Vanessa L. Williams
Encyclopedia
Vanessa Lynn Williams is an American pop-R&B
recording artist, producer, dancer, model, actress and showgirl. In 1983, she became the first woman of African-American descent to be crowned Miss America
, but a scandal generated by her having posed for nude photographs published in Penthouse
magazine caused her to relinquish her title early and she was succeeded by the first runner-up, Suzette Charles
of New Jersey – who was also African-American. Williams rebounded by launching a career as an entertainer, earning multiple Grammy
, Emmy
, and Tony Award
nominations.
Williams released her debut album The Right Stuff
in 1988, which spawned the hits "The Right Stuff" , a #1 on Hot Dance Songs, and "Dreamin'
" a #1 on R&B
and #8 on Billboard Hot 100
. Her second studio album The Comfort Zone
in 1991 topped the Billboard R&B Album Chart
, which spawned the Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit "Save the Best for Last
".
In 1994 she debuted on Broadway in the musical Kiss of the Spider Woman
. In 1995 she recorded "Colors of the Wind
", the Oscar
-winner for Best Original Song
from the Disney animated feature film Pocahontas
, which reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Williams's first film acting role was as the star of the feature film Eraser
in 1996. She also starred in the movies Soul Food
, Dance with Me
, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
, Shaft
and Johnson Family Vacation
.
From 2006 to 2010 she played the role of the scheming, self-absorbed diva and former supermodel Wilhelmina Slater
in the ABC comedy series Ugly Betty
, for which she received three Emmy Awards nominations. In 2009, Williams released her eighth studio album, The Real Thing
. In 2010 she joined the ensemble cast of the series Desperate Housewives
as spoiled rich woman Renee Perry
.
Along with Mario Frangoulis
, she was the main host of the opening ceremony of the 2011 Special Olympics
, held in Athens
.
, New York, the daughter of music teachers Helen L. (née Tinch) and Milton Augustine Williams, Jr. According to DNA tests, Vanessa is of African American, Welsh, and Native American descent. Williams and her younger brother Chris
, who is also an actor, grew up in Millwood, a predominantly white middle-class suburban area. Prophetically, her parents put "Here she is: Miss America" on her birth announcement.
growing up, but was most interested in singing and songwriting. She received a scholarship
and attended Syracuse University
as a Theatre
Arts major from 1981 to 1983. She interrupted her education at Syracuse during her sophomore year to fulfill her duties as Miss America
, and subsequently left the university to focus on her entertainment career. Twenty-five years later, she graduated from Syracuse by earning her remaining college credits through her life experience. Williams delivered the convocation address on May 10, 2008, to 480 other students in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. She stated:
crown in 1983, and went to compete for the Miss America title at the national pageant in Atlantic City
. Prior to the final night of competition, Williams won both Preliminary competitions - Talent and Swimsuit - earlier in the week (note: each day's Preliminary competitions have winners announced; therefore there can be as many as six "Prelim" winners; three each for Talent and Swimsuit. To win a "prelim" in both is a strong precursor to success in the finals.) She was crowned Miss America 1984
on September 17, 1983, becoming the first African American to win the title.
Williams' reign as Miss America was not without its challenges and controversies. For the first time in pageant history, a reigning Miss America was the target of death threats and hate mail.
Ten months into her reign as Miss America, she received an anonymous phone call stating that nude photos of her taken before her pageant days had surfaced. Williams believed the photographs were private and had been destroyed; she claims she never signed a release permitting the photos to be used.
The genesis of the photos dated back to 1982, when she worked as an assistant and makeup artist for Mount Kisco, New York
photographer Tom Chiapel. According to Williams, Chiapel advised her that he wanted to try a "new concept of silhouettes with two models". He photographed Williams and another woman in several nude poses, including simulated lesbian sex
.
Hugh Hefner
, the publisher of Playboy
, was initially offered the photos, but turned them down. Later, Hefner would explain why in People Weekly, "Vanessa Williams is a beautiful woman. There was never any question of our interest in the photos. But they clearly weren't authorized and because they would be the source of considerable embarrassment to her, we decided not to publish them. We were also mindful that she was the first black Miss America." Days later, Bob Guccione
, the publisher of Penthouse
, announced that his magazine would publish the photos in their September 1984 issue, and paid Chiapel for the rights to them without Williams' consent. According to the PBS
documentary Miss America, Williams' issue of Penthouse would ultimately bring Guccione a $14 million windfall.
