Vanessa Lynne Williams was born on March 18, 1963 in Tarrytown, Greenburgh, New York and raised in Millwood, New Castle, New York to Helen Williams & Milton Williams, both music teachers. Vanessa and her brother
grew up in suburban New York in comfortable surroundings. Vanessa sang
and danced in school productions and signed her high school yearbook
with a promise to "see you on Broadway". After winning a performing
scholarship to Syracuse University, she left school and tried to make
it in New York show business. She began entering beauty contests in
1984, eventually winning Miss New York and then becoming the first
African-American Miss America. During her reign, some nude girl-girl
photos, taken while she was in New York, surfaced in Penthouse
magazine. Although the photos were taken before her beauty contest
victories, she was forced to resign her crown. Many predicted that her
future in show business was over. She went on to land a recording contract and
released several albums, including "The Comfort Zone" and "The
Sweetest Days".
Vanessa made her film debut in 1986 in
Geschäft mit dem Tod (1987) and appeared
in the films
Jack der Aufreißer (1987),
Das andere Ich (1991) and
Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991).
She starred opposite
Arnold Schwarzenegger in
Eraser (1996), opposite
Laurence Fishburne and
Andy Garcia in
Harlem, N.Y.C. - Der Preis der Macht (1997) and the box office hit,
Soul Food (1997). She also starred in
Dance with Me (1998),
Light It Up (1999),
Shaft - noch fragen? (2000), opposite
Samuel L. Jackson and
Familie Johnson geht auf Reisen (2004).
She starred recently in the independent features,
My Brother (2006) and
And Then Came Love (2007) (aka
"Somebody Like You"). On television, Vanessa starred in such movies and
mini-series as
Eine Nacht im Savoy (1992),
Der Brief an den Weihnachtsmann (1990),
Die Jacksons - Ein amerikanischer Traum (1992),
ABC's revival of
Bye Bye Birdie (1995),
Ärztinnen - Auf Leben und Tod (1995),
Die Abenteuer des Odysseus (1997),
Don Quichotte (2000) and
Keep the Faith, Baby (2002),
and she executive-produced and starred in Lifetime's
The Courage to Love (2000)
for Lifetime and the VH1 Original Movie,
Ein ganz besonderes Weihnachtsfest (2000).
Her albums "The Right Stuff", "The Comfort Zone and "The Sweetest Days"
earned multiple Grammy nominations and have yielded the
Academy Award-winning single "Colors of the Wind", from Disney's
Pocahontas: The Musical Tradition Continues (1995).
Her recordings also include two holiday albums,
"Star Bright" and "Silver & Gold", "Vanessa Williams Greatest Hits: The
First Ten Years" and "Everlasting Love", a romantic collection of love
songs from the
1970's. In 1994, Vanessa took Broadway by storm when she replaced Chita Rivera
in "Kiss of the Spider Woman", winning the hearts of critics and
becoming a box-office sensation. She garnered rave reviews and was
nominated for a Tony Award for the 2002 revival of "Into the Woods".
She also headlined a limited special engagement of the classic, "Carmen
Jones", at the Kennedy Center and starred in the Encore! Series staged
concert production of "St. Louis Woman".
She stars in ABC's critically-acclaimed hit series,
Alles Betty! (2006), for which she
has won or been nominated for numerous individual and ensemble awards,
including the Emmy, SAG Award, Golden Globe and NAACP Image Awards.
Vanessa achieved a career pinnacle, with a star on the Hollywood Walk
of Fame for her accomplishments as a performer. Her charitable
endeavors are many and varied, embracing and supporting such
organizations as Special Olympics and many others.
