Oprah was born in 1954 in the small city of small city of Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her mother was a housemaid and her father a coal miner. But for a spelling mistake on her birth certificate, this global legend would have been known by the name actually given to her when she was born - Orpah.

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Oprah's childhood was far from golden: she was sexually abused and at the age of 14 fell pregnant and gave birth to a son who died shortly afterwards.

Three years later, when this picture was taken, her life had thankfully changed for the better.

Attending high school in her hometown of Nashville, Tennessee, she became an honors student and was voted winner of the Miss Black Tennessee beauty pageant.

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Winning was something a young Oprah quickly got used to: here she and fellow high school student Anthony Otey celebrated being named "Most Popular" students at their East Nashville high school.

Shortly after, Oprah began her broadcasting career at WVOL radio in Nashville.

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Oprah pictured in her studio office in Chicago. She moved to the city in 1984 to host WLS-TV's morning talk show AM Chicago, which became the number one local radio show within a month of her hosting it.

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In 1986, the stuff of TV legend was born with the launch of The Oprah Winfrey Show.

The programme swiftly became the highest-rated talk show in the country, a top spot it retained right up until its closure this week, with 40 million viewers a week tuning in across the US.

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Oprah's trademark hosting style was a triumph from the outset, pulling in all manner of celebrity coups and TV confessionals.

Part of the show's success - and notoriously hysterial audience reactions - was the fact that Oprah shared many of her own personal struggles with her viewers.

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One of the themes she frequently opened up on was her battle with weight.

A few months after this picture was taken, in November 1988, Oprah appeared on stage for her show in a pair of size 10 Calvin Klein jeans, wheeling a wagon with 67lbs of fat to represent the weight she’d lost.

It drew her biggest ratings to date - although the change wasn't to last, with Oprah later saying, “Two hours after that show, I started eating to celebrate — of course, within two days those jeans no longer fit.”

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As America fell in love with Oprah, she herself fell for Stedman Graham, a once-divorced former basketball player.

However, their relationship wasn't without drama, with the couple facing continued speculation that he was with her for her money or even that he was gay (both firmly denied by Oprah, who discussed her hurt at the rumours on several occasions).

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Oprah's commercial success meanwhile continued to skyrocket.

This photo was taken a year before her landmark interview with Michael Jackson - his first TV grilling in a decade - where she addressed all sorts of issues, including his changing skin colour (he said it was an inherited condition). 100 million people tuned in to watch.

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One of Oprah's early celebrity fans, Will Smith. He and his wife Jada Pinkett-Smith recently played a starring role in Oprah's farewell shows.

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In 1996, Oprah launched the Oprah Book Club sparking a trend of instant bestsellers from her show mentions.

The Washington Post put average sales of her book choices between 1996 and 2002 at more than a million each - all thanks to this little logo.

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Of course, Oprah's talents aren't limited to her talk shows - phenomenal though they are.

She has also dabbled in acting and producing, including a 1985 debut in Spielberg's The Color Purple (a performance that drew in Oscar and Golden Globe nominations) and a role in 1997 television film Before Women Had Wings (pictured here).

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With global recognition and adoration came branding power - not all of it positive.

In 1996 a cattle-rancher-turned vegetarian was invited on the show during the mad cow disease scare to talk about farming practices.

Winfrey exclaimed that his descriptions “stopped me cold from eating another hamburger” and the subsequent plunge in beef prices prompted a group of Texan ranchers to file a £6.5 million lawsuit against her, claiming that she had defamed the industry.

However, their litigation was no match for Oprah and by March 1998 she was commenting on their loss outside a court house in Texas.

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Also in 1998, Oprah created the Oprah’s Angel Network, a public charity supporting educational and empowerment projects and providing grants to nonprofit organisations around the world.

This poster shows a 2006 advertisment for Matthew McConaughey's 1971 Stingray Corvette Convertible, which he donated to Oprah's Angel Network's Hurricanes Katrina and Rita recovery efforts - along with many other celebrities in a similar vein.

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In April 2000, Oprah launched O, The Oprah Magazine - a monthly publication that soon emanated the pulling power of her TV show by becoming a leading women's lifestyle brand, with a current circulation of over 2 million readers a month.

Here, Tina Turner - another showbiz friend of Oprah's - joins her onstage at the magazine's launch party. Oprah later credited Tina with teaching her how to enjoy the moment, when the two performed together at a show in Las Vegas in 2005.

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Oprah with fellow talk show host Ellen DeGeneres at the 54th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.

The two marked an important landmark together five years earlier, when Ellen made her homosexuality public on Oprah's sofa.

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Also at the Emmy awards the same year, Oprah was awarded the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award for her outstanding contribution to television as a platform for political and social commentary.

This was just one in a long role call of prestigious awards and industry honours she has been awarded over the years.

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Another stand-out honour awarded to Oprah was the 2004 Global Humanitarian Action Award from the United Nations Association of the United States of America - she is pictured here celebrating just after receiving it.