After days of media frenzy and sponsors threatening to pull out of the upcoming 1985 pageant, Williams felt pressured by Miss America Pageant officials to resign, and did so in a press conference on July 23, 1984. The title subsequently went to the first runner-up, Suzette Charles
, also an African American. In early September 1984, Williams filed a $500 million lawsuit against Chiapel and Guccione, which she dropped a year later.
Although she resigned from fulfilling the duties of a current Miss America, Williams was allowed to keep the bejeweled crown and scholarship money and is officially recognized by the Miss America Organization as "Miss America 1984"; Charles is recognized as "Miss America 1984b".
in 1988. The first single, "The Right Stuff", found success on the R&B chart, while the second single "He's Got the Look
" found similar success on the same chart. The third single, "Dreamin'
", was a pop hit, becoming Williams' first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100
, peaking at #8, and her first number one single on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
chart. The album reached gold status in the U.S. and earned her three Grammy Award
nominations, including one for Best New Artist.
Her second album The Comfort Zone
became the biggest success in her music career. The lead single "Running Back to You
" reached top twenty on the Hot 100, and the top position of Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart on October 5, 1991. Other singles included "The Comfort Zone
" (#2 R&B), "Just for Tonight
" (#26 Pop), a cover of The Isley Brothers
' "Work to Do
" (#3 R&B), and the club-only hit "Freedom Dance (Get Free!)." The most successful single from the album, as well as her biggest hit to date, is "Save the Best for Last
". It reached #1 in the United States, where it remained for five weeks, as well as #1 in Australia, the Netherlands, and Canada, and was in the top 5 in Japan, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The album sold 2.2 million copies in the U.S. at its time of release and has since been certified triple platinum in the United States by the RIAA
, gold in Canada by the CRIA
, and platinum in the United Kingdom by the BPI
. The Comfort Zone earned Williams five Grammy Award nominations.
The Sweetest Days
, her third album, was released in 1994 to highly-favorable reviews. The album saw Williams branch out and sample other styles of music that included jazz
, hip hop
, rock, and Latin
-themed recordings such as "Betcha Never" and "You Can't Run", both written and produced by Babyface. Other singles from the album included the adult-contemporary and dance hit "The Way That You Love
" and the title track "The Sweetest Days
". The album was certified platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA and earned her two Grammy Award nominations.
Other releases include two Christmas albums, Star Bright, released in 1996, and Silver & Gold in 2004; Next in 1997, and Everlasting Love
in 2005, along with a greatest-hits compilation released in 1998, and a host of other compilations released over the years.
Notable chart performances from subsequent albums, motion picture and television soundtracks have included the songs "Love Is
", which was a duet with Brian McKnight
, the Golden Globe- and Academy Award-winning "Colors of the Wind
", "Where Do We Go from Here?", and "Oh How the Years Go By
". In total, Williams has sold more than six million records and has received 15 Grammy Award nominations.
In May 2009 she performed two concerts at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City to sold out crowds.
On June 2, 2009, she released her 8th studio album on Concord Records
titled The Real Thing
. It features songs written and/or produced by Babyface, Stevie Wonder
, Bill Withers
, Bebel Gilberto, and Rex Rideout. Williams described the album as "a hybrid of samba, bossa nova, some salsa and also some pop and R&B". The title song "The Real Thing
", the fourth single released from the album, peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart.
Williams announced plans for a new concert tour beginning in May 2011.
production of Kiss of the Spider Woman
in 1994. She was also featured in the Tony
-nominated and Drama Desk Award
nominated performance as the Witch in Stephen Sondheim
's Into the Woods
in a revival of the show in 2002, which included songs revised for her.
Other notable theatrical roles include her performances in Carmen Jones
at the Kennedy Center
, the off-Broadway productions of One Man Band and Checkmates, and the New York City Center
's Encores!
Great American Musicals in Concert, St. Louis Woman.
In 2010, Williams starred in a new Broadway musical revue along with Barbara Cook
, Tom Wopat
and Leslie Kritzer
entitled, Sondheim on Sondheim
, a look at Stephen Sondheim
through his music, film and videotaped interviews. Directed by James Lapine
, Sondheim ran from March 19 to June 13 at Studio 54
in New York City.
, for which she won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
. Williams appeared in the 1991 cult classic film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
. She also co-starred with Arnold Schwarzenegger
in the movie Eraser
and opposite Chayanne
in Dance with Me
.
