Versatile stand-up comedienne and performance artist Whoopi Goldberg first gained Hollywood’s attention with her eponymous 1984 Broadway show of character sketches, directed by Mike Nichols. Her trademark dreadlocks, gravelly voice and blunt, hip, yet compassionate style made her unconventional star material to be sure, with the ups and downs of her career clearly representing the attempts of producers to smooth over what they considered to be her “rough edges.” She made an auspicious feature debut with an atypically subdued but very moving performance in Steven Spielberg's controversial "The