What Oprah Winfrey's Parents Really Did For A Living

Oprah Winfrey's parents had much simpler jobs than their famous offspring.

Winfrey is one of Hollywood's most highly-regarded self-made entrepreneurs. According to Forbes, Winfrey is worth $2.5 billion as of June 2023 and is one of only 14 Black billionaires on the entire planet (via Atlanta-Journal Constitution). Winfrey amassed her extraordinary wealth by building an international media corporation. Her most successful project was "The Oprah Winfrey Show," which spanned 25 years. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Winfrey's series finale achieved an 18-year high, with 16.4 million viewers. But Winfrey has been successful in several industries, like film, television, and publishing. Not to mention, Winfrey's influence and popularity have allowed her to endorse many products.

Even though Winfrey has much more money than she could ever spend, building wealth wasn't her biggest priority. "I worked, and consciously aspired, not to be rich, but to be surrounded by beautiful things," wrote Winfrey for Oprah Magazine. Winfrey's first splurge was a set of designer towels. "And when I could, eventually, afford to splurge on something beautiful, something that gave me pleasure every time I looked at—or even thought about—it, that something was...bath towels," continued Winfrey. Of course, Winfrey has also used her wealth on grander purchases, including her $100 million home. 

Despite Winfrey's enormous success, her parents Vernon Winfrey, and Vernita Lee had very normal jobs.

Oprah Winfrey's late father, Vernon Winfrey made a living as a barber. According to Oprah Daily, Oprah showcased her father's barbershop during a 1992 episode of "The Oprah Winfrey Show." Her father was super dedicated to his craft. "My father and his partner, Mr. Eddins, they never closed the store," shared Oprah (via Oprah Daily). "Not one day in 17 years—births, deaths, marriages, they never closed the store," she added.

A few years ago, Oprah Winfrey produced a special called "Honoring Our Kings, Celebrating Black Fathers." To promote the event, Oprah sat down with People and shared some more heartwarming details about Vernon. Even though her parents weren't in an exclusive relationship, her dad took on parental duties, which she believes helped her achieve worldwide fame. "And the responsibility that he took for me, not just a responsibility but care and love and direction and support as a young teenage girl, is the thing that made the difference in me being who I am now or somebody you would have never, ever heard of," shared Winfrey. She also mentioned seeing other examples of devoted fathers in Vernon's workplace. "I saw that over and over again in my father's barbershop," Winfrey continued. "Men would come in, hardworking men, doing everything they could in their lives to support their families, working sometimes two and three jobs to do that."

Oprah Winfrey's mother, Vernita Lee was a maid, according to People. During a 2007 interview with WISN 12 News, Lee reminisced about the job she took after first moving to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. "I came to Milwaukee when I was 20 years old," said Lee. "When I first came to Milwaukee, it was two weeks before I found a good job, and I started to work at a dry-cleaning place." As a young woman, Lee rode the bus to get around, but by the time this interview took place, it'd been years since she'd had to use public transportation or work at all. "It feels very good that I don't have to work anymore and it's because of Oprah," said Lee. Unfortunately, Lee passed away in 2018. 

Following her death, Winfrey shared the poignant last conversation she had with her mom. "What I said was, 'Thank you. Thank you, because I know it's been hard for you. It was hard for you as a young girl having a baby, in Mississippi. No education. No training. No skills," Winfrey shared with People. "Seventeen, you get pregnant with this baby. Lots of people would have told you to give that baby away. Lots of people would've told you to abort that baby. You didn't do that ... I want you to know that no matter what, I know that you always did the best you knew how to do. And look how it turned out.'"