show ad

Father ARRESTED at school board meeting for complaining about sexually explicit book assigned to his ninth-grade daughter
Is Monica Lewinsky's tell-all part of Hillary's campaign plan? Lynne Cheney says the Clintons could be behind the revelations
Revealed: Ex-Burberry boss Angela Ahrendts handed a $68million 'golden hello' after joining Apple
Driver, 24, is shot dead as his mother opens fire at gunman in row over a parking space
'Rehab is amazing! It's like football camp': Crack-head Toronto mayor Rob Ford speaks out from mystery treatment center
Revealed: The top secret Texas base where CIA trained Cuban exiles for Bay of Pigs and store AK-47s meant for Afghan rebels
German exchange student shot dead by homeowner was 'garage hopping after learning it from local kids'
Alibaba IPO could raise $20BILLION: How a Chinese online retailer is poised for the largest stock sale in US history
Video of barefoot girl-on-girl yard fight takes the internet by storm after 16-year-old aggressor is clobbered in the head with a SHOVEL
Donald Sterling's girlfriend V. Stiviano under investigation for 'EXTORTING' him with threat to release more recordings as her 'lengthy rap sheet' is revealed
V Stiviano has ADOPTED two African American children in the midst of Donald Sterling's race scandal
Moroccan diplomat and wife confess to human trafficking charges after sneaking maid into US and paying her 'slave wage' of less than $3,000 a year
Dateline producer sues NBC after she was 'forced to lure sex offenders with her own photo and pose as BAIT'
Nine foot tall grizzly shot by Alaskan hunter is the largest bear EVER killed
$Last year I attended four beautiful weddings. In the next six months, I'll go to five. This morning, I was invited to my first wedding of 2015... in Australia. There is a very specific joy and hell of being a frequent wedding guest -- especially as a single woman -- which is why when I read Jen Doll's memoir, Save The Date: The Occasional Mortifications of a Serial Wedding Guest, I felt an instant kinship with her.\n\nDoll has never been married herself, but she has watched 30 couples take the trip down the aisle. She wrote about these experiences for The Hairpin in April 2012, with the hope of turning it all into a book. The result is a witty, easily-devoured memoir, simultaneously personal and universal.$ Thirty weddings and never a bride: What one woman learned about life and love as a longtime guest on the marriage circuit
'Lust is key to all of the Bible's famous marriages': Controversial rabbi claims that sex and desire is more important than love
Revealed, the wicked web of lies spun by 'sick' blogger mom suspected of killing her son, five, with salt overdose: She said her cop fiancé died in a car crash but he never existed. Then she pretended the child she babysat was hers
FBI agent faces trial in Pakistan after being arrested carrying bullets, knives, and a wrench onto a plane
China sends its own POLICE to Paris to protect its tourists from Roma gangs targeting wealthy tourists
Former New York Jets cheerleader files lawsuit for being underpaid claiming she only got $3.77 an hour
Health insurers say majority of Obamacare enrollees have paid - but they can't be sure because of problems with sign up site
$Samantha Pitard, from Illinois, suffered spinal fractures in the circus accident but said she expected to make a full recovery and would return to aerial stunts$ Circus performer who fractured her spine in the 'human chandelier' accident speaks out and reveals she is the only one of eight hurt dancers who can walk
'Would you curse in front of your kids?': Prince swears off using 'disrespectful' dirty words in his music
Don't dare pee in a pool again! Device glows green if water contains urine and feces

Oprah's first chapter! Winfrey digs out old audition tape from 1983... and she looks as good as ever 30 years on

Published: 01:07 EST, 7 May 2014 | Updated: 04:50 EST, 7 May 2014

View
comments

She has been on television so long it is hard to imagine a world without Oprah Winfrey.

But the chat show doyen has just unearthed an old audition tape from 1983 in which she applies for one of her first jobs on the small screen.

Remarkably, the saucy 60-year-old is looking as good now as she did more than 30 years ago, though her hairstyle is markedly different in the short which was shown on The Oprah Winfrey Show.

Unknown: But the Oprah Winfrey from this 1983 audition tape would go on to be one of the world's most popular stars

In the video the unknown future star says: 'Hi there, my name is Oprah Winfrey. Oprah, spelt O-P-R-A-H. And if you notice its Harpo spelt backwards.

'My folks did not particularly like Harpo Marx, we did not even have a television in our home for a number of years.

'Originally I was named from the bible by my Aunt Ida who named me from Ruth, the first chapter and the fourteenth verse Orpah, but no one knew how to spell in my home and that's why it ended up being Oprah.'

This is a little different to the explanation she gives now, which is that people did not know how to pronounce the name, which is why her current moniker stuck.

Oprah explained she made the audition after hearing that a Chicago-based morning show needed a new host.

Looking as good as ever: If anything the television star is even better looking than she was 30 years ago

It's O-P-R-A-H: She gave the hilarious story on how she came by her Christian name in the charming short

She said: 'I stayed up all night long with an editor, sent my audition tape in, because I was one of those people who wasn't prepared. I wasn't keeping all my stories, so I was up all night.

'I was obsessed with getting this job.'

However even Oprah admitted she was shocked when she saw how inept she was in comparison to the polished performer her legion of fans know and love.

She said: 'I don't know how on Earth I got hired.'

The move certainly paid off however, for ater she relocated to Chicago to host WLS-TV's low-rated half-hour morning talk show, AM Chicago, within months after Winfrey took over in 1984 it went from last place in the ratings to become the highest rated talk show in the city.

Oprah also shared spome other footage from her early career, including an hilarious 1978 scene from her stint alongside Richard Sher on People Are Talking, in which she bounces on her co-host's lap.

I don't know how I got the job: Even Oprah admitted she had no idea how she managed to land her dream role

Having a great time: Her People Are Talking co-host grinned as the cheeky star bounced on his lap in this hilarious scene from their 1978 show

MOST WATCHED NEWS VIDEOS

Comments (32)

Share what you think

View all

The comments below have been moderated in advance.

Em26, Texas, 1 hour ago

Digging the bottom of the barrel....give it up Oprah & go away please!

Click to rate

Georgeeee, London, 1 hour ago

Why not show us Oprah make-up free 30 years ago and now? Now, that'll be a much better comparison as make-up techniques have improved 30 years on have they not? Having said that, she's a great and inspirational woman nonetheless and I take my hat off to her

Click to rate

JG, London, United Kingdom, 1 hour ago

Man, Oprah looked to' up back in the day, LOL.

Click to rate

bouffant, Stourbridge, 2 hours ago

I've no idea what she does to earn so much money. Anytime i have ever watched her she is talking absolute nonsense!

Click to rate

MrDrummle, Newcastle, 3 hours ago

She looks better now in my opinion, back then she proved you didn't need to be famous for your looks as she had a beautiful personality but now her looks are a bonus.

Click to rate

Mysay, Christchurch, New Zealand, 3 hours ago

Younger nose

Click to rate

The truth, Heaven bound, United Kingdom, 3 hours ago

This is what we call getting better with the age.

Click to rate

Chloe, Somewhere, Ireland, 3 hours ago

This women is fake and false, i do not like her i watched an interview with herself and her fellow co star, she talked the whole time about herself and how great she is ugh time to retire

Click to rate

Liverpool lass, Liverpool, United Kingdom, 3 hours ago

She looks different and talks different.

Click to rate

Rational Observer, Birmingham, United Kingdom, 4 hours ago

If you think she is so dreadful, why are you even reading the article. I know that people that I am not keen on, I do not find out about what is going on in their life as I am not interested!!