Goldberg, Whoopi (1955– )

US actor and comedian. She made her film debut in Steven Spielberg's The Color Purple (1985), and went on to star in a number of lightweight comedies such as Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986) and Fatal Beauty (1987), before winning a 1991 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Ghost (1990). Sister Act (1992), in which she starred, was one of the highest-grossing films of that year, and led to Sister Act 2 (1993). In 1999 she featured in the acclaimed drama Girl, Interrupted. In 2001 she became the first woman to be awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.

Goldberg initially made her name as a stand-up comedian during the early 1980s. Her other films include The Telephone (1988), The Long Walk Home (1990), Made in America (1993), Boys on the Side (1995), Monkeybone (2001), and Rat Race (2001).