Howie's Vital Stats:
Full Name:Howard Dwaine Dorough
Hair:Black
Eyes:Brown
Height:5'7"
Weight:138 lbs.
Shoe Size:8
Nicknames:Howie D.,Sweet D.,Latin Lover
Birthplace:Orlando,Florida
Residence:Orlando,Florida
Astrological Sign:Leo
Family Status:Parents Hoke and Paula;brother John;sisters Pollyanna,Angie,and Caroline(who tragically died of Lupus last year)
Howie was the fifth and youngest child born to Hoke and Paula Dorough. Howie has four much older siblings, one brother and three sisters. Even though there is a big age difference between Howie and the rest of his siblings, the Dorough family is very close.
The Doroughs first knew they had a big talent on their hands when their youngest son,Howie, who was only three, jumped onto his grandmas bed and started singing the old song "Babyface." But it wasn't until Howie was about seven years old that he got his more formal introduction to the world of entertainment by his sister,Pollyanna, who was eleven at the time. She was making the rounds during local productions of plays and brought her little brother along. His first gig was as a Munchkin in The Wizard Of Oz, while his sister played Glinda, the Good Witch. Since he very much enjoyed his first stage experience, Howie later joined a choir and started doing more plays and musicals for a community theater, appearing in productions of The Sound Of Music,Showboat, and Camelot.
Living in Orlando proved to be very lucky for Howie, because Disney's studios were also there. As a result, Howie got asked to be in a commercial for Disney World and landed small roles in two Disney feautre films, Parenthood with Steve Martin and Cop and a Half with Burt Reynolds.
Howie was also in the original pilot for a Nickelodeon show called Welcome Freshmen. He was part of the group cast from Orlando. After the pilot for the show was finished, the producers evaluated it and decided to cut the first whole cast. Then they hired all new cast members and the show became a hit. Howie was one of the actors who made it to the final callback, but unfortunately didn't get the part in the new cast. It was something that upset him for a while, especially since he got soo close to making it onto the show.
So by the time he had got his big break with the Backstreet Boys, Howie had learned the importance of being able to survive rejection, which happens more often than not in the world of show biz. Acceptance and success are rare, so he believes that you have to believe in yourself and keep your aim on what you want to achieve.
During this time, Howie was also singing in cburch and taking voice lessons. It was through his voice teacher that he had first met A.J.
His grandmother, Corene Wright, who was there at the very beginning of Howie's singing career(Since it was her bed that he had jumped on and sang his first solo), died in 1997, right before the BSB became a huge hit in the United States and their first CD was released here, which is something Howie is very sad about. However, he said his grandma always knew he would make something of himself, so he's glad he proved her prediction right.
Howie considers himself caring,respectful, and honest. The other Boys would agree; these are the qualities that have earned him the reputation as the peacemaker of the group. Brian calls Howie "Mr.Quiet," because if the Boys have an argument, Howie sits back quietly and takes it all in. After hearing all sides, he thinks about it for a bit, forms his opinion, and then tells everyone what he believes is the right thing to do. Even if they ask him for his opinion, he won't say so right away until he has carefully considered everyone's point of view.
Howie explains that his motto is "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." He always tries to be very respectful and would never harsh on someone, or diss them, because his feeling is that he wouldn't wanted to be treated that way himself.
In keeping that motto, Howie has always been a person who is generous with his time,spirit, and resources-which is one of the reasons Howie is known by friends and family as Sweet D. He has always been and continues to be active with charities and helping others. When he was in high-school he was part of a peer-counseling group called friends.
Howie seems to be the sentimental one of the group, and he likes to keep video diaries of the Boys' photo shoots and tours. There are probably a lot of us fans who would like to get our hands on these pieces of film!
The group unanimously votes Howie the neatest of the bunch. Since is so careful with his stuff, it really bugs him when airlines loose his luggage, which for some reason seems to happen to him more often that the other Boys.
When it comes to down time, Howie is not big into sitting around doing nothing, which he considers to be a waste of time.If he's away from home on tour, he finds calling his family the most relaxing thing to do. Whenever he is on tour, he writes many postcards to his family and always has his suitcase full of souvenirs and presents to bring them back.
Recently Howie has began to teach himself how to play guitar. He has also gotten some on-the-spot lessons from some of the muscians who play for the BSB. Howie is learning guitar now because it is something he has always wanted to do, but couldn't manage before because he was concentrating on his singing. The other Boys are really impressed with Howie's progress and his dedication to practice.
It was at Howie's suggestion that the Backstreet Boys recorded two of their songs "Anywhere For You" and "I'll Never Break Your Heart"-in Spanish. He thought that having some of their songs in Spanish would help broaden their appeal to fans who speak Spanish.
A.J. says that Howie has a big thing about his hair, because it's soo curly. So the Boys like to wind him up by messing with D's hair whenever they can get a chance.
Even though Howie loves Gummi Bears, he says he never wants to eat another one. Why? Once in an interview Howie said he liked Gummi Bears, and us fans started them to him. So naturally, he ate them every day. So that made him soo sick of Gummi Bears.
Howie D. has been known to write songs for girls that he likes. He will usually sing the song to her too. Now that shows that he is romantic!
What kind of girl is he looking for? "I like someone who is always looking at things in a positive way," he says. "Someone who knows what she wants in life and how to get it." He likes blondes, but says that intelligence, a sense of humor, and all-around goodness are higher on his list. He is looking for a girl who "loves me for what I am-and can put up with my career."
He also thinks that sincerity is very important-both in the girl he's dating and also in himself. If he doesn't have genuine feelings for a girl, he won't just say stuff that he doesn't mean. He isn't shy about crying either, he considers it a natural expression of emotion.
Howie digs hugging a lot, probably because he has such a big family and they are always hugging on each other. But he especially likes it when a girl he is with hugs him-that's very special to him.
MORE INFORMATION ON HOWIE!
Favorite Color:Purple
Favorite Food:All kinds of Asian food and lots of foreign foods
Favorite Drinks:Iced Tea and Sprite
Favorite Sports:Swimming,Surfing,Weight Lifting, and Waterskiing
Favorite Things:His BSB necklace and a cross that his Mom gave him
Instrument:Guitar
Favorite Music:Prince,Jon Secada,Celine Dion,Bobby Brown,Michael Jackson, and Phillip Bailey
Favorite Movies:The Outsiders and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory
Favorite Actress:Demi Moore
Dream Women:Salma Hayek,Cindy Crawford, and Brooke Shields
Favorite Actor:Tom Hanks
Favorite Book:The Firm by John Grisham
His Hero: His Mother
Favorite TV Show:The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
Favorite Colognes:Cool Water and CK One
Favorite School Subject:Math
What He Looks For In A Girl:Having a positive attitude;being supportive,upbeat, and ambitious
Favorite Saying: "Cheers!"
What He Thought He'd Be:A Police Officer
Favorite Time Of The Year:Christmas because he loves trimming the tree and and going to holiday parties
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