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The smash-hit box-office success of Christmas 1992, The Bodyguard had the perfect combination of glamour, action, suspense and romance. The result was a classic of the great Hollywood tradition: bigger than life, earth-shatteringly dramatic and full of variety. Larry Kasdan's original script was written in the early days of his career, with the late Steve McQueen in mind, but it wasn't until 1990 that Kevin Costner took it on and enlisted Mick Jackson (director of Steve Martin's modern comedy of manners, LA Story) to work with him. But the biggest problem was finding a co-star. "Do you choose an actress and teach her to sing?" pondered Jackson. "Or do you choose a singer and hope that you can find acting ability there? That seemed to be the better an, it turned out, wiser option. She's great. "Costner convinced Whitney not to take acting lessons, and the two starts spent many hours working together to make her character come to life. Whitney's stylistic approach was a simple one - to treat her script the way she treats her music, and let it flow from the heart. "It's easy for me to stand on stage and sing and relate to people," she said. "I feel the beats to music. I know when to become powerful and when to quiet it down. That was the hardest part in acting - learning the words and letting then flow like I was singing."

The singer's movie debut could hardly have been more of a success, and her worries about falling as an actress were soon dispelled by the public's reaction. They flocked to The Bodyguard in their million. The movie premiered in November, taking $27 million in its first week. By the end of 1992 it had scored a massive $200 million worldwide. Following its UK release on Boxing Day 1992, the film rocked to the Number 1 position to become one of the top five earners in UK box office history, taking $25 million. And when it was released on video in the UK in March 1993, more than two million people rented the film in the first days, accounting for a full 20 percent of all home video rentals that week.

The album of the movie features six new Whitney Houston track, five of which have been released as a singles in their own right, including the outrageously successful 'I Will Always Love You'. On its release in November 1992 in immediately broke the US record for the most albums sold in one week. By the end of the year it was selling a million copies a week in the USA alone, making it the third best-selling album of the year after only five weeks! It went on to sell more than ten million copies in the USA alone, and 22 million worldwide - the second most successful soundtrack album ever, after Saturday Night Fever It has already sold more copies than the Pink Floyd LP Dark Side of the Moon, which spent an unbroken 736 week on the album chart. The album also featured 'I Have Nothing', written by David Foster and Linda Thompson, which was reputedly inspired by the themes to early James Bond movies. 'I Have Nothing' became the sixth best-selling single of 1993 in the US reached Number 3 in the British charts, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. More hit singles followed: a cover version of the familiar Chaka Khan track 'I'm Every Woman', produced by long-time collaborator Narada Michael Walden; 'Run To You', in which Rachel Marron features in a stunning video, swathed in diaphanous white veils; and 'Queen Of The Night', a taunchy, guitar-heavy rock-dance groove, which was co-written by Whitney herself and introduces a fusion of new colours in her musical palette.

The album of the movie features six new Whitney Houston track, five of which have been released as a singles in their own right, including the outrageously successful 'I Will Always Love You'. On its release in November 1992 in immediately broke the US record for the most albums sold in one week. By the end of the year it was selling a million copies a week in the USA alone, making it the third best-selling album of the year after only five weeks! It went on to sell more than ten million copies in the USA alone, and 22 million worldwide - the second most successful soundtrack album ever, after Saturday Night Fever It has already sold more copies than the Pink Floyd LP Dark Side of the Moon, which spent an unbroken 736 week on the album chart. The album also featured 'I Have Nothing', written by David Foster and Linda Thompson, which was reputedly inspired by the themes to early James Bond movies. 'I Have Nothing' became the sixth best-selling single of 1993 in the US reached Number 3 in the British charts, and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Song. More hit singles followed: a cover version of the familiar Chaka Khan track 'I'm Every Woman', produced by long-time collaborator Narada Michael Walden; 'Run To You', in which Rachel Marron features in a stunning video, swathed in diaphanous white veils; and 'Queen Of The Night', a taunchy, guitar-heavy rock-dance groove, which was co-written by Whitney herself and introduces a fusion of new colours in her musical palette.