The same year, Oprah was named one of Time magazine’s 100 Most Influential People in the World.

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Oprah pictured with Tom Cruise, a year before the infamous jumping incident whereby the Mission Impossible star leaped up and down on Oprah's fabled sofa declaring his love for then new girlfriend Katie Holmes.

Explaining the drama later, Oprah said, “I don’t think he’s nuts. I had never seen him that way before … I think that that’s what love does to you when you’re just all impassioned, but I do have to say I was really surprised by it. I didn't expect it… ”

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Twenty years after starring in The Color Purple, Oprah made her Broadway debut as a producer for the musical version, which opened in December 2005 and continues to tour the US.

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Oprah visited New Orleans with her film crew to document the grim conditions following the devastation wrecked by hurricane Katrina in September 2005. Oprah played a key role in the disaster's relief effort, creating the Oprah Angel Network Katrina registry which raised more than $11 million in aid for those affected.

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Oprah interviewed Madonna, via satellite, as she defended her decision to adopt a one year old Malawian boy in another exclusive scoop for the show in October 2006.

Madonna paid tribute Oprah in her first farewell show this week, saying: "It is no secret that millions of people have been inspired by Oprah and I'm one of those people."

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Oprah with Denzel Washington - the veteran actor is another of her famous interviewees. She once reduced him to tears on her show when she brought on the teacher who taught him to read.

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And other friend in a high place - Naomi Campbell. Naomi appeared on Oprah's show after a media frenzy surrounding her alleged substance abuse problems.

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One of Oprah Winfrey's most high-profile acquaintances is Barack Obama and his wife Michelle.

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Oprah played a crucial part in Obama's 2007-2008 landmark presidential campaign, with her power and influence coming into play in a big way as she endorsed his bid for the top.

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Mariah Carey with Oprah during a Friday Live broadcast of The Oprah Show in Central Park, New York.

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Oprah also signed on as executive producer to 2009 movie Precious, starring Mariah Carey and based around the story of a 16-year-old Harlem girl struggling in a bleak and brutal world. Her promotion of the film helped to make it an instant hit.

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Wherever Oprah goes, people appeal for her unique brand of help.

A Sri Lanka group from Toronto pitched their cause to Oprah in Chicago during the recording of the Kate and Gerry McCann episode, where the couple discussed the disappearance of their daughter in Portugal two years previously.

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While recording The Oprah Winfrey Show's 24th season premiere in September 2009, the live audience of over 20,000 people gathered on Chicago's magnificent mile prepared a surprise for Oprah by breaking into a syncronized dance they had rehearsed earlier set to The Black Eyed Peas' performance of I Gotta Feeling.

This photo shows Oprah with Fergie, enjoying the show.

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Oprah and lifelong best friend Gayle King. The two hit headlines after taking a road trip together in a Chevy Impala in 2008. They gave viewers an inside look at their close bond, as they drove cross-country from Las Vegas to New York City.

Oprah later spoke out in an interview with veteran broadcaster Barbara Walters to fiercely deny the long-standing rumours that she and Gayle King were lesbians.

"I'm not even kind of a lesbian," she said. "Why would I hide it? That is not the way I run my life."

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Oprah was awarded an exemplary lifetime achievement award in the 2010 Kennedy Center Honors - other recipients the same year included composer and lyricist Jerry Herman, dancer, choreographer and director Bill T. Jones and musician Paul McCartney.

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Still going strong since they met in 1986, Oprah's partner Stedman Graham was by her side.

Earlier this week, he took to the stage to pay tribute to Oprah in one of her farewell shows, saying: "You are so special. I'm so proud of you."

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Fans in their thousands went mad for Oprah during her historic tour of Australia in late 2010 - proving just how widespread her appeal had become.

The talk show host has built up a reputation for random acts of generosity towards her show audiences over the years, including one “Oprah’s Favorite Things” episode in 2004 when she decided to give out goods like Burberry scarfs, Dooney & Burke bags and Sony VAIO notebook computers to a deserving group of onlookers. Another time, also in 2004, she delighted the nearly 300-strong audience by giving each one of them the keys to a brand new Pontiac G6. worth $28,400.

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Nicole Kidman and Keith Urban joined the lady of the moment onstage during a mass-scale show at the Sydney Opera House.

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The excited Australian crowds couldn't get enough of Oprah.

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In January 2011, Oprah debuted her multi-platform media venture OWN: Oprah Winfrey network. Designed to inform, entertain and inspire people, it is now in 67 percent of homes in the US.

It is expected that this will become Oprah's primary business focus now she has quit her show.

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Aretha Franklin appears alongside Oprah during her Surprise Oprah! A Farewell Spectacular in Chicago last week.

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Tom Hanks was also there to see the legendary presenter off in style - no wonder it all got a bit emotional.

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In her final show broadcast yesterday (25 May), Oprah appeared alone on stage and welled up as she paid tribute to her fans.

"This isn't goodbye. This is until we meet again," she told her millions of followers around the world.

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