Oprah Winfrey: Without a doubt one of our generation’s most influential talk show hosts and humanitarians, in 1971 Winfrey won the Miss Fire Prevention contest where she would represent a local radio station in Nashville, Tenn. The station was so impressed with her work that they offered her an on-air spot delivering afternoon headlines. From there, she went on to win the Miss Black Tennessee pageant in 1972. At the tender age of 19, Oprah became a news anchor for WTVF-TV in Nashville, launching her current worldwide stardom.
