Oprah Winfrey has been named America's leading philanthropic celebrity after handing over more than $50 million to charities in the past year.

The media queen tops a new list of generous stars, compiled by The Giving Back Fund and America's Parade magazine, which will be published this weekend.

Winfrey's personal donations to The Oprah Winfrey Foundation and Oprahs Angel Network have helped to provide education and healthcare for women and children worldwide - and her generosity has given her the charity edge over musicians Herb Alpert and Barbra Streisand.

Music mogul Alpert comes in second after handing out $13 million to music education programmes and Streisand comes in third.

Actors Paul Newman and Mel Gibson round out the top five.