In 2007, Williams returned to the big screen starring in two independent motion pictures. The first being My Brother, for which she won Best Actress honors at the Harlem International Film Festival, the African-American Women in Cinema Film Festival and at the Santa Barbara African Heritage Film Festival, and the second being And Then Came Love
. In 2009, she starred alongside Miley Cyrus
in Hannah Montana: The Movie
.
She stars on upcoming movie The Marriage Counselor
.
, playing herself. She subsequently made guest appearances on a number of shows, including T.J. Hooker, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
, Saturday Night Live
, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
, LateLine, MADtv
, Ally McBeal
and Boomtown.
Her appearances in television movies and miniseries include Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer and The Jacksons: An American Dream
as Suzanne de Passe
. In 1995, Williams starred as Rose Alvares in a television version of Bye Bye Birdie, a Broadway musical from the 1950s. She played the nymph Calypso
in the 1997 Hallmark Entertainment
miniseries The Odyssey, starring Armand Assante
. She appeared as Ebony Scrooge the Ebenezer Scrooge
character in an update of Charles Dickens
' story A Christmas Carol
called A Diva's Christmas Carol. In 2001, Williams starred in the Lifetime cable movie about the life of Henriette DeLille
, The Courage to Love. In 2003, Williams read the narrative of Tempie Herndon Durham from the WPA slave narratives in the HBO documentary Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives. In early 2006 she starred in the short lived UPN
drama South Beach
.
In 2007, Williams received considerable media attention for her comic/villainess role as former model/magazine creative director turned editor-in-chief Wilhelmina Slater
in the ABC
comedy series Ugly Betty
. Her performance on the series resulted in a nomination for outstanding supporting actress at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards
. She also provides the voice for the main character in the PBS Kids
version of Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies
. In 2008 and 2009, she was again nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for Ugly Betty.
Williams joined the cast of Desperate Housewives
for the seventh season. Williams portrays Renee Perry
, an old college friend/rival of Lynette Scavo
(Felicity Huffman
), as the new vixen on Wisteria Lane, moving into the late Edie Britt
's old house.
. She is a spokesmodel for Proactiv Solution
, and was the first African-American spokesmodel for L'Oréal
cosmetics in the late 1990s. Her other media appearances include endorsing Crest Rejuvenating Effects Toothpaste, endorsing Disneyland and Universal Studios
in a VisitCalifornia advertisement for British and Irish television in 2008, and hosting the 6th Annual 2008 TV Land Awards
show.
She appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
in 2000 as a contestant, and once again on 10 August 2009 as a celebrity guest during the show's 10th anniversary prime-time special editions, winning $50,000 for her charity.
, who is just two months younger.
It has been reported that Williams first became aware of Vanessa A. in the 1980s when her New York University
registrar told her that another, similarly aged student with the same name and from the same state had applied. When Williams appeared as Miss America in a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
, Vanessa A. accidentally received her check for the appearance, which she returned.
In the area of acting, the two ran into name conflict when Screen Actors Guild
rules prohibited duplicate stage naming. Vanessa A. had registered the name "Vanessa Williams" first, so as a compromise, Williams was occasionally credited as "Vanessa L. Williams" in acting credits. To compound the confusion, both actresses starred in versions of the drama Soul Food
(Williams in the film version, and Vanessa A. in its TV series adaptation). The Screen Actors Guild eventually took the issue to arbitration
and decided that both actresses could use the professional name "Vanessa Williams". Today, Williams' prominence has led to a more prevailing association with the stage name "Vanessa Williams", so much so that it has widely become solely attributable to her. She is credited as such in the American television series Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives. Williams is also the owner of the internet domain name vanessawilliams.com. Today, the younger Vanessa Williams is most often publicly and professionally referenced as "Vanessa A. Williams".
Her second marriage was to former NBA
basketball player Rick Fox
. They married in September 1999 and have a daughter, Sasha, born in May 2000. After The National Enquirer
published pictures of Fox kissing and hugging another woman in mid-2004, Fox's representative announced that the couple had been "headed toward divorce" for over a year. A few months later in August 2004, Fox filed for divorce. Williams is currently single and resides in Chappaqua, New York. The two remain friendly. Fox acted alongside Williams in two episodes during the second season of Ugly Betty, playing the role of Dwayne, Wilhelmina's sexy bodyguard.
