Little Known Fact about Oprah Winfrey, Tina Turner, Diana Ross and The Color Purple

The Color Purple has been called a cinematic classic. Did you know that in the movie, The Color Purple, Diana Ross and Tina Turner both turned down the part of Shug Avery?

Did you also know that Oprah Winfrey was so into her character that she made up ALL of her lines at the dinner table scene by the suggestion of the director, Steven Spielberg. She was instructed to say what she thought the character would say at that moment.

This line coming from Oprah came from the heart and earned Oprah an Academy Award Nomination for Best Supporting Actress: Sat in that jail, I sat in that jail til I near about done rot to death. I know what it like to wanna go somewhere and can’t. I know what it like to wanna sing… and have it beat out ‘ya. I want to thank you, Miss Celie, fo everything you done for me. I ‘members that day in the store with Miss Millie – I’s feelin’ real down. I’s feelin’ mighty bad. And when I seed you – I know’d there is a God. I know’d there is a God.

The Color Purple was nominated for eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress for Goldberg and Best Supporting Actress for both Avery and Winfrey. It failed to win any of them, tying the record set by 1977’s The Turning Point for the most Oscar nominations without a single win.