10 hottest couples - African-American celebrity couples - Cover Story

Ebony, Feb, 1997 by Lynn Norment

They appear to be everywhere, and most times it is evident they are into each other despite the crowds and glitz that swirl about them. They are the celebrity couples who seem so perfect for each other, those loving twosomes who appear in public holding hands and otherwise being romantic. Ebony's 1997 list of hot couples includes veteran actors such as Samuel L. Jackson and his wife, LaTanya Richardson, Jackee Harry and her new husband, Elgin Charles Williams, as well as rising stars such as teen actress and recording star Brandy and NBA rookie Kobe Bryant. Amid the glamour our of Hollywood and in the corridors of power in the nation's capital, love thrives. The well-to-do and famous and powerful often find love and happiness in their personal lives as well as success in their various career endeavors.

Jackee Harry and Elgin Charles Williams: Actress Jackee Harry, co-star on the sitcom Sister, Sister, married Elgin Charles Williams in a lavish wedding in December at the posh Beverly Hills Hotel. Jackee, who exchanged vows wearing a gorgeous form-fitting designer gown, met Williams, owner of a hair salon in Beverly Hills, about four years ago at the salon. "I saw him and thought he was cute," she says. They dated for a year and a half before marrying. "We really like each other," she says. "We laugh a lot, sit up and talk a lot.... He's really positive about everything. He's a very spiritual man."

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett: For the past two years, these two young, vicacious and talented actors have been a twosome. Smith, star of the blockbuster Independence Day, which has made more than $300 million, quickly has escalated from rap artist to sitcom actor to bona fide movie star. "She's someone I can talk to about anything," Smith says of Pinkett, who recently starred in Set It Off and with Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor. The couple shares a suburban Los Angeles home with four rottweilers. Smith loves to cook her fattening meals, and when their careers keep them apart, they talk on the phone as many as five times a day. "When we met, I never thought in a million years that Will Smith and I would be together," she says. Now they are inseparable.

Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance: Actors Angela Bassett and Courtney B. Vance hav-e become a dynamic loving duo in recent months. Vance, who stars as Rev. Henry Biggs in The Preacher's Wife with Whitney Houston and Denzel Washington, says 13 years ago he met Bassett, who is renowned for her portrayal of Tina Turner in What's Love Got To Do With It and as Bernadine in Waiting To Exhale. Vance, who has a degree from Harvard, publicly acknowledged their engagement in December and said they plan to marry in 1997.

U.S. Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. and Sandi Jackson: Among the hot couples on the political scene in Washington, D.C., are U.S. Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. and his wife, Sandi, an attorney and member of the 53rd Presidential Inaugural Committee. The late Rep. Mickey Leland introduced the couple during a Congressional Black Caucus meeting. She later worked for Michael Dukakis' 1988 presidential campaign while Jackson worked in his father's presidential campaign. The couple married in 1991, moved to Chicago (his hometown) and enrolled in law school. "She's wonderful," the congressman says of his wife. She says: "We're great friends, and that has helped us through everything."

Brandy and Kobe Bryant: Actress/recording artist Brandy Norwood and Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant make headlines as individual rising stars and as a young celebrity couple. Bryant, 18, who captured media attention last April when he announced he would skip college and enter the NBA draft immediately after graduating from Lower Merion High School in Ardmore, Penn., took Brandy to his high school prom last spring. "It was my, first prom and my first date," says Brandy 18, who stars in her own television show, Moesha, and who will have a new album out this summer. "And it is the most fun I have ever had."

Forest Whitaker and Keisha Nash: Actor and director Forest Whitaker and his wife, fashion model Keisha Nash, have become a favorite subject for celebrity photographers. The couple was married last spring in Montego Bay, jamaica, after dating for two-and-a-half years. They recently became parents of a baby girl. Whitaker is a respected and versatile actor who has appeared in films as diverse as Bird (about the life of jazz great Charlie Parker), A Rage in Harlem, The Crying Game, Good Morning Vietnam, Jason's Lyric and Phenomenon. He made his debut as a director with the blockbuster film, Waiting To Exhale.

Tisha Campbell and Duane Martin: Actors Tisha Campbell and Duane Martin capped their six-year relationship with a beautiful garden wedding at their North Hills, Calif., home last August. The vibrant actress who stars on the popular TV sitcom Martin met her husband in 1990 during a six-hour audition. In March of 1995 he proposed. Duane Martin co-starred on the series Out All Night with Patti LaBelle and has appeared in the films White Men Can't Jump, Above The Rim and The Inkwell. The actress says what she likes best about her husband is that he makes her laugh. "He's my best friend, and we have a lot of fun together," she says.