses on the last days and hours of Abraham Lincoln's life. Viewers watch as Lincoln's enemies plot their final revenge on the man they believed had dishonored their heritage. The video also reveals Read More

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: A Night at the Oprah

Synopsis: Oprah Winfrey appears as herself in this episode, in which Philip (James Avery) and the Bankses are invited to appear on Oprah's show during a week spotlighting "Political Candidates and Their Families." Conspicuous by his absence is Will (Will Smith), who was not invited on the grounds that he Read More

Listen Up!: The Lives of Quincy Jones

Actors: Quincy Jones, Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis

Synopsis: The extraordinary life of Quincy Jones -- one of the 20th century's most influential and talented composers, musicians and music producers -- provides the basis of this offbeat, free-form documentary tribute. With little regard for formal timelines and traditional documentary biography methods Read More

Overexposed

Crew: Executive Producer

Actors: Catherine Oxenberg, David Naughton, Jennifer Edwards, William Bumiller, John Patrick Reger

Synopsis: In this sudsy and violent melodrama, a prominent actress is tormented by both an obsessive stalker and a trauma from her distant past. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide Read More

The Women of Brewster Place

Actors: Oprah Winfrey, Jackée, Cicely Tyson, Robin Givens

Synopsis: Based on the novel by Gloria Naylor, The Women of Brewster Place was produced by and stars Oprah Winfrey. The film concerns a variety of women who live in the housing project located on Brewster Place, and tells about their lives as they struggle in the face of racism, poverty, and troublesome Read More

Pee-Wee's Playhouse Christmas Special

Actors: Paul Reubens

Synopsis: The secret word is "Happy New Year" as Pee-Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) and the Playhouse gang hold a Christmas party. Things threaten to get out of hand fairly early as the increasingly disappointed Pee-Wee receives one fruitcake after another. When he complains that he didn't get anything he Read More

Throw Momma From the Train

Actors: Danny DeVito, Billy Crystal, Anne Ramsey, Kim Greist, Kate Mulgrew

Synopsis: The "exchange murders" plot gambit, played with utter solemnity in Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train, is used as the launching pad for raucous laughter in Throw Momma From the Train. Director/star Danny DeVito plays Owen Lift, a middle-aged bachelor, totally dominated by his gorgon mother, played Read More

Native Son

Actors: Carroll Baker, Akosua Busia, Matt Dillon, Art Evans, John Karlen, Elizabeth McGovern, Oprah Winfrey

Synopsis: Previously filmed in Argentina in 1951, black author Richard Wright's powerful race-conscious novel Native Son was remade in this barely released 1986 version. The story involves Bigger Thomas (Victor Thomas), an angry Depression-era Chicago black who hopes to elevate himself through his Read More

Saturday Night Live: Oprah Winfrey

Actors: Oprah Winfrey, Joe Jackson

Synopsis: This 1986 episode of Saturday Night Live is hosted by Oprah Winfrey and features musical guest Joe Jackson. ~ Skyler Miller, All Movie Guide Read More

The Oprah Winfrey Show [TV Series]

Actors: Oprah Winfrey

Synopsis: The first African-American woman to host a nationally (and ultimately, internationally) daily syndicated talk show, Oprah Winfrey rose from an extraordinarily difficult and deprived childhood to become one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in the world. After paying her dues in a variety Read More

The Color Purple

Actors: Danny Glover, Whoopi Goldberg, Margaret Avery, Oprah Winfrey, Willard E. Pugh

Synopsis: Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Alice Walker, The Color Purple spans the years 1909 to 1949, relating the life of Celie (Whoopi Goldberg), a Southern black woman virtually sold into a life of servitude to her brutal husband, sharecropper Albert (Danny Glover). Celie pours out her Read More