So, this week, I am talking about famous Oprah moments. After all, the groundbreaking talk show host has been on television for 22 years, there has to be a few incredible moments other than just Tom Cruise’s couch jumping. Here are some more remarkable Oprah moments:
Oprah Interviews Betty Broderick
In 1992, Oprah had a bit of a Geraldo moment when she interviewed murderer Betty Broderick. Broderick had killed her husband and his lover, but Oprah wanted to get behind the real story. As Betty put it, attorney Dan Broderick and she had had a perfect marriage until he fell in love with his 22-year-old legal assistant, Linda. Dan filed for divorce, gained custody of their four children, and Betty snapped. She drove to Dan’s home, found him and Linda asleep in the bed, and shot them to death.
Betty was convicted of the two murders and sentenced to 32 years in prison. Later, Oprah interviewed the couple’s youngest son, Rhett, who was 10 at the time of the murders. He was at Betty’s house the morning she committed the crime. When a family friend told him of the murders, he said he remembered thinking that he wasn’t that surprised. He had told his dad that the kids wanted to live with their mom and if she didn’t have them, they all felt she would do something irrational. Growing up, he was shuffled between relatives and eventually ended up in a boot camp for trouble teens. With his mom being in prison most of his life; Rhett now thinks she should be released, saying she was not a danger to society.
Erin Kramp’s Legacy
Erin Kramp was living a great life as a wife and mother, until a breast cancer diagnosis shook her world. Knowing she was going to succumb to the cancer, she began recording hours of advice to leave behind for her 6-year-old daughter Peyton. Erin also wrote letters to Peyton and even prepared gifts for her to open every Christmas and birthday after she was gone.
After her mother’s death, when Peyton was 13, Oprah interviewed her. She said at first, it was emotional for her to see and hear her mother. However, it also made her feel like she was having a conversation with her mom. All in all, Erin left her daughter more than 100 video and audiotapes. Peyton said listening to them made her feel special.
In one of the tapes, Erin told Peyton she hoped her father Doug would remarry. Three years after Erin’s death, Doug, who had initially thought he would never remarry, met Cheryl. Peyton and Cheryl eventually bonded and Doug and Cheryl married in 2003, with Peyton serving as the maid of honor. You know there wasn’t a dry eye in the Oprah audience that day!
Still more unforgettable Oprah moments to come in my next blog!