During an interview with Barbara Walters
which aired on February 24, 2008, Williams not only admitted to using Botox
but also called it "a miracle drug, no cutting, nothing, and I love it. But I also want to act so I don't do it to freeze my face."
Williams is Roman Catholic.
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...
recording artist, producer, dancer, model, actress and showgirl. In 1983, she became the first woman of African-American descent to be crowned Miss America
Miss America
The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
, but a scandal generated by her having posed for nude photographs published in Penthouse
Penthouse (magazine)
Penthouse, a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictorials that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore. Penthouse is owned by FriendFinder Network. formerly known as General Media, Inc. whose parent company was Penthouse International...
magazine caused her to relinquish her title early and she was succeeded by the first runner-up, Suzette Charles
Suzette Charles
Suzette Charles is an American singer and entertainer.-Career:Born in Mays Landing, she represented New Jersey in the 1983 Miss America pageant held in Atlantic City, New Jersey...
of New Jersey – who was also African-American. Williams rebounded by launching a career as an entertainer, earning multiple Grammy
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
, Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
, and Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nominations.
Williams released her debut album The Right Stuff
The Right Stuff (album)
The Right Stuff is the debut album of Vanessa L. Williams released in 1988. The albums and its singles were well received by both the Urban and Pop markets...
in 1988, which spawned the hits "The Right Stuff" , a #1 on Hot Dance Songs, and "Dreamin'
Dreamin' (Vanessa Williams song)
"Dreamin" is a song written by Lisa Montgomery and Geneva Paschal and originally performed by the family group Guinn in 1986.In 1987, Vanessa Williams recorded the song and released it as a single from her debut album, The Right Stuff...
" a #1 on R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
and #8 on Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
. Her second studio album The Comfort Zone
The Comfort Zone (album)
The tracks "Work to Do" and "What Will I Tell My Heart?" both appeared in the film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man; the latter also appeared on the film's soundtrack album.-Production:...
in 1991 topped the Billboard R&B Album Chart
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums
Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999...
, which spawned the Billboard Hot 100 number-one hit "Save the Best for Last
Save the Best for Last
"Save the Best for Last" is a 1992 single written by Phil Galdston, Wendy Waldman and Jon Lind in March 1989. It is considered Vanessa Williams' signature song. The lyrics' redemptive themes resonated with Williams' story, as she had put together a successful recording career following her earlier...
".
In 1994 she debuted on Broadway in the musical Kiss of the Spider Woman
Kiss of the Spider Woman (musical)
Kiss of the Spider Woman is a musical with music by John Kander and Fred Ebb, with the book by Terrence McNally. It is based on the Manuel Puig novel El Beso de la Mujer Araña...
. In 1995 she recorded "Colors of the Wind
Colors of the Wind
"Colors of the Wind" by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, was the 1995 Oscar-winner for Best Original Song from the Disney animated feature film, Pocahontas. It also won the Golden Globe in the same category as well as the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Movie...
", the Oscar
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
-winner for Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
from the Disney animated feature film Pocahontas
Pocahontas (1995 film)
Pocahontas is the 33rd animated feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series. It was produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and was originally released to selected theaters on June 16, 1995 by Walt Disney Pictures...
, which reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Williams's first film acting role was as the star of the feature film Eraser
Eraser (film)
Eraser is a 1996 American action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Caan and Vanessa L. Williams. It was directed by Chuck Russell. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Sound Effects Editing in 1996.-Plot:...
in 1996. She also starred in the movies Soul Food
Soul Food (film)
Soul Food is a 1997 American comedy-drama film, produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Tracey Edmonds, and Robert Teitel, and released by Fox 2000 Pictures. Featuring an ensemble cast, the film stars Vanessa L. Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Michael Beach, Mekhi Phifer, Jeffrey D. Sams, Irma...
, Dance with Me
Dance with Me (film)
Dance with Me is a 1998 drama film on love and dance directed by Randa Haines and starring Vanessa L. Williams and Puerto Rican singer Chayanne.-Plot:...
, The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland is the second theatrical feature-length film starring the cast of the popular U.S. children's series Sesame Street...
, Shaft
Shaft (2000 film)
Shaft is a 2000 American action-crime film directed by John Singleton, and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jeffrey Wright, Christian Bale, Pat Hingle, Toni Collette, Busta Rhymes, Vanessa L. Williams, and Mekhi Phifer. This film is not a remake of the 1971 film of the same name, but rather a sequel,...
and Johnson Family Vacation
Johnson Family Vacation
Johnson Family Vacation is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Christopher Erskin. It stars Cedric the Entertainer, Vanessa Williams, Bow Wow, Gabby Soleil, Shannon Elizabeth, Solange Knowles, and Steve Harvey...