"This is kinda a cowboy song, huh?" says Rachel Marron as she dances with her date for the evening. "I mean, it's so depressing. Have you listened to the words?" "It is kinda depressing," replies Frank Farmer. "It's one o' those somebody's-always-leaving-somebody songs." There is surely no doubt that the success of The Bodyguard and its soundtrack album revolved around one, wonderful song. Written by country and western star Dolly Parton, and first recorded in 1974, 'I Will Always love you' is unforgettable. The song was a minor hit for Dolly in 1982 when it was included in the soundtrack of her movie the Best Little Whorehouse In Texas, but with Whitney's vocal the melody really becomes magical. "It never did that well for me," Dolly Parton told Whitney. "It did well for you because you put all that stuff into it." Released as a single in November, Whitney's tenth US chart-topper became the best-selling single of 1992 in the UK and USA, spending 10 weeks and 14 weeks respectively at the Number 1 position. In America it sold 4 million copies in 1992, but still managed to achieve the Number 3 place in the best-selling singles of 1993! 'I Will Always Love You' is one of ten best-selling singles of all time in the USA, and the third most successful UK single in terms of chart success (highest number of weeks in the highest position). The song even made headlines in the UK when a young woman was successfully prosecuted by her next-door neighbour for playing the song over and over again at high volume, day and night! 'I Will Always Love You' holds the UK sold by a female solo artist 91,200,00), a title previously held by Jennifer Rush with 'The Power Of Love'. The CD single-seller of all time. It was re-released in December 1993, to considerable renewed interest.

In march 1993 Whitney gave a birth to a daughter, named Bobbi Kristina, but this didn't stop her setting off on a world tour, which reached Britain in November for dates at Sheffield Arena and London's Earls Court Stadium. Whitney was frequently joined on stage by her husband and baby, and at an exclusive after-show party at London's Hard Rock Cafe she was serenaded by a bespectacled Bobby in front of her 150-strong entourage. Many of the audience members at the sell-out shows were new fans, and there was, of course, one song that they always wanted to hear. The climactic 'I Will Always Love You' put a chill in the air as Whitney's extraordinary voice boomed out over the heads of thousands of stunned, silent listeners - but as soon as the song came to its climax, the roar of the crowd was inevitably deafening. Not only has the song become a classic on CD, it is also one of the most spine-tingling concert show-stoppers of all time.

Whitney's next movie, Waiting To Exhale, was released in December 1995. This critically acclaimed film, in which she starred with Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine and Lela Rochon, went on to gross over 70 million dollars at the box office. 

The soundtrack for, Waiting To Exhale was co-produced by Houston and featured three new tracks from Whitney: "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)"; "Count On Me" (a duet with CeCe Winans), co-written by Whitney and Babyface; and "Why Does It Hurt So Bad." It quickly became a #1 album which has sold more than 10 million copies worldwide to date.

The motion picture The Preacher's Wife, starring Whitney Houston , Denzel Washington and Courtney B. Vance, was released in the U.S. by Buena Vista on December 13, 1996. The Preacher's Wife, directed by Penny Marshall, is based on the 1947 classic, The Bishop's Wife, which starred Cary Grant and Loretta Young.

Whitney's lifelong dream of creating a pop/gospel album was realized in November 1996, when Arista released the original motion picture soundtrack album for The Preacher's Wife, the biggest-selling gospel album in Billboard chart history. Nurtured by her mother, R&B/gospel star Cissy Houston (an original member of the Sweet Inspirations) and her legendary cousin Dionne Warwick, Whitney's passion for gospel music has been there since birth. Her collaboration with an extraordinary roster of producers and artists resulted in one of the most unique albums to date. Whitney sang lead vocals on 14 of the album's 15 tracks, including the beautiful first single "I Believe In You And Me," "Step By Step" (written by Annie Lennox), and two songs produced by Grammy award winner Babyface. In addition Cissy Houston sang solo on a special track, "The Lord Is My Shepherd," in which she turned the familiar 23rd Psalm into a spiritually touching song by adding music to the standard prayer. The gospel-driven tracks on the album were co-produced by Whitney and Grammy/Dove award winner Mervyn Warren (Sister Act I and Sister Act II). Other luminaries on the album include Shirley Caesar and the Georgia Mass Choir.

"The Wonderful World of Disney" production of the musical "Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella," which originally aired on November 2, 1997, added the medium of made-for-television movies to Whitney's long list of accomplishments. The ABC network special featured Whitney as The Fairy Godmother, Brandy as Cinderella and Whoopi Goldberg as The Queen, along with an all-star multi-cultural cast. The program attracted a U.S. audience of more than 60 million viewers, and gave the network its best Sunday night rating in over a decade. Whitney and her company, BrownHouse Productions, served as executive producers on the project, which went on to garner seven Emmy nominations including Outstanding Variety, Musical or Comedy. The special won an Emmy for Outstanding Art Direction in a Variety, Musical or Comedy Special. The home video version shattered previous records to become the best-selling video ever of a made-for-television movie.

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