Oprah Winfrey Talks About What It Was Like Seeing People Who Looked Like Her on TV for the First Time

Gina Ippolito

Oprah Winfrey went on The Talk to discuss her new HBO movie, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, and the topic eventually turned to the people who have inspired the inspiring lady.

Oprah Winfrey’s served as an inspiration to many over the years. (Photo: Getty Images)
Oprah Winfrey’s served as an inspiration to many over the years. (Photo: Getty Images)

Sidney Poitier was the guest who made Oprah the most nervous to meet: “When he was on… I couldn’t find anything that fit. I couldn’t hear a word he was saying. I lost my hearing. I couldn’t see. When he left, I went into the control room and put my head down on the table and bawled. I just cried. I said, ‘I’m such an idiot!’”

She also got emotional when she talked about having Diana Ross on as a guest. “You saw the Supremes, the first time you had seen black people on TV that were intelligent and beautiful and smart. So I just wanted to be like them,” Winfrey said, adding, “I wrote her a letter telling her how much she had meant to me.”

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