04/04/2025
THE FIRST AFRICAN-AMERICAN TO WIN AN EMMY AWARD, A GRAMMY AWARD, AN ACADEMY AWARD, AND A TONY AWARDCaryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg, is an American actress, comedian, author, and television personality. A recipient of numerous accolades, Goldberg is one of sixteen entertainers to have won an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award.Goldberg's film breakthrough came in 1985 for her role as Celie, a mistreated woman in the Deep South, in Steven Spielberg's period drama film The Color Purple, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and won her first Golden Globe Award.
Goldberg also starred in Penny Marshall's directorial debut Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986), Burglar (1987), Fatal Beauty (1987), and The Telephone (1988).
For her performance in the romantic fantasy film Ghost (1990) as an eccentric psychic, Goldberg won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a second Golden Globe Award.
In 1992, Goldberg starred in the comedy Sister Act, earning a third Golden Globe Award nomination. She reprised the role in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), making her the highest-paid actress at the time.
A theatre performer and producer, Goldberg has performed in Broadway productions, one of which was a one-woman show that produced a comedy album that earned her a Grammy Award. She has starred in the revivals of Stephen Sondheim's musical comedy A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (1996) as Pseudolus and in August Wilson's historical drama Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2003) as Ma Rainey. She has won a Tony Award as a producer of the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie. In television, Goldberg portrayed Guinan on Star Trek: The Next Generation.
Since 2007, she has co-hosted and moderated the daytime talk show The View, for which she won a Daytime Emmy Award. She has also hosted multiple Academy Award ceremonies.
