All About Laughs
Whitney Houston, an absolute legendary figure and mainstay in music even after years since her passing, suffered from a monkey on her back that for a long time, many did not know about. Whitney brought forth hits such as “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”, “I Will Always Love You”, “My Love Is Your Love”, and many more. Sadly her issues with drugs ultimately led her to her demise. Whitney was one of those artists that have impacted music for generations, and her friends continue to reminisce on their friend, including her co-star in one of her starring roles, Denzel Washington.
The 1996 film The Preacher’s Wife, which was a remake of the 1947 film The Bishop’s Wife, starred Whitney Houston as well as Washington, Loretta Devine, Jenifer Lewis, and more. When Houston was approached for the film, she initially wanted to turn it down as she was not really interested in acting as much, even though starring in The Bodyguard (which she also initially passed on).
Speaking on her happenstance into acting Houston once said in an interview, “It kind of just happened. After ‘The Bodyguard,’ I think Hollywood saw me as they did Streisand when Streisand was first coming out,” she said, according to Huff Post. “‘We can hire her for the movie, but we need her to sing.’ I didn’t plan it. Like doing ‘[Waiting to] Exhale,’ I didn’t want to sing at all. I just wanted to act. And then [Babyface] and I got together… and it just started developing into something else, and he said, ‘Well, all right, I’ve got this song for you I want you to sing.’ What I plan to do doesn’t always work out that way, but the music and movies seem to go hand in hand.”
Initially, Julia Roberts was the actress in mind to play the role of “Julia” in the film, but Denzel Washington immediately persuaded Houston to do it. “Denzel, in his convincing voice, said to me, ‘We have to do this movie. It has to be done,” the singer explained. “It is essential that African-American actors play these roles of people who have a life, people who care, people who give, people who believe, people who have faith in the community and stick with that. Because a lot of that has been drained out of the urban communities.”
She added, “Children don’t have fear anymore. They don’t have any hope. They don’t respect their parents.’ And we just talked, he and I and his wife, about what was happening to our youth and how important it was to concentrate on that. And after he talked to me for about an hour or two, he cornered me and said, ‘We’ve got to do this!’”
Her performance in the film, especially her singing (and on the soundtrack) was praised by many. What many did not know, is she had been involved in usage during (and before) filming. In the book A Song For You: My Life With Whitney Houston authored by her best friend and former lover, Robyn Crawford, she revealed the beginning of Houston’s [substance] usage (as well as hers) and details times that she would encounter the singer using while working.
“I would remind Whitney that, now you know, we said, doing coke couldn’t go where we’re going, and we’re already there,” wrote Crawford in the book. “So, we shouldn’t be doing it. And I noticed that she would go ahead and do it. She was having difficulty stopping.”
Sadly in 2012, Whitney Elizabeth Houston was found in a hotel bathroom in Beverly Hills. Denzel Washington, Academy-Award winning actor who played the role of “Dudley” in the film, spoke on his friend’s passing with GQ. “Whitney was my girl, and she had done so well in recovery,” he said. “And that is the toughest part about addiction.”
Elsewhere he added, “Whitney was such a sweet, sweet girl and really just a humble girl. You know, they made her this thing. She had a voice, obviously, but they packaged her into this whole whatever. But she was really just this humble, sweet girl… I was listening to her song “I Look to You.” It’s prophetic. Maybe I’m speaking out of line. Maybe she thought she could have one. And then the next thing you know, her body was betraying her. She didn’t know that her body was aging quickly. She couldn’t take it. Your body can only take so much. Some people survive [Hollywood and fame], and some people don’t.”
Washington recalled her issues with coke as a “monster drug that got ahold of her. It was a mean one,” said the actor. “You can’t go back to that one. Nobody beats that. I look at people—and I don’t think I’m speaking out of line—Sam Jackson, I’ve known for thirty-some-odd years, he was down at the bottom. And he came all the way back. And when he cleaned up, he never looked back. But he can’t have that beer, because it might lead to the tough thing.”
Initially, Julia Roberts was the actress in mind to play the role of “Julia” in the film, but Denzel Washington immediately persuaded Houston to do it. “Denzel, in his convincing voice, said to me, ‘We have to do this movie. It has to be done,” the singer explained. “It is essential that African-American actors play these roles of people who have a life, people who care, people who give, people who believe, people who have faith in the community and stick with that. Because a lot of that has been drained out of the urban communities.”
She added, “Children don’t have fear anymore. They don’t have any hope. They don’t respect their parents.’ And we just talked, he and I and his wife, about what was happening to our youth and how important it was to concentrate on that. And after he talked to me for about an hour or two, he cornered me and said, ‘We’ve got to do this!’”
Her performance in the film, especially her singing (and on the soundtrack) was praised by many. What many did not know, is she had been involved in drug usage during (and before) filming. In the book A Song For You: My Life With Whitney Houston authored by her best friend and former lover, Robyn Crawford, she revealed the beginning of Houston’s drug abuse (as well as hers) and details times that she would encounter the singer using while working.
“I would remind Whitney that, now you know, we said, doing coke couldn’t go where we’re going, and we’re already there,” wrote Crawford in the book. “So, we shouldn’t be doing it. And I noticed that she would go ahead and do it. She was having difficulty stopping.”
Sadly in 2012, Whitney Elizabeth Houston was found in a hotel bathroom in Beverly Hills. Denzel Washington, Academy-Award winning actor who played the role of “Dudley” in the film, spoke on his friend’s passing with GQ. “Whitney was my girl, and she had done so well in recovery,” he said. “And that is the toughest part about addiction.”
Elsewhere he added, “Whitney was such a sweet, sweet girl and really just a humble girl. You know, they made her this thing. She had a voice, obviously, but they packaged her into this whole whatever. But she was really just this humble, sweet girl… I was listening to her song “I Look to You.” It’s prophetic. Maybe I’m speaking out of line. Maybe she thought she could have one. And then the next thing you know, her body was betraying her. She didn’t know that her body was aging quickly. She couldn’t take it. Your body can only take so much. Some people survive [Hollywood and fame], and some people don’t.”
Washington recalled her issues with coke as a “monster drug that got ahold of her. It was a mean one,” said the actor. “You can’t go back to that one. Nobody beats that. I look at people—and I don’t think I’m speaking out of line—Sam Jackson, I’ve known for thirty-some-odd years, he was down at the bottom. And he came all the way back. And when he cleaned up, he never looked back. But he can’t have that beer, because it might lead to the tough thing.”
