Oprah was born on January 29, 1954, in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Her parents were very poor. Her father, Vernon, worked in a coal mine and her mother, Vernita, cleaned houses. They couldn't look after Oprah, so she lived with her grandmother, Hattie Mae. Oprah was clever. She could read before she was three. When she was 17, she received a scholarship to Tennessee State University, where she studied drama. She also started reading the news at the local radio station.