Whoopi Goldberg

Whoopi Goldberg made her Broadway debut in her eponymous one woman show, which premiered in 1984. Her performance caught the eye of Stephen Spielberg, who cast Goldberg in the lead role of his film adaptation of The Color Purple in 1985. Goldberg won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for an Academy Award for the film.

Goldberg’s career spans film, television and theater, and the multihyphenate is one of 19 stars to achieve an EGOT: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar and a Tony Award. She became the second Black woman to win an Academy Award for acting in 1990 for her performance in Ghost. Her other film credits include Sister Act (1992), Girl, Interrupted (1999), For Colored Girls (2010) and Till (2022). She also starred on Star Trek: The Next Generation from 1988 to 1993. Goldberg joined The View in 2007, replacing cohost Rosie O’Donnell.

Goldberg was married to drug counselor Alvin Martin from 1973 to 1979, with whom she shares daughter Alexandrea Martin. She was also married to filmmaker David Claessen from 1986 to 1988 and actor Lyle Trachtenberg from 1994 to 1995.