The Genesis of an Icon
Before the world knew her as Whoopi Goldberg, she was Caryn Elaine Johnson, born on November 13, 1955, in Manhattan, New York.
The absence of her father, a Baptist clergyman, left her mother, Emma Johnson, to single-handedly raise Whoopi and her brother, Clyde, juggling roles as a teacher and a nurse to ensure their wellbeing.
