• Faith: Christian - Catholic
• Career: Actress
• Birthday:  November 13, 1955

Caryn Elaine Johnson, known as Whoopi Goldberg, is a comedian, actor, and television personality. A recipient of several accolades, she's one of the 19 entertainers to win the EGOT, which includes an Emmy Award, a Grammy, an Academy Award, and a Tony Award. In 2001, she received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. She started her career on stage in 1983 with her one-woman show "Spook Show," which transferred to Broadway under the title Whoopi Goldberg, running from 1984 to 1985. She won a Grammy for Best Comedy Album for the recording of the show. Her film breakthrough came in 1985 with her role as Celie, a mistreated woman in the Deep South, in "The Color Purple," for which she won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama.

For her role as an eccentric psychic in "Ghost," she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and a second Golden Globe Award. She starred in "Sister Act" and its sequel "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit," becoming the highest-paid actress at the time. She also starred in "Jumpin' Jack Flash," "Clara's Heart,” "Soapdish," and "Till." Goldberg is also known for voicing roles in "Toy Story 3" and "The Lion King." On stage, Goldberg has starred in the Broadway revivals of "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum" and "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom." She won a Tony Award as a producer of the musical "Thoroughly Modern Millie." In 2011, she received her third Tony Award nomination for the stage adaptation of "Sister Act." On TV, Goldberg played Guinan on "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and "Star Trek: Picard." Since 2007, she's moderated and co-hosted the daytime talk show "The View," for which she won the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host. She's hosted the Academy Awards ceremony four times.

Whoopi Goldberg was born in Manhattan, New York City, in 1955 and was the daughter of Emma and Robert, who was a Baptist clergyman. She was raised in a public housing project, the Chelsea-Elliot Houses, in New York City. She described her mother as a "stern, strong, and wise woman" who raised her as a single mother with her brother, Clyde. She attended a local Catholic school, St. Columba's. She dropped out of Washington Irving High School. Goldberg has said that her stage forename, Whoopi, was taken from a whoopee cushion. She said, "When you're performing on stage, you never really have time to go into the bathroom and close the door. So if you get a little gassy, you've got to let it go. So people used to say to me, 'You're like a whoopee cushion.' And that's where the name came from."

What religion is Whoopi Goldberg?

Whoopi Goldberg identifies as a Catholic. She attended a Catholic school and even delivered some film merchandise from "Sister Act" to Pope Francis. While describing the meeting, she said, "He was quite amazing. He is exactly what I hoped he would be, which is a pope for all people regardless of religion, which I really appreciated. I wanted to thank him for all of my gay friends and for all of my divorced friends because he basically has said, 'Listen, God loves you no matter what, come back to the church.' I appreciated that."