Whoopi Goldberg

Born: November 13, 1955
Where: New York City

Caryn Elaine Johnson's career began in theatre at the age of 8.

In her own words, she turned into a "junkie" when she dropped out of school, and her life only started looking up when she moved to California with her one year old daughter and founded the San Diego Repertory.

Years of theatre acting and writing eventually led to a Broadway show where Caryn became Whoopi.

In 1985 she received her first Best Actress Oscar nomination for The Color Purple.

In Star Trek: The Next Generation Whoopi played Guinan, an enigmatic alien bartender as a recurring role, and in 1990 she won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for Ghost.

Comedy hits such as Sister Act and Monkeybone brought her huge success and in 1994 Whoopi became the first solo black host of an Academy Awards show. She did this four times.

Whoopi returned to her role in Star Trek for the final outing, Star Trek: Nemesis, and appeared in average comedy fare such as Monkeybone and Rat Race.