ORIGINAL CAST OF SPARKLE 1976 MOVIE
ORIGINAL CAST OF SPARKLE 1976 SERIES

The Sparkle remake was supposed to serve as an auspicious return to the big screen for Houston, who gained fame as a silver-screen actress playing a pop star in 1992’s The Bodyguard and then three years later as TV producer Savannah Jackson in the adaptation of the bestseller Waiting to Exhale but hadn’t been in a movie since The Preacher’s Wife sixteen years ago. There’s been renewed interest in the influential 1976 film, which featured a classic R&B score by Curtis Mayfield, since the high-profile remake starring American Idol winner Jordin Sparks. Houston’s publicist confirmed on Saturday that the star had died in Los Angeles, just a day before the Grammy Awards honoring the music world’s finest. Houston had said she originally wanted Aaliyah for the title role but was forced to reconfigure the project when the R&B singer was killed in a plane crash in August 2001. Derek Luke and Cee Lo Green co-star opposite Houston, with Carmen Ejogo as Sister Williams. (The original character, named Effie in the 1976 film, was incarnated by Mary Alice.)Īlthough the film has a heavy music component, it is not known how much Houston’s character sings on screen, if at all. Houston plays Emma, the sisters’ less-than-encouraging mother.

ORIGINAL CAST OF SPARKLE 1976 SERIES

The new version, directed by Salim Akil ( Jumping the Broom, television series The Game), is believed to follow a similar story line, with Jordin Sparks as the titular character who must find a way to achieve stardom despite the drama surrounding her family. As they begin to find success, though, Sister’s life spirals out of control, with drug addiction eventually leading to her death. Headed by Lonette McKee’s Sister, the group also features Sister’s sister Sparkle (Cara), Dolores (Dawn Smith) and several friends. The original Sparkle told the story of the Williams sisters, a trio of 1950s-era Harlem singers whose stories were loosely inspired by the Supremes. The movie, shot this past fall and currently in post-production, is scheduled to be released in August. Houston also served as an executive producer on the movie, acquiring rights to the original film more than a decade ago. Houston had recently finished shooting Sparkle, the remake of the 1976 Irene Cara film that, eerily, focuses on talented young musicians whose lives are ruined by addiction. But it also has reverberations in another artistic realm-the movies. LOS ANGELES-The death of Whitney Houston at the age of 48 is a deep loss for the music world.

Original cast of sparkle 1976