10 hottest couples

Ebony, Feb, 1995

IN Hollywood and around the nation, life is good and love is blossoming. Among the rich and famous celebrity crowd, Cupid's arrow seems to have been especially active in the past year as entertainers and political notables were busy escorting new loves and even popping the big question.

On the following pages we present 10 of the hottest couples of 1995. They are the loving twosomes we read about week after week in the gossip columns and celebrity publications or see on television entertainment shows. They are the talked-about twosomes who create a stir wherever they appear, the duos who excite the paparazzi as much as autograph seekers.

Many people are aware of the love affairs that led to the marriages of Halle Berry and David Justice, and Kenneth (Babyface) Edmonds and his wife Tracey. But new on the romantic scene are sizzling couples such as actors Salli Richardson and Glenn Plummer and actor Kadeem Hardison and singer Chante Moore. Among the celebrity couples who announced their engagements in recent months were actress Holly Robinson and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Rodney Peete, comedian/actor Martin Lawrence and his fiancee, as well as actor Forest Whitaker and model Keisha Nash. And love is not limited to Hollywood. In Washington, D.C., romance is also alive and well, as evidenced by the marriage of D.C. Mayor Marion Barry and the blossoming romance of Rep. Kweisi Mfume and actress Lynn Whitfield.

Without a doubt these notables have exciting, challenging careers and professions. That's why it is so refreshing to know that when it comes to priorities, affairs of the heart take center stage as they make time for love.

Laurence Fishburne & Vicloria Dillard:

Actor Laurence Fishburne and actress Victoria Dillard have recently become a hot Hollywood item. Dillard accompanied the Academy Award nominee to the Oscars. They also co-starred in Deep Cover. Now the loving couple openly admit that they are more than friends. Fishburne presently stars in the feature film, Bad Company.

Kweisi Mfume & Lynn Whitfield (right):

Since the bachelor Maryland congressman brought the Emmy-winning actress to the White House State Dinner for Nelson Mandela and the annual Congressional Black Caucus Dinner last year, Washington hasn't stopped buzzing. The question on everyone's lips: Will she leave Hollywood for Powertown? Insiders say its too early to tell.

Halle Berry & David Justice (left):

"He's my rock, my soulmate, my prince on a white horse," says Halle Berry of David Justice, with whom she celebrated two years of wedded bliss last month. The couple recently purchased a home in L.A. in Hollywood Hills and, says Halle, "We're more in love today than on the day we married."

Blair Underwood & Desiree DaCosta:

For years Blair Underwood portrayed a debonair attorney on L.A. Law. Now, the actor rests his case--and his heart--with his new bride, talent coordinator Desiree DaCosta. The couple, who dated for three years, recently exchanged vows in a private, romantic ceremony. The groom galloped in on horseback, the bride in a carriage. Underwood will be featured in the upcoming film, Just Cause.

Forest Whitaker & Keisha Nash:

Critically acclaimed actor Forest Whitaker met his supermodel fiancee Keisha Nash in Boston, he says, while he was shooting on the set of the action adventure Blown Away. Word has it that the young lovers plan to marry this spring. Currently, Whitaker stars in Ready To Wear. He is also directing the Twentieth Century Fox-production of Waiting To Exhale, based on Terri McMillan's best-selling novel.

Holly Robinson & Rodney Peete (left):

Over the past year, the relationship between actress Holly Robinson and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Rodney Peete has gotten quite serious. In fact, the couple plan to marry in June. "Rodney and I met at a jazz club in L. A. almost two years ago," says Robinson. Last fall, Peete startled the actress when he visited the set of Hangin' With Mr. Cooper for the expressed purpose of proposing marriage. "He says he knew I was the girl for him when he saw me smother my French fries in hot sauce. He's a phenomenal human being--generous, warm, intelligent, funny and sexy. He's everything I've ever dreamed of in a man, a husband, a lifemate."

Marion Barry & Cora Masters Barry:

Last year, in an Africaninspired wedding ceremony in the nation's capital, D.C. Mayor Marion Barry wed his longtime companion, Cora Lavonne Masters, a political science professor at the University of the District of Columbia. Their union, said the new mayor, "is a miracle of God."

Kenneth (Babyface) Edmonds & wife Tracey:

Even before their fabulous 1992 wedding, Babyface and Tracey appeared to be inseparable. And these days, they are always included on the guest list for the hottest events. Babyface, the Grammy Award-winning producer and performer, is one of the hottest music producers in the business, with Toni Braxton, Whitney Houston and Boyz II Men among his clients. He proposed to Tracey during a trip to Paris after a whirlwind courtship that began when she auditioned for one of his videos. The couple live in a French Regency-style mansion in Beverly Hills.