.
From 2006 to 2010 she played the role of the scheming, self-absorbed diva and former supermodel Wilhelmina Slater
Wilhelmina Slater
Wilhelmina Vivian Slater is a fictional character in the American dramedy series Ugly Betty. She is played by Vanessa Williams, who received a supporting actress award at the 2007 and 2008 NAACP Image Awards, a Best TV Villain award at the 2007 Teen Choice Awards and a supporting actress...
in the ABC comedy series Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...
, for which she received three Emmy Awards nominations. In 2009, Williams released her eighth studio album, The Real Thing
The Real Thing (Vanessa Williams album)
-Charts:...
. In 2010 she joined the ensemble cast of the series Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
as spoiled rich woman Renee Perry
Renee Perry
Renee Perry is a fictional character created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry for the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. She is portrayed by Vanessa Williams.-Personality:...
.
Along with Mario Frangoulis
Mario Frangoulis
Mario Frangoulis is a Greek tenor and is best known for his song, "Vincerò, Perderò". He sings in Italian, Spanish, English, French, and Greek; he is fluent in all 5 languages.-Early life:...
, she was the main host of the opening ceremony of the 2011 Special Olympics
Special Olympics
Special Olympics is the world's largest sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities, providing year-round training and competitions to more than 3.1 million athletes in 175 countries....
, held in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
.
Early life
Williams was born in TarrytownTarrytown, New York
Tarrytown is a village in the town of Greenburgh in Westchester County, New York, United States. It is located on the eastern bank of the Hudson River, about north of midtown Manhattan in New York City, and is served by a stop on the Metro-North Hudson Line...
, New York, the daughter of music teachers Helen L. (née Tinch) and Milton Augustine Williams, Jr. According to DNA tests, Vanessa is of African American, Welsh, and Native American descent. Williams and her younger brother Chris
Chris Williams (actor)
-Career:Williams, a graduate of Georgetown University, has made appearances on numerous television shows such as CSI, JAG, The Shield, Weeds, Reno 911!, Californication, and popularly as fictional rap artist Krazee-Eyez Killa on Curb Your Enthusiasm...
, who is also an actor, grew up in Millwood, a predominantly white middle-class suburban area. Prophetically, her parents put "Here she is: Miss America" on her birth announcement.
Education
Williams studied piano and French hornHorn (instrument)
The horn is a brass instrument consisting of about of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. A musician who plays the horn is called a horn player ....
growing up, but was most interested in singing and songwriting. She received a scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
and attended Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
as a Theatre
Theatre
Theatre is a collaborative form of fine art that uses live performers to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place. The performers may communicate this experience to the audience through combinations of gesture, speech, song, music or dance...
Arts major from 1981 to 1983. She interrupted her education at Syracuse during her sophomore year to fulfill her duties as Miss America
Miss America
The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
, and subsequently left the university to focus on her entertainment career. Twenty-five years later, she graduated from Syracuse by earning her remaining college credits through her life experience. Williams delivered the convocation address on May 10, 2008, to 480 other students in the College of Visual and Performing Arts. She stated:
Pageants and Miss America title
Williams competed in the Miss Syracuse (University) beauty pageant when a campus musical she was in was canceled in 1983. After winning the Miss Syracuse title, Williams won the Miss New YorkMiss New York
The Miss New York competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America pageant. Miss New York has twice won the Miss America Crown. Also, when city representatives were common at the national pageant, Bess Myerson won as Miss New York City in...
crown in 1983, and went to compete for the Miss America title at the national pageant in Atlantic City
Atlantic City, New Jersey
Atlantic City is a city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States, and a nationally renowned resort city for gambling, shopping and fine dining. The city also served as the inspiration for the American version of the board game Monopoly. Atlantic City is located on Absecon Island on the coast...
. Prior to the final night of competition, Williams won both Preliminary competitions - Talent and Swimsuit - earlier in the week (note: each day's Preliminary competitions have winners announced; therefore there can be as many as six "Prelim" winners; three each for Talent and Swimsuit. To win a "prelim" in both is a strong precursor to success in the finals.) She was crowned Miss America 1984
Miss America 1984
Miss America 1984, the 59th Miss America, pageant, was from on the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on September 17, 1983 on NBC Network.-Placements:-Preliminary Awards:-Controversy:...
on September 17, 1983, becoming the first African American to win the title.
