Now on bbc news. This cultural life whoopi goldberg. Whoopi goldberg is one of the very few people to have won all four of americas big entertainment awards. Whoopi goldberg . Emmy, grammy, oscarand tony, for her work in film, theatre and television. Lovely to meet you. Thank you. Please take a seat. Brought up by a single mother in a new york housing project, she first made her name with a solo comedy show onstage before turning to dramatic acting roles, starting with her movie debut in The Color Purple. Until you do right by me, everything you think about is going to crumble. Since then, shes made around 100 films, including ghost and sister act. Shes hosted the Academy Awards several times and has forged a career as an outspoken and Controversial Television personality. The craziness of whats going on in this country at the moment. Lets mic you up. In this episode of this cultural life, the radio 4 programme, she reveals herformative influences and experiences. Just come on under th
to this cultural life. thank you. on this cultural life, i ask my guests to reflect on the most significant influences and experiences that have shaped their own creativity. you were born and raised in chelsea in new york city in the late 50s and the 60s? yes. what are your earliest cultural memories as a child? you re talking about a little kid, i m a little kid? the most important thing to me was that the people around me, again, the people around me never said, you can t do this. so you want to know what the inspiration was? it was my mother. cos my mother said, if that s what you want to do, sure, let s find out how to do it. what about school? what sort of pupil were you? i was not a great pupil. i was dyslexic. i am dyslexic. but didn t know at the time? at the time, no. they just thought i was just being lazy. my mum didn t think i wasjust being lazy, shejust didn t. she said, i don t know what it is, but, you know, it s ok. and so she didn t allow people to ca
yes. what are your earliest cultural memories as a child? you re talking about a little kid, i m a little kid? the most important thing to me was that the people around me, again, the people around me never said, you can t do this. so you want to know what the inspiration was? it was my mother. cos my mother said, if that s what you want to do, sure, let s find out how to do it. what about school? what sort of pupil were you? i was not a great pupil. i was dyslexic. i am dyslexic. but didn t know at the time? at the time, no. they just thought i was just being lazy. my mum didn t think i wasjust being lazy, shejust didn t. she said, i don t know what it is, but, you know, it s ok. and so she didn t allow people to call me stupid or any of the words that lots of people had to deal with. i know i m talking a lot about my mum, but i. i was very blessed to have the woman that i had as a mother because she was just odd enough to recognise the oddity in her child. and that w
and so she didn t allow people to call me stupid or any of the words that lots of people had to deal with. i know i m talking a lot about my mum, but i. i was very blessed to have the woman that i had as a mother because she was just odd enough to recognise the oddity in her child. and that was kind of groovy. i read that you left school very early, before you were supposed to. yes. ..so how were you educated? i was educated all over the place. i made a deal because i couldn t take high school. i couldn t do it, it was really hard. and my mother said, listen, you cannot run in the streets, but what i will do with you is, we will together find the places where you can go, to the museums, you can go to a lecture. we will find these places together. and when i come from work and i say to you, what did you learn today? where did your mind go? , you have to tell me. and i was lucky enough because i. you need to show me things, i don t. i m not a great reader. you have to
looking good, my name is fontaine. and love is my game. and when i kiss the girls, hey, they all aflame. come on, let me kiss your hand. no, the one with the diamonds on it. laughter and he ends up - going across to europe and ends up in amsterdam, at the anne frank house. and i ran to the door, but i got stopped by a big sign.that said, in spite of everything, i still believe people are good at heart. i say, what?! i mean, who put this up? why would they put it in this room, huh? i just couldn t understand it, you know? so i copped am attitude, decided to write a letter to the author of the quote so i got up close enough to see the author s name and myjaw dropped cos it said, anne frank. and i thought, this is too childish forwords, man. and as soon as i said that, it made perfect sense. of course anne frank could say that. she was a child, she was a kid. and, you know, no matter what you do to children,