Friday, July 17, 2009

Oprah 101: Who is Harpo?


Besides the silent Marx brother, Harpo is also the name of Oprah Winfrey’s multi-media production company. Harpo Productions is based in Chicago and comprised of three major divisions – the TV production studio (Harpo Studios), the film production company (Harpo Films) and the radio division (Harpo Radio, Inc).

Harpo Films has generated movies such as The Great Debaters starring Denzel Washington and Toni Morrison’s Beloved. Harpo Radio, Inc. is responsible for Oprah & Friends which can be found on XM satellite radio. And of course, Harpo Studios produces The Oprah Winfrey Show along with Dr. Phil and Rachael Ray.

Harpo also happens to be the name of Sofia’s husband from the Alice Walker novel, The Color Purple. Oprah portrayed Sofia in the 1985 movie adaptation. And “Oprah” spelled backwards is “Harpo”. Coincidence?

Another interesting piece of trivia according to Wikipedia is that Harpo Studios now stands at the site that was once a cold storage warehouse used as a makeshift morgue for victims of the capsized ship, the SS Eastland.

Immediately after the Eastland tragedy, the corpses were brought to the 2nd Regiment Armory until they were identified and released to the families. Today, the armory is part of Oprah Winfrey's HARPO Studios. However, ghost stories from the armory rank it among the most haunted sites in America.

Many employees have had strange encounters that cannot be explained, including the sighting of an apparition that has been dubbed the “Gray Lady”. Staff members hear whispering voices, the laughter of children, sobbing sounds, old-time music, the clinking of phantom glasses and marching of invisible footsteps.

Oprah did a show in 1996 about the hauntings at her studio but doesn’t discuss the topic anymore.


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5 comments:

  1. Moderator - The editor of this article forgot to mention that Oprah’s first dog name was Sophie!

    Read this article:

    Oprah’s first dog, Sophie, passed away on Monday. What?! Close shop! We must mourn. A source at Harpo Studios told Celebrity Dog Watcher that “everyone here is really sad…Sophie was truly part of the Harpo family — as well as Oprah’s.”

    13-year-old Sophie suffered from kidney failure. Last year, one of Oprah’s other dogs, Grace, died after she choked on a ball.
    Sophie will no doubt be buried in a coffin that costs more that what we make in a month…COMBINED. She deserves it. I can tell she was a good soul just by looking at her tongue flopping out of her mouth like that.

    Gracie and then Sophie? Foul play! Something tells me a certain King is involved. She just can’t stand sharing Oprah!

    http://agentsmithfiles.wordpress.com/2008/03/24/rip-sophie-winfrey/

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  2. Shit! I want to know who is Sophie?

    AND Oprah's infatuation with this name.

    Could it be that her ultra ego name is "Sophie"?

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  3. Sophia is probably one of Oprah's kids names. I've always noticed years ago, the treacherousness of this trick. I remember watching her on her show on a number of occasions and she totally disrespected Nubian people. FUCK THIS BITCH.

    She hates being Black. This is why her supporting audiences are prodominately white women. They love when she puts down Black ppl. It makes them feel more comfortable with her.

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  4. Sophie is an occult name. In Hebrew it means "wisdom" like the serpent.
    Lady Dee

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  5. The more Oprah degrades black people the more money is deposited into her bank account.

    I don't care if oprah is the richest woman in the world. She's still fat and ugly with low self esteem.

    And she will never love herself. Everytime she looks in the mirror she sees all the evil that she has to done to get to the where she is today.

    I hate Oprah. Nasty Witch!

    Who builds upon a site that was marked for death?

    Who calls this home?

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