Williams' reign as Miss America was not without its challenges and controversies. For the first time in pageant history, a reigning Miss America was the target of death threats and hate mail.
Ten months into her reign as Miss America, she received an anonymous phone call stating that nude photos of her taken before her pageant days had surfaced. Williams believed the photographs were private and had been destroyed; she claims she never signed a release permitting the photos to be used.
The genesis of the photos dated back to 1982, when she worked as an assistant and makeup artist for Mount Kisco, New York
Mount Kisco, New York
Mount Kisco is a community that is both a village and a town in Westchester County, New York, United States. The Town of Mount Kisco is coterminous with the village. The population was 10,877 at the 2010 census.- History :...
photographer Tom Chiapel. According to Williams, Chiapel advised her that he wanted to try a "new concept of silhouettes with two models". He photographed Williams and another woman in several nude poses, including simulated lesbian sex
Lesbian sexual practices
Lesbian sexual practices are sexual activities where the participants are only women. The participants can be lesbian or bisexual women, though some prefer to refer to themselves as women who have sex with women and dispense with sexual identification...
.
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Hefner
Hugh Marston "Hef" Hefner is an American magazine publisher, founder and Chief Creative Officer of Playboy Enterprises.-Early life:...
, the publisher of Playboy
Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine that features photographs of nude women as well as journalism and fiction. It was founded in Chicago in 1953 by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with...
, was initially offered the photos, but turned them down. Later, Hefner would explain why in People Weekly, "Vanessa Williams is a beautiful woman. There was never any question of our interest in the photos. But they clearly weren't authorized and because they would be the source of considerable embarrassment to her, we decided not to publish them. We were also mindful that she was the first black Miss America." Days later, Bob Guccione
Bob Guccione
Bob Guccione was the founder and publisher of the adult magazine Penthouse. He resigned from his publisher position in November 2003.-Early life:...
, the publisher of Penthouse
Penthouse (magazine)
Penthouse, a men's magazine founded by Bob Guccione, combines urban lifestyle articles and softcore pornographic pictorials that, in the 1990s, evolved into hardcore. Penthouse is owned by FriendFinder Network. formerly known as General Media, Inc. whose parent company was Penthouse International...
, announced that his magazine would publish the photos in their September 1984 issue, and paid Chiapel for the rights to them without Williams' consent. According to the PBS
Public Broadcasting Service
The Public Broadcasting Service is an American non-profit public broadcasting television network with 354 member TV stations in the United States which hold collective ownership. Its headquarters is in Arlington, Virginia....
documentary Miss America, Williams' issue of Penthouse would ultimately bring Guccione a $14 million windfall.
After days of media frenzy and sponsors threatening to pull out of the upcoming 1985 pageant, Williams felt pressured by Miss America Pageant officials to resign, and did so in a press conference on July 23, 1984. The title subsequently went to the first runner-up, Suzette Charles
Suzette Charles
Suzette Charles is an American singer and entertainer.-Career:Born in Mays Landing, she represented New Jersey in the 1983 Miss America pageant held in Atlantic City, New Jersey...
, also an African American. In early September 1984, Williams filed a $500 million lawsuit against Chiapel and Guccione, which she dropped a year later.
Although she resigned from fulfilling the duties of a current Miss America, Williams was allowed to keep the bejeweled crown and scholarship money and is officially recognized by the Miss America Organization as "Miss America 1984"; Charles is recognized as "Miss America 1984b".
Music career
Williams released her debut album, The Right StuffThe Right Stuff (album)
The Right Stuff is the debut album of Vanessa L. Williams released in 1988. The albums and its singles were well received by both the Urban and Pop markets...
in 1988. The first single, "The Right Stuff", found success on the R&B chart, while the second single "He's Got the Look
(He's Got) The Look
" The Look" is the second single from Vanessa L. Williams' 1988 debut album. The single peaked at #10 on Billboards Hot Black Singles chart and #49 on Billboards Hot Dance Club\Maxi Singles chart....
" found similar success on the same chart. The third single, "Dreamin'
Dreamin' (Vanessa Williams song)
"Dreamin" is a song written by Lisa Montgomery and Geneva Paschal and originally performed by the family group Guinn in 1986.In 1987, Vanessa Williams recorded the song and released it as a single from her debut album, The Right Stuff...
