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
i m not a great reader. you have to show me, you have to tell me. and then i can sort of go wherever i need to go. and so for me, my interest in learning was lit by her saying, you can t just do nothing. how did it inspire you? and what.? it inspired me to ask questions, to say, i don t understand, can you help me understand? or, what s the most interesting thing i need to know about this? and, you know, in the 60s, you could do stuff like that. things were free. public lectures? public lectures on all kinds of crazy stuff. so you were mixing with adults a lot during the daytime when, ordinarily, you would be at school. some. you were later known as a comic storyteller on stage. yes. were you drawing on some of those people that you met on the streets, on the people around you, in the community? just people i passed, you know? i would love to tell you it was as organised as you re. ..as you re talking about it, but it wasn t.
and then i can sort of go wherever i need to go. and so for me, my interest in learning was lit by her saying, you can tjust do nothing. how did it inspire you? it inspired me to ask questions, to say, i don t understand, can you help me understand? or, what s the most interesting thing i need to know about this? and, you know, in the 60s, you could do stuff like that. things were free. public lectures? public lectures on all kinds of crazy stuff. so you were mixing with adults a lot during the daytime when, ordinarily, you would be at school. some. you were later known as a comic storyteller on stage. yes. were you drawing on some of those people that you met on the streets, on the people around you, in the community? just people i passed, you know? i would love to tell you it was as organised as you re. ..as you re talking