In an emotional evening that saw Winfrey wiping away tears and leaning heavily on longtime partner Stedman Graham, the former talk show host accepted theAcademy of Motion Picture's Arts & Science's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, given periodically for philanthropic efforts.
"I never imagined receiving an Oscar, especially for doing what is part of my calling, part of my being," said Winfrey, 57, who gave an Oscar-nominated performance in 1985'sThe Color Purple and was a producer on the films Belovedand Precious.
"If you are not a former colored girl born in Mississippi in 1954," she said, "it is impossible for you to know what this journey has meant."
On hand for the event were such friends of Oprah as Tyler Perry, Sidney Poitier, Gayle King, John Travolta and Maria Shriver, who helped present the award to her former WJZ Baltimore colleague.
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