Whoopi Goldberg (born Caryn Elaine Johnson on the 13th November, 1955) is considered one of the Americas leading  actresses, television hosts and comediennes.

She is one of among thirteen film personalities who have won, a Grammy, an Oscar, an Emmy and a Tony Award plus a Daytime Emmy Award. In 1990, she was the second African American female actress to receive an Academy Award for excellence in acting after Hattie McDaniel. She received two Saturn Awards and two Golden Globe Awards in "Ghost” and “Star Trek Generations” for her wonderful performances. She was also awarded The Annual Kennedy Centre Mark Twain Prize for Comedy.

Whoopi Goldberg was born in New York City, U.S. She was brought up in Manhattan's Chelsea neighbourhood. Her mother’s name was Emma and her father’s name was Robert James Johnson. Her mother was a nurse and teacher. Her father was a clergyman. Goldberg's mother brought her up as a single parent after Whoopi Goldberg's father left the family.

In 1981-82, Goldberg's on-screen skills first emerged in “Citizen: I’m Not Losing My Mind, I’m Giving It Away”, a daring feature by the San Francisco director William Farley. Goldberg went on to do a one woman show called “The Spook Show”, a show based around different character monologues, in 1983. Filmmaker Mike Nichols was impressed with the show and offered to take the show to Broadway. The show was displayed from the 24th October, 1984 to the 10th March, 1985 for a total of one hundred and fifty six sold-out performances.

Whoopi Goldberg's performance was noticed by famous director Steven Spielberg and he offered her the lead role in the movie “The Color Purple” which he directed and which was written by Alice Walker. The movie hit the box office in late autumn of 1985. It proved to be a critical and box office success. The movie was later nominated for eleven Academy Awards. Whoopi Goldberg too was nominated for Best Actress.

Whoopi Goldberg then went on to act in Penny Marshall's directorial debut movie. During the filming of the movie "Jumpin' 'Jack Flash", she began a relationship with David Claessen. He was then the director of photography for the movie. The couple wedded later that year. The movie was a critical and box office success. Then she acted in Burglar, Fatal Beauty, and The Telephone. Goldberg received awards from the N.A.A.C.P. Image Awards. Goldberg and Claessen got divorced after the movie “The Telephone” in 1988.

Later Goldberg went on to act with Jean Stapleton in the TV sit com Bagdad Café in the year 1990. The show was broadcast on CBS for 2 seasons. While working on the series, Goldberg acted in the movie “The Long Walk Home”, which portrays a lady in the Civil Rights Movement. In 1990, She acted as a psychic in the movie titled “Ghost”. With the success of Ghost, Whoopi Goldberg became the first African-American actress to get the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in nearly fifty years.

Goldberg acted in “Soapdish” and had a repeating role on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Her character as Guinan in the two Star Trek movies are memorable. In 1992, “Sister Act” was released. It was a huge box office hit and Goldberg was nominated for a Golden Globe. Goldberg hosted a late-night talk show titled The Whoopi Goldberg Show. She acted in two more films “Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit” and “Made in America”.

Whoopi also featured in Moonlight and Valentino, Corrina and Boys on the Side. She rendered her voice in the movie “The Lion King” and “The Pagemaster”. In 1994, she became the first African-American woman to host the Academy Awards. Goldberg featured in four movies in 1996: , Eddie, Bogus, The Associate and Ghosts of Mississippi. Goldberg did supporting roles in “Kingdom Come”, “Angela Bassett Vehicle” and “How Stella Got Her Groove Back”. She also acted in A Knight in Camelot, Cinderella and Call Me Claus. She recently announced her retirement from acting so that she can concentrate on her highly successful television show "The View".

Whoopi Goldberg has been married 3 times. At the age of 18 she married Alvin Martin and had one daughter Alexandrea in 1973. She later married David Claessen in 1986 and was divorced in 1988. Whoopi married for a third time in 1994 to Lyle Trachtenberg but this marriage lasted less than a year. Whoopi has three grandchildren.