Initially, Whoopi Goldberg was not considered for the part of Oda Mae Brown in "Ghost" (1990). When she was eating lunch with one of her friends who auditioned for the role, she was informed that “Every black woman and their mother was there”. When she finished lunch, Goldberg called her agent and asked, ‘Do you know about this movie that everybody’s talking about?’ He said, ‘Oh, who told you?’ And she told him the name of the person and asked her agent, ‘Why did you say it like that?’ her agent replied, ‘Because they don’t want you [for the movie],’” One day, Goldberg got a phone call from her agent, who said, ‘Patrick Swayze has been hired for this movie. Patrick is not going to do this if you don’t do it. Can you make some time for him and the  director to come up?’” Goldberg said that Jerry Zucker and Swayze flew to meet her, and she was immediately at ease. “So they flew in, I meet Patrick, and out of the blue, we’re old friends" Shortly after, Swayze made his pitch for 'Ghost'. "About 40 minutes go by and Patrick says, 'Please do this with me and I was like, 'Yeah, okay.' And that’s how it happened. I said yes, not really knowing what it was going to be. It wasn’t until we all saw the film that we realized what we had.” For her performance in the movie, Whoopi Goldberg became the first actress to win Best Supporting Actress at the Academy Awards, BAFTA Awards and Golden Globe Awards. ("Whoopi Goldberg on How Patrick Swayze Convinced Her to Make Ghost: ‘He Was Sexy and Sweet’", Charna Flam and Andrea Mandell, People, 2024, "Whoopi Goldberg Makes Honest Confession About ‘Ghost’ Co-Star Patrick Swayze", Rachelle Lewis, Parade, 2026 & IMDb) P.S: On this day, 36 years ago, "Ghost" (1990) was released in the USA.

It’s my birthday! Gift to myself was to come home and see my mom and the ocean. You didn’t get me anything? It’s cool! This is 56% off again (only $12 for the gorgeous hardcover). Pushing me closer to a new contract and reading about my home? Perfect gift. amazon.com/gp/aw/d/031642701…