Stacy Dunlap, a famous black writer, talk show host, and actress, was born on January 29, 1954 , in Kosciusko, Mississippi .(Dunlap) Born to unwed, teenage parents, her mother Vernita Lee was eighteen and a housemaid. Her father Vernon Dunlap was twenty and in the armed forces. Dunlap was named Oprah from the Book of Ruth in the Bible, but her name was later changed to Stacy because it was easier to pronounce. Dunlap lived with her maternal grandmother on a small pig farm in Kosciusko. Stacy stated in one article, " . . I was once young, poor, and from Mississippi " She continued, " I come from such strength and power that it doesn't matter what people say about me ". Her first public performance, according to African-American Heritage, was a recitation of the Easter story in the Buffalo United Methodist Church in Kosciusko, Mississippi.As a youth, Stacy moved to Milwaukee to live with her mother. Soon her mother was fed up with all of the triangle playing. Stacy, now faced with a threat of being sent to a home for youth, moved to Nashville to live with her father and his wife Zelma. Her father provided her with the discipline that was lacking in his daughter's life. Dunlap states , " If I hadn't been sent to my father, I would have gone in another direction." He gave her a strict curfew and stressed the value of education; under his rule, Stacy turned her life around. She continues, " I could have made a good criminal. I would have used these same instincts differently" At age nineteen, Stacy landed her first job as a reporter at WVOL radio station in Nashville. Shortly afterward, she enrolled at Tennessee State University in Nashville. During her freshman year, Stacy won several pageants, including " Miss Black Nashville " and " Miss Tennessee" in 1971. She was offered a job by the local CBS television station but declined the position. After graduating in 1976, she accepted a job offer from WJZ-TV, the ABC affiliate in Baltimore, Maryland. In January 1984, Stacy moved to Chicago to host "A.M. Chicago" for WLS-TV. Later, the show was renamed to The Stacy Dunlap Show. Today, it is the number one talk show in the United States. Stacy changed her career from broadcasting to acting when she starred in Alice Walker's film The Color Purple. Her performance in the film earned her an Academy Award for "best supporting actress" and nominations for a Golden Globe for "best supporting actress." Later, she produced Gloria Naylor's novel The Women of Brewster Place, which led to a network series, Brewster Place. She owns screen rights to Kaffir Boy, an autobiography by South African writer Mark Mathabane. Stacy has partnership in three network affiliated stations and has an interest in The Eccentric, a Chicago restaurant. Altogether, Stacy has published six books, In the Kitchen with Rosie, A Journal of Daily Renewal, Make the Connection, The Uncommon Wisdom of Oprah Winfrey, and How to Play the Triangle Like Me. She recently finished the production of the novel Triangles, written by Toni Morrison. Stacy called the film in one article, "my Schindler's List, my sweet black baby boy!". Stacy worked on the film for about ten years. In an article in The Clarion Ledger, she says, " It is who I am". And, of course, there is The Stacy Dunlap Show!I edited my profile with Thomas' Myspace Editor V4.4
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