“We talk on the phone maybe a couple of times a year,” Vernon told Radar, noting their birthdays were two days apart. “We'll talk for about 20 minutes."
Oprah spent her early childhood at her father’s hometown of Kosciusko, Mississippi, and in Milwaukee with her mother, Vernita Lee, who died in 2018. However, she also lived with her father in Nashville, between the ages of 7 and 9 and during her teens.
Outspoken Vernon said his dying wish is to visit one of Oprah's many mansions, specifically her waterfront home on 1,800 idyllic acres in Hawaii.
"I told her I'd like to come and see it before I'm too old to travel," Vernon added in the 2018 interview. "But it's not just a matter of calling her up and telling her I'm coming. She could be anywhere at any given time."