By Roger Friedman
HollywoodNews.com: Here’s the one person in the Whitney Houston story whose name you have not heard, and who has remained a mystery: a Dutch man from Amsterdam who goes by the name of Raffles van Exel. He is also known – in court records—as Raffles Dawson and Raffles Benson. He was on the fourth floor of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in one of Houston’s suites when she died. He appeared downstairs in the lobby shortly thereafter, wearing aviator sunglasses, sobbing.
As usual, he had an entourage in tow, including Quinton Aaron, the actor who played the football player in “The Blind Side.” Raffles, in one of his many PR Newswire releases, recently announced that he’s producing movies with Aaron. It’s just one of many ventures he announces regularly. For someone who has no obvious means of support, he is a regular on PR Newswire and You Tube.
HollywoodNews.com: Here’s the one person in the Whitney Houston story whose name you have not heard, and who has remained a mystery: a Dutch man from Amsterdam who goes by the name of Raffles van Exel. He is also known – in court records—as Raffles Dawson and Raffles Benson. He was on the fourth floor of the Beverly Hilton Hotel in one of Houston’s suites when she died. He appeared downstairs in the lobby shortly thereafter, wearing aviator sunglasses, sobbing.
As usual, he had an entourage in tow, including Quinton Aaron, the actor who played the football player in “The Blind Side.” Raffles, in one of his many PR Newswire releases, recently announced that he’s producing movies with Aaron. It’s just one of many ventures he announces regularly. For someone who has no obvious means of support, he is a regular on PR Newswire and You Tube.
- 2/21/2012
- by Roger Friedman
- Hollywoodnews.com
Actress, artist and the incredible singer Whitney Houston has sadly passed away at the age of 48 in Beverly Hills, California. Above is one of the last photos of Houston in her return to the big screen in the musical Sparkle.
In a press conference on Saturday evening, the Beverly Hills Police Dept said 9-1-1 was called at 3:43 pm Pst requesting paramedics to the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Houston was initially discovered unconscious where medics attempted life-saving resuscitations on the singer in her room on the 4th floor of the hotel. Houston was pronounced dead at 3:55pm Pst. Houston was to appear at producer Clive Davis’s annual pre-grammy party this evening. According to the Bhpd, the cause of death is unknown and there were no signs of criminal intent.
Sparkle began principal photography in Detroit, Michigan in October 2011 and Sony Pictures will release the film as planned on...
In a press conference on Saturday evening, the Beverly Hills Police Dept said 9-1-1 was called at 3:43 pm Pst requesting paramedics to the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Houston was initially discovered unconscious where medics attempted life-saving resuscitations on the singer in her room on the 4th floor of the hotel. Houston was pronounced dead at 3:55pm Pst. Houston was to appear at producer Clive Davis’s annual pre-grammy party this evening. According to the Bhpd, the cause of death is unknown and there were no signs of criminal intent.
Sparkle began principal photography in Detroit, Michigan in October 2011 and Sony Pictures will release the film as planned on...
- 2/12/2012
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Whitney Houston has joined the cast of Sparkle which began principal photography this week in Detroit, Michigan. Sparkle is a remake of the 1976 film and tells the story of the title character Sparkle (Jordin Sparks), the youngest of three sisters and a music prodigy who struggles to become a star while facing issues that are tearing her family apart. Starring alongside Houston in the musical drama are Grammy® nominated and platinum recording artist Jordin Sparks (.American Idol. winner, Season 6), Derek Luke (Antwone Fisher, Captain America: The First Avenger), Mike Epps (Jumping the Broom, Friday After Next), Carmen Ejogo (I, Alex Cross, Pride and Glory), Tika Sumpter (What.s Your Number?, .Gossip Girl.), Omari Hardwick (Kick Ass, The A-Team) and Grammy® Award winner, Cee-Lo Green.
Sparkle is being directed by Salim Akil (Jumping The Broom) from a screenplay written by Mara Brock Akil (.The Game., .Girlfriends.) and produced by Debra Martin Chase...
Sparkle is being directed by Salim Akil (Jumping The Broom) from a screenplay written by Mara Brock Akil (.The Game., .Girlfriends.) and produced by Debra Martin Chase...
- 10/19/2011
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
I was just reminded of this short-lived series which Alex Haley hosted not-so long before he died in 1992, titled Dialogue With Black Filmmakers. The title should be self-explanatory.
I believe the episodes were shot in 1991, but I actually couldn’t find very much online written about the series; I couldn’t even find any absolute confirmation that it even aired at all! And it doesn’t appear to exist in any home video format (DVD, VHS, etc). Although it supposedly eventually aired on Black Entertainment Television, in 1992/1993 season. Yes, Bet! This was before it devolved into ass-shaking-music-video-heaven (or hell, depending on your Pov), when they had shows like Teen Summit, and Ed Gordon’s news program.
Maybe someone out there can fill in the blanks on this…
Regardless, I found a few episodes of the program on YouTube; apparently, Haley talked to several filmmakers over the course of the series,...
I believe the episodes were shot in 1991, but I actually couldn’t find very much online written about the series; I couldn’t even find any absolute confirmation that it even aired at all! And it doesn’t appear to exist in any home video format (DVD, VHS, etc). Although it supposedly eventually aired on Black Entertainment Television, in 1992/1993 season. Yes, Bet! This was before it devolved into ass-shaking-music-video-heaven (or hell, depending on your Pov), when they had shows like Teen Summit, and Ed Gordon’s news program.
Maybe someone out there can fill in the blanks on this…
Regardless, I found a few episodes of the program on YouTube; apparently, Haley talked to several filmmakers over the course of the series,...
- 4/7/2011
- by Tambay
- ShadowAndAct
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