History Creator / WhoopiGoldberg

Her casting as Guinan came as a surprise to the public and was seen as something of a step down: Goldberg had already enjoyed success in big budget films (including a critically acclaimed turn in Steven Spielberg's ''Film/{{The Color Purple|1985}}''), and was suddenly committing to a semi-regular role on television. As she explained to an equally confused Creator/GeneRoddenberry, Whoopi is an AscendedFangirl of [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries The Original Series]], with Creator/NichelleNichols' role as Uhura was one of her biggest driving inspirations for becoming an actress. From 1998-2002, she served as executive producer and center square on the Tom Bergeron-hosted revival of ''Series/TheHollywoodSquares''.

Her casting as Guinan came as a surprise to the public and was seen as something of a step down: Goldberg had already enjoyed success in big budget films (including a critically acclaimed turn in Steven Spielberg's ''Film/{{The Color Purple|1985}}''), and was suddenly committing to a semi-regular role on television. As she explained to an equally confused Creator/GeneRoddenberry, Whoopi is an AscendedFangirl of [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries The Original Series]], with Creator/NichelleNichols' role as Uhura was one of her biggest driving inspirations for becoming an actress. In the late 1990s, she served as the center square on a revival of ''Series/TheHollywoodSquares'' but later left.

Known for tackling serious issues with a sense of humor, she became the highest-paid actress of all time during her peak in TheNineties. Whoopi's first film appearance was in the movie ''Film/{{The Color Purple|1985}}'', where she garnered an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nomination and a Golden Globe for her performance as a mistreated African American woman in the DeepSouth. Five years later, she won both the Golden Globe and the Oscar for her performance in the blockbuster title ''Film/{{Ghost|1990}}''.

She's appeared in over 150 different movies, and has won two Golden Globe Awards, an Oscar, [[UsefulNotes/GrammyAward a Grammy]], a Tony, three People's Choice Awards, two American Comedy Awards, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, and two Daytime Emmy Awards. This makes her one of just sixteen people to have won UsefulNotes/TheEGOTs, the first African-American performer to do so, and one of just four out of those sixteen whose Emmy is a ''Daytime'' Emmy, not a ''Primetime'' Emmy.[[note]]The others are Robert Lopez, John Legend, and Alan Menken.[[/note]] (But it still counts. [[Series/ThirtyRock Girl's gotta eat!]]) With such a large list of films she's been in, they tend to vary from great inspirational roles like in ''The Color Purple'', to… [[StarDerailingRole well]], ''Film/TheodoreRex''.

Known for tackling serious issues with a sense of humor, she became the highest-paid actress of all time during her peak in TheNineties. Whoopi's first film appearance was in the movie ''Literature/TheColorPurple'', where she garnered an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nomination and a Golden Globe for her performance as a mistreated African American woman in the DeepSouth. Five years later, she won both the Golden Globe and the Oscar for her performance in the blockbuster title ''Film/{{Ghost|1990}}''.

Her casting as Guinan came as a surprise to the public and was seen as something of a step down: Goldberg had already enjoyed success in big budget films (including a critically acclaimed turn in Steven Spielberg's ''Literature/TheColorPurple''), and was suddenly committing to a semi-regular role on television. As she explained to an equally confused Creator/GeneRoddenberry, Whoopi is an AscendedFangirl of [[Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries The Original Series]], with Creator/NichelleNichols' role as Uhura was one of her biggest driving inspirations for becoming an actress. In the late 1990s, she served as the center square on a revival of ''Series/TheHollywoodSquares'' but later left.

* ''Literature/TheColorPurple'' (1985) as Celie Johnson

She's appeared in over 150 different movies, and has won two Golden Globe Awards, an Oscar, [[UsefulNotes/GrammyAward a Grammy]], a Tony, three People's Choice Awards, two American Comedy Awards, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, and two Daytime Emmy Awards. This makes her one of just sixteen people to have won UsefulNotes/TheEGOTs, and one of just four out of those sixteen whose Emmy is a ''Daytime'' Emmy, not a ''Primetime'' Emmy.[[note]]The others are Robert Lopez, John Legend, and Alan Menken.[[/note]] (But it still counts. [[Series/ThirtyRock Girl's gotta eat!]]) With such a large list of films she's been in, they tend to vary from great inspirational roles like in ''The Color Purple'', to… [[StarDerailingRole well]], ''Film/TheodoreRex''.

She was a moderator of the daytime panel talk show ''Series/TheView'' from 2007 until 2022, when she was temporarily suspended by ABC.

* ''[[WesternAnimation/TheMagicRoundabout Doogal]]'' (2006) as Ermintrude

Known for tackling serious issues with a sense of humor, she became the highest-paid actress of all time during her peak in TheNineties. Whoopi's first film appearance was in the movie ''Literature/TheColorPurple'', where she garnered an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward nomination and a Golden Globe for her performance as a mistreated African American woman in the DeepSouth. Five years later, she won both the Golden Globe and the Oscar for her performance in the blockbuster title ''Film/Ghost1990''.

* ''WesternAnimation/Animals2016'' (2017) as Dorothy

* ''WesternAnimation/Luck2022'' as the Captain

* ''Film/TheMuppets'' (2011) as herself

* CreatorBacklash: Subverted with ''Jumpin Jack Flash''. She disliked it initially but warmed to it.

* OldShame:
** She says of ''The Telephone'' that "it read brilliantly but was a cockadoo on the screen".
** "I'm not crazy about ''Fatal Beauty''. It could have been a whole lot better."
** Tried to get out of ''Theodore Rex'', only staying for the paycheck after they threatened to sue her in response.
** She initially defended Bill Cosby when his long history of sexual assault came to light, saying all the women would now be making their cases in court if it were true, not realizing the statue of limitations had run out on many of them.

Her famous roles are as foot-dragging ghost possesee Oda Mae Brown in ''Film/Ghost1990'', bartender/hat enthusiast Guinan on ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', and showgirl-turned-mob informant-turned-nun Sister Mary Clarence in the ''Film/SisterAct'' films. She's also fondly remembered as the Hyena leader, Shenzi, in the animated movie ''WesternAnimation/{{The Lion King|1994}}'' and also did voice work in ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3'' as Stretch.

* PromotedFanboy: She was a huge ''Star Trek'' fan and lobbied hard to be in ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. Creator/GeneRoddenberry had thought that someone of Whoopi's pay grade would be too expensive for the direct-to-syndication show, but she was such a fan of the original series that she wanted to play a part here regardless of the size of the paycheck.