Whoopi Goldberg
Whoopi Goldberg
Caryn Elaine Johnson, known professionally by her stage name, Whoopi Goldberg, is an American actress, comedian, and television host. She has been nominated for 13 Emmy Awards for her work in television, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Emmy Award, a Grammy Award, an Oscar, and a Tony Award. She was the second black woman in the history of the Academy Awards to win an acting Oscar...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionMovie Actress
Date of Birth13 November 1955
CityNew York City, NY
CountryUnited States of America
[On lightweight movies:] Fun movies. They were never meant to cure cancer, only to take away the mind.
I don't think in terms of failure....I don't feel like anyone outside of me should be setting limitations. People should be encouraged to shoot for the moon.
Did you know that we are the only people in the United States who have to have their voting rights okayed every couple of years?
Everything for me is visual. That's just how my head works.
I have the strangest time to get cast in anything. 'Ghost' was the same thing. Six months I had to wait for them to decide they had seen everybody possible. Why not? What limits me? I'm black? Oh, am I black?
If you don't look out for others, who will look out for you?
If you read to me I could tell you everything that was read. They didn't know what it was. They knew I wasn't lazy, but what was it?
We're dealing with old issues that aren't ours. We carry them and we pass them on to those who come after us. I am hoping to crack some of those.
Who amongst us doesn't want to be a hero?
Taliban-esque: Any behavior that imposes the beliefs of one person on everyone else. Conversations with the Taliban-esque are impossible. They aren't even conversations. With them, it's my way or no way.
You have to believe in yourself in spite of what other people believe.
Most women do not have [abortions] with some sort of party going on. It is the hardest decision that a woman ever has to make . . . One of the reasons we've had to make this decision is because so many women were found bleeding, dead, with hangers in their bodies because they were doing it themselves. The idea of this was to make it safe and clean - that was the reason the law came into effect.
It's being willing to walk away that gives you strength and power - if you're willing to accept the consequences of doing what you want to do.
[On writing to Alice Walker, author of The Color Purple:] I told her I would play a Venetian blind, dirt on the floor, anything.