Background and career
Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality. She is one of 28 entertainers to receive the EGOT, consisting of an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar (Academy Award), and a Tony Award. Her other accolades include a BAFTA and two Golden Globes. She received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2001, the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2010, and the Disney Legend Award in 2017.
Goldberg began her career on stage with a series of one-woman shows, and a recording of her Broadway show Whoopi Goldberg (1984–1985) won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album. For playing a mistreated woman in the Deep South in Steven Spielberg's period drama The Color Purple (1985), she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress and was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She followed this with leading roles in the comedy Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986) and the drama Clara's Heart (1988), and played Guinan in the science fiction series Star Trek: The Next Generation (1988–1993). Her portrayal of an eccentric psychic in the romantic fantasy Ghost (1990) won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, making her the second African-American woman to win an Oscar.
Goldberg headlined the comedies Sister Act (1992) and its sequel Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), becoming the highest-paid actress at the time. She also acted in the comedies Soapdish (1991) and Corrina, Corrina (1994), the dramas Ghosts of Mississippi (1996) and Girl, Interrupted (1999), and voiced Shenzi the hyena in the animated feature The Lion King (1994). She returned to stage in the late 1990s, starring in revivals of Stephen Sondheim's musical A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (2002) and August Wilson's play Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (2003), and winning the Tony Award for Best Musical for producing Thoroughly Modern Millie (2002).
Since 2007, Goldberg has co-hosted and moderated the daytime talk show The View, winning a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host from ten nominations, and hosted the Academy Awards four times. She joined the stage adaptation of Sister Act (2011) as a performer and producer, and appeared in the animated film Toy Story 3 (2010) and the biographical drama Till (2022). She also reprised the role of Guinan in the series Star Trek: Picard (2022) and played Miss Hannigan in a revival of Annie (2025–2026).
How Whoopi Goldberg makes money
It grossed well over US$200 million (equivalent to $459 million in 2025), and Goldberg was nominated for a Golden Globe Award. With an estimated salary of $7–12 million for Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), she was the highest-paid actress at the time.
Sources
Net-worth figure: Celebrity Net Worth (2026-08-05), in USD. Biography and career facts: the person's Wikipedia article and linked reporting. Snapshot date for all StarWorth figures: 28 October 2026.
