Whoopi Goldberg, who has spent the past 30 years racking up accolades and adding hyphens to her occupation, is 60 today. Sometimes I think people forget some of her more extraordinary accomplishments, even they know her as the only African-American woman to win an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony. Here are some of the most essential Whoopi moments.
The classic: “You in danger, girl.”
In this short burst of cautionary sass, Whoopi turned the hokey caper “Ghost” into a lovable phenomenon. The scene where she hands a check for $4 million to unsuspecting nuns is a gem too.
She wasn't getting the roles she wanted, so she wrote a dynamite one for herself.
Whoopi made a name for herself on Broadway, and Bette Midler and Mike Nichols were among the first to notice.
She made Comic Relief edgy. (NSFW)
I forget sometimes that Lorena Bobbitt was such a shocking topic. I also forgot that Whoopi did an amazing bit about how she'd have handled that situation differently.
“Sister Act” ruled.
Is this somehow remembered as Kathy Najimy's second-best movie after “Hocus Pocus”? We need to correct that nostalgia.
Her Oscar speech was adorable. Because she was stoned.
That's one way to handle the pressure of being nominated against Annette Bening.
Her most underrated performance: “Soapdish”
Whoopi plays a hard-bitten soap writer in “Soapdish” who pairs comic exasperation with executive-level cool. It's on Netflix. Enjoy.
She made the top ten in our countdown of the funniest women of the past half-century.