Jennifer Hudson: Fairy-tale rise to nightmarish family tragedy

By MARK CARO

The actor-singer returned to Chicago to identify the bodies of her slain mother and brother.

CHICAGO — Until Friday’s tragic events, Jennifer Hudson’s life had been both a fairy tale and a classic Chicago story.

Kids dream about a rise like hers — from South Side kid in the rough Englewood neighborhood to the widely embraced sixth runner-up on “American Idol” to the out-of-nowhere Oscar winner for her role in “Dreamgirls.” As icing on this cake, she’s now a best-selling recording artist.

Yet she has remained a Chicagoan throughout, visiting her family often and maintaining close ties with her church and city. Just last weekend she was back in the city to be honored at the Chicago International Film Festival.

She returned again last weekend to identify the bodies of her mother, Darnell Donerson, 57, and brother, Jason, 29, both shot to death in Donerson’s Englewood home. The body of Hudson’s 7-year-old nephew, Julian King, was found Monday.

Such crimes are life-shatterers to those who are connected, regardless of whether the victims or their relatives are famous. But with Hudson having lived out the fantasies of so many people inside and outside Chicago — all without losing widespread affection and respect — her tragedy has become a shared nightmare.

“For her to be riding so high and to be hit like this,” actress-singer Felicia Fields, Hudson’s close friend and mentor, said, her words trailing away. “You just wonder what’s in the minds of people to create such a travesty.”

Fields, who bonded with Hudson while the two shared the stage in a local 2001 production of “Big River,” said she spoke to her friend after news of the slayings broke, and the 27-year-old actress was reeling.

“She said, ‘Felicia, it’s surreal,’” Fields said from St. Louis, where she is reprising her Tony-nominated role in “The Color Purple.” “She was in shock. You can only imagine — not just your mother but also your brother.”

Fields said Hudson also was very close with Julian, the son of her older sister, Julia. “That’s her heart — she really loved her nephew.”

In interviews with the Chicago Tribune, Hudson has portrayed her family and faith as the rock-solid foundation to her success. Jennifer was the baby in the household to Julia and Jason, her full siblings, plus three half siblings.

Her late father picked up garbage, then drove a Greyhound bus, and her mother worked at a bank and as a secretary before becoming a full-time homemaker, Hudson told the Tribune. She described her home as a happy place where she was encouraged to exercise her booming pipes, whether in the bathroom or as part of her church choir.

Calling herself “a homebody and a mama’s baby,” Hudson said she used to borrow her mom’s or sister’s cars to drive out to the suburb of Lincolnshire when she was a 19-year-old making her stage debut. An eight-month gig on a Disney cruise line followed, prompting Hudson to say, “From the moment I stepped on that ship, I was like, ‘I will never be at home for good ever again.’”

Four days after she left the ship, she auditioned in Atlanta for Season 3 of “American Idol.” She proved to be the show’s most popular seventh-place finisher ever.

“It wasn’t a big deal for her because one of her dreams had already come true,” Julia Hudson told the Tribune of her sister’s surprise ouster. “All she wanted was for the world to hear her singing.”

Any feelings Hudson had about being snubbed in the “Idol” competition served her well as she landed the role of Effie White, the overlooked, underestimated girl-group singer in “Dreamgirls.” She beat out hundreds of others who auditioned, including “Idol” Season 3 winner Fantasia Barrino, and stole the movie from such veteran performers as Beyonc Knowles and Jamie Foxx.

Since “Dreamgirls,” Hudson has taken supporting roles in the movies “Sex and the City,” “Winged Creature” and the recently released “The Secret Life of Bees.”

Her long-awaited, self-titled debut album was released late last month, drawing mixed reviews and commercial success.