Celebrity Movie Blog

Who is Vanessa Williams?

Vanessa Williams was born March 18th, 1963 in Tarrytown, New York. She is a singer, actress, and the most successful former Miss America in the pageants 86 year history (first pageant, 1921). In 1983 Williams made history as the first African American Miss America, a much celebrated achievement. Therefore, Williams forced resignation due to the publication of nude pictures taken prior to her win was a very disappointing scandal in its day, and one would have thought the end of a promising career. Instead, Williams manager and future husband Ramon Hervey turned it into a brilliant beginning by helping her get into one industry where a risque image is a definite plus—music. She released one chart topping, Grammy nominated R&B/ Pop album after another starting with The Right Stuff (1988), and continuing to include the Comfort Zone (1991) certified Triple Platinum, The Sweetest Days (1994) which went Platinum, and a Greatest Hits Album. Shes even won a Grammy for songwriting. Her subsequent acting career has included Broadway, films such as Eraser (1996) co-starring Arnold Schwarzennegar, and her Emmy nominated role of Diva Extraordinaire, Wilhelmina Slater, on ABCs Ugly Betty. Williams is twice divorced, and has 4 children.