Whoopi Goldberg got her start working with the dead, says Olga Craig in the London Daily Telegraph. Goldberg grew up in poverty after her father left when she was just 18 months old, and started using heroin in high school. She spent years scraping by as an addict and drop-out. It was only after she got herself cleaned up at age 20 that she decided to pursue a career in comedy. But in order to make ends meet, she took whatever work she could find. After a stint as a bricklayer, she trained as a beautician and landed a job working in a mortuary. “I did people’s makeup. Dead people’s actually.” She won’t ever forget her first day at work. “I got a call saying I was wanted in the boss’ office. Which just happened to be where the bodies were kept in drawers. I went down and there was no one there. So I sat down and waited. A few minutes later I heard sort of creaking. I turned round and one of the drawers was slowly opening. Then someone sat up and waved at me—someone who should have been dead. Man, I was totally freaked out. Turns out it was the boss. He jumped out and said, ‘That’s the worst thing that could ever happen to you here, and it won’t.’” Goldberg shrugs. “It wasn’t such a bad job. And things could only get better.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Sniper kills 2 Idaho firefighters in ambushSpeed Read A man started a wildfire, then fired a rifle at first responders when they arrived
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts moreSpeed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
June 30 editorial cartoonsCartoons Monday’s political cartoons include Jeff Bezos' wedding, mixed signals from the Democratic party, RFK Jr. denying vaccines, and a love-struck Donald Trump
