There are times when we develop friendships in our life and they end up lasting for a lifetime. That was the case with Kevin Costner who formed a bond with Whitney Houston when they were on the movie The Bodyguard together.
They continued to be good friends for a long time but when Whitney Houston was only 48 years old, she passed away. It was a real blow to Kevin Costner because she was a great friend of his.
More than likely, you are familiar with Kevin Costner because of some of the iconic roles that he has played. He has been in movies such as The Untouchables, Robin Hood, and Dancing with Wolves. He also has done quite a job of being a producer and director.
Of course, Whitney Houston was no stranger to the silver screen as well. She did a good job on the movie set but she was also a singer that was unprecedented in her abilities to hit all the good notes.
During the 1980s, Whitney Houston became well-known with a number of hit albums but she took the next step when she was in The Bodyguard. It was the song, ‘I Will Always Love You’ that really propelled her career to the next level.
When she passed away, Kevin Costner was at her funeral and even gave a speech. He talked about how he felt about her and how she was his good friend.
When Whitney Houston was born, Kevin Costner was eight years old. His father was an electrician and they had to move on a regular basis. He was a creative individual, writing poems and singing in the choir.
About the time he was in his senior year of high school, he decided to do something that would help other people enjoy themselves. By the time he graduated with a business degree in 1978 and married his sweetheart, it seemed as if it was something that had now passed.
His dream of becoming an actor, however, continued to grow, and then he had an opportunity when he met Richard Burton on a flight.
Richard Burton had purchased all of the seats around him so that he would not be sitting next to anyone. When he saw him, he realized that he had to go up and talk to him because it was his opportunity to do something about his desire to act.
He walked right over to Burton and asked him for some advice. Burton finished his book and Costner waited in his seat until he called him over. That is when the two of them had a talk that really changed his life.
Costner said: “We didn’t have a lot of money for our honeymoon and my parents drove us to the airport and we were gonna catch a bus back to the Disneyland hotel. My wife and I were sitting on our suitcases waiting and this big limousine came literally about eight inches from my face and just stopped. The window rolled down and Richard Burton said, ‘Good luck’, and the window went up and he drove on. I never got a chance to ever talk to Richard again so he has no idea what became of me.”
He invested a lot into his career and even gave tours to Hollywood stars’ houses in order to pay the bills until his career got underway. When it comes to starting at the bottom, that is exactly where he got his start but he also learned very quickly and moved up.
Perhaps one of his biggest movies was Silverado. About the same time, Whitney Houston had put out her first album that was named after her. It wasn’t a huge hit but things took off quickly.
Eventually, three of the singles from her album hit the billboard’s top 200 list. It went 13x platinum and is still one of the biggest debut albums in history.
By the time 1990 rolled around, both Houston and Costner got the opportunity to play on The Bodyguard together. It was a special movie for both of them.
One of the issues that came up was the choice of Whitney Houston as the lead character in the film. She was African-American and people weren’t very comfortable with having her romantically involved with a Caucasian man onset.
As far as Costner was concerned, however, she was the best person for the part. He wasn’t trying to cross grounds or do anything unusual, and he knew that you would be hard-pressed to find someone that wouldn’t want to kiss her.
After The Bodyguard was released in 1992, it was a success instantly. It continues to be successful, being the 10th highest-grossing film of all time back in the 90s.
Perhaps the scene that stands out in our mind more than any other is when Costner and Houston kiss at the airport. The music ‘I Will Always Love You’ is playing in the background and it’s a moment that really goes down in movie history.
It isn’t only the movie that was popular, it was the Dolly Parton song that really made it special. It also made the soundtrack from the movie quite popular and Whitney Houston won 3 Grammy awards for her performance.
Through it all, Costner in Houston became close friends. She may be gone, but she definitely is not forgotten.