American entertainerWhitney Houston worked in ninefeature films, threetelevision films, and seventelevision episodes, and appeared in seventeencommercials. She isone of the most significant cultural icons of the 20th century.

She made her screen acting debut as Rachel Marron in the romantic thriller filmThe Bodyguard (1992). Despite mixed reviews from film critics, it was the second-highest-grossing film worldwide in 1992, making $411 million worldwide. Thesoundtrack became thebest-selling soundtrack of all time, selling more than 45 million copies worldwide.

In 1995, Houston starred alongsideAngela Bassett,Loretta Devine, andLela Rochon in her second film,Waiting to Exhale (1995), which was notable for having an all-African-American cast, and was called byThe Los Angeles Times a "social phenomenon". Upon release, the film received mixed reviews from critics.Waiting to Exhale was a financial success, grossing $14.1 million in its first weekend of release. In total, the film grossed $67.05 million in North America, and $14.4 million internationally, for a total worldwide gross of $81.45 million, making it the 26th highest-grossing film of 1995. Thesoundtrack to the film, which has sold over twelve million copies worldwide, also featured exclusively female African-American artists, and, at the39th Grammy Awards in 1997, received a total of eleven nominations includingAlbum of the Year,Song of the Year for "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" and threeBest Female R&B Vocal Performance nominees, then wonBest R&B Song for "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)".

In 1996, Houston starred in the holiday comedyThe Preacher's Wife, withDenzel Washington. Houston earned $10 million for the role, making her one of the highest-paid actresses in Hollywood at the time and the highest-earning African-American actress in Hollywood. The movie was a moderate success, earning approximately $57 million at the box offices. It was nominated for fiveImage Awards, including Outstanding Motion Picture, and won two—for Best Actress (Whitney Houston) and Best Supporting Actress (Loretta Devine). It was nominated for theAcademy Award forBest Music, Original Musical or Comedy Score.The Preacher's Wife: Original Soundtrack Album is the best-selling gospel album of all time.^[1] The soundtrack also remained at number one for a record twenty-six weeks on the Billboard Top Gospel Albums Chart.

During her 20-year film career, Houston received several acting nominations for all four of her feature film roles. For her role inThe Bodyguard, later listed byBillboard, as one of the "100 best acting performances by [a] musician in a film", Houston received thePeople's Choice Awards nomination for Favorite Leading Actress in a Dramatic Motion Picture, theMTV Movie Awards nominations forBest Female Actress andBest Breakthrough Performance and theNAACP Image Award nomination forOutstanding Actress. ForWaiting to Exhale, she received a second consecutive NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Actress. For her role inThe Preacher's Wife, Houston won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress.

As a film producer, she produced hit series such asThe Princess Diaries,The Cheetah Girls and multicultural moviesCinderella (1997),Sparkle (2012). Houston is considered by some as one of the "greatest singers-turned-actors of all time".^[2] Houston was cited as one of three female performer to achieve similar levels of music and film along withBarbra Streisand andJennifer Lopez.^[3]

• Actress filmographies
• American filmographies
• Works by Whitney Houston

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