(born 1954) Through her talk show, syndicated since 1986, and her active production company Winfrey has become one of the most influential and wealthy African Americans in history with a power to make media as well as appear in them. Her gender, aggressive yet intimate style as an interviewer and her ability to shape middle-class tastes through her program and book club, while surviving tabloid reports on her loves and diet, make this more remarkable. Although nominated for an Oscar for The Color Purple (1985) her later acting career proved less striking; Beloved (1998) was a confusing failure for Toni Morrison’s novel.