Whoopi Goldberg

In her two-hour-plus interview, Whoopi Goldberg talks about growing up in Chelsea, Manhattan, and describes the plays (The Great White Hope, starring James Earl Jones) and films (In the Heat of the Night, starring Sidney Poitier) that made an impact on her when she was young. She details how she left New York to begin her career as a performer and outlines the development of the topics and characters for her one-woman show, The Spook Show. She explains how Mike Nichols got involved with the show and helped bring it to Broadway, and tells of how much seeing a Black woman (Nichelle Nichols as "Lieutenant Uhura") in the future-set world of Star Trek meant to her and made her want to be a part of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Goldberg then describes how she was cast as "Celie" in the film The Color Purple and shares what she learned about film acting and film production from that first film experience. She tells of attending the Academy Awards as a nominee for her role in The Color Purple and also of her experiences as a four-time host of the Academy Awards. She talks about her involvement in Comic Relief specials, getting to know Billy Crystal and Robin Williams, and rebooting The Hollywood Squares. She explains the controversy surrounding her short-lived sitcom, Whoopi, and how it impacted her career, and reveals how Barbara Walters revived her career after Whoopi was canceled by asking her to become a co-host on The View. Goldberg concludes with remarks about the HBO documentary she produced, Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley, and shares advice that she would give to her younger self. Dan Pasternack conducted the interview in a joint venture with the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Visual History Program on June 6, 2018 in New York, NY.