Whoopi Goldberg is a girl.
Caryn Elaine Johnson ( born November 13 , 1955 ) , known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg ( [ ˈwhʊpi ] ) , is an American actress , comedian , author and television host . She was the second black woman in the history of the Academy Awards to win an acting Oscar . In the period drama film The Color Purple ( 1985 ) , her breakthrough role was playing Celie , a mistreated black woman in the Deep South , for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress . In 1992 , she starred as a pretend nun in the comedy Sister Act .