Whoopi Goldberg
Booking Whoopi Goldberg
To book Whoopi Goldberg or another Comedian for your private party, corporate event, fundraiser or other function, please fill out our Booking Agent Entertainment Request Form to quickly connect with one of our Booking Agents.
We will work with you to produce a memorable event. Get started now by filling out our no-obligation Booking Agent Entertainment Request Form and we will work with you to book Whoopi Goldberg or another Comedian artist for your event.
Whoopi Goldberg’s Biography
With her trademark dreadlocks, wide impish grin, and piercing humor, Goldberg is best known for her adept portrayals in both comedic and dramatic roles, as well as her groundbreaking work in the Hollywood film industry as an African-American woman. Goldberg unknowingly suffered from dyslexia, which affected her studies and ultimately induced her to drop out of high school at the age of 17.
In 1983, she starred in the enormously popular The Spook Show. The one-woman Off-Broadway production featured her own original comedy material that addressed the issue of race in America with unique profundity, style, and wit.
By 1984, director Mike Nichols had moved The Spook Show to a Broadway stage, and in 1985, Goldberg won a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for the recording of skits taken from the show. At the same time, she began to receive significant attention from Hollywood insiders. Director Steven Spielberg cast Goldberg in the leading female role of his 1985 production of The Color Purple (adapted from the novel by Alice Walker), a film that went on to earn 10 Academy Award and five Golden Globe nominations. Goldberg herself received an Oscar nomination and her first Golden Globe for Best Actress.
Goldberg’s success with The Color Purple launched a highly visible acting career. Since 1985, she has appeared in over 80 film and television productions. Her early film credits include the spy comedy Jumpin’ Jack Flash (1986), directed by Penny Marshall; Fatal Beauty (1987), costarring Sam Elliott; Clara’s Heart (1988); Homer & Eddie (1989), costarring James Belushi; and the civil rights period drama, The Long Walk Home (1990), costarring Sissy Spacek.
Goldberg won numerous awards for her supporting role as Oda Mae Brown in Ghost (1990), including an Oscar (becoming only the second African-American actress ever to win) and her second Golden Globe That same year, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People named Goldberg the Black Entertainer of the Year, and she also collected an Excellence Award at the Women in Film Festival.
In 1991, Whoopie Goldberg appeared in the comedy Soapdish with an all-star cast featuring Sally Field, Kevin Kline, and Elisabeth Shue, among others. She then appeared as Detective Susan Avery in Robert Altman’s well received parody of the Hollywood movie business, The Player (1992), starring Tim Robbins.
Also in 1992, she starred in the enormously popular Sister Act as a world-weary lounge singer disguised as a nun hiding from the mob. Directed by Emile Ardolino, Sister Act earned Goldberg an American Comedy Award for Funniest Actress in a Motion Picture, as well as another Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress in a Comedy. The surprising success of this film led to Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), directed by Bill Duke, and featuring Maggie Smith (reprising her role as Mother Superior), James Coburn, and then-unknown R&B artist, Lauryn Hill.
Goldberg launched her own television talk show, The Whoopi Goldberg Show, in 1992. Featuring Goldberg in one-on-one interviews with prominent political and Hollywood celebrities, the talk show ran for 200 episodes until 1993. That year, Goldberg also appeared in the feature film Made in America (1993), costarring her then-boyfriend Ted Danson.
In 1994, 1996, and 1999, she hosted the Academy Awards making her the only woman to ever do so. Since 1986, she has also co-hosted Comic Relief, an annual live showcase of big-ticket comedians (including Comic Relief cohosts Robin Williams and Billy Crystal) to raise money for the homeless.
In 1998, Goldberg began appearing on the celebrity game show Hollywood Squares, for which she won a daytime Emmy Award for two consecutive years. She has appeared in numerous other television productions, most notably Star Trek: Generations (1994).
Goldberg’s recent film appearances include The Deep End of the Ocean (1999), starring Michelle Pfeiffer, and Girl, Interrupted (1999), costarring Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie (who won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role). In 2004, she returned to Broadway to star in a self-titled one-woman show. In July 2006, Whoopi debuted a syndicated radio show titled Wake Up With Whoopi .
Whoopi Goldberg became moderator of the daytime talk show ‘The View’ on September 4, 2007.
Goldberg holds a Ph.D. in literature from New York University and an honorary degree from Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pennsylvania.
Having an Event?
Our Services Include
- Contacting and negotiating with celebrity talent
- Facilitating communication between talent and your staff
- As necessary, our production staff is available to oversee all production elements, ensuring a performance that will exceed expectations
- Looking for a headline entertainer? Contact us and let’s discuss the opportunities that are available to you.