", was a pop hit, becoming Williams' first top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
, peaking at #8, and her first number one single on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart. The album reached gold status in the U.S. and earned her three Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
nominations, including one for Best New Artist.
Her second album The Comfort Zone
The Comfort Zone (album)
The tracks "Work to Do" and "What Will I Tell My Heart?" both appeared in the film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man; the latter also appeared on the film's soundtrack album.-Production:...
became the biggest success in her music career. The lead single "Running Back to You
Running Back to You
"Running Back to You" is the lead single from Vanessa Williams' second studio album, The Comfort Zone .The single became one of the biggest hits of her career; it topped Billboards Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for two weeks from October 5 to October 12, 1991 and reached number eighteen on the...
" reached top twenty on the Hot 100, and the top position of Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart on October 5, 1991. Other singles included "The Comfort Zone
The Comfort Zone (song)
"The Comfort Zone" is the second single from Vanessa Williams' second studio album, The Comfort Zone . It peaked at number two on the U.S...
" (#2 R&B), "Just for Tonight
Just for Tonight
Just for Tonight may refer to:* "Just for Tonight" , a single by the band One Night Only* "Just for Tonight", a single by Vanessa Williams from her album The Comfort Zone* "Just for Tonight", a 1968 single by The Chiffons...
" (#26 Pop), a cover of The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers are a highly influential, successful and long-running American music group consisting of different line-ups of six brothers, and a brother-in-law, Chris Jasper...
' "Work to Do
Work to Do
"Work to Do" is a 1972 funk song by The Isley Brothers, released on their T-Neck imprint. The song, written and produced by the group, was issued on their 1972 album, Brother, Brother, Brother, and charted at #51 pop and #11 R&B upon its initial charting...
" (#3 R&B), and the club-only hit "Freedom Dance (Get Free!)." The most successful single from the album, as well as her biggest hit to date, is "Save the Best for Last
Save the Best for Last
"Save the Best for Last" is a 1992 single written by Phil Galdston, Wendy Waldman and Jon Lind in March 1989. It is considered Vanessa Williams' signature song. The lyrics' redemptive themes resonated with Williams' story, as she had put together a successful recording career following her earlier...
". It reached #1 in the United States, where it remained for five weeks, as well as #1 in Australia, the Netherlands, and Canada, and was in the top 5 in Japan, Ireland and the United Kingdom. The album sold 2.2 million copies in the U.S. at its time of release and has since been certified triple platinum in the United States by the RIAA
Recording Industry Association of America
The Recording Industry Association of America is a trade organization that represents the recording industry distributors in the United States...
, gold in Canada by the CRIA
Canadian Recording Industry Association
Music Canada is a Toronto-based, non-profit trade organization that was founded 9 April 1963 to represent the interests of companies that record, artists, manufacture, production, promotion and distribution of music in Canada...
, and platinum in the United Kingdom by the BPI
British Phonographic Industry
The British Phonographic Industry is the British record industry's trade association.-Structure:Its membership comprises hundreds of music companies including all four "major" record companies , associate members such as manufacturers and distributors, and hundreds of independent music companies...
. The Comfort Zone earned Williams five Grammy Award nominations.
The Sweetest Days
The Sweetest Days
-Singles:"The Way That You Love" and "You Can't Run" were both nominated at the 1995 Grammy Awards, for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female and Best R&B Song respectively.The Sweetest Days...
, her third album, was released in 1994 to highly-favorable reviews. The album saw Williams branch out and sample other styles of music that included jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
, hip hop
Hip hop music
Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...
, rock, and Latin
Latin American music
Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...
-themed recordings such as "Betcha Never" and "You Can't Run", both written and produced by Babyface. Other singles from the album included the adult-contemporary and dance hit "The Way That You Love
The Way That You Love
"The Way That You Love" is the second single from Vanessa Williams' album The Sweetest Days....
" and the title track "The Sweetest Days
The Sweetest Days
-Singles:"The Way That You Love" and "You Can't Run" were both nominated at the 1995 Grammy Awards, for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female and Best R&B Song respectively.The Sweetest Days...
". The album was certified platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA and earned her two Grammy Award nominations.
Other releases include two Christmas albums, Star Bright, released in 1996, and Silver & Gold in 2004; Next in 1997, and Everlasting Love
Everlasting Love (Vanessa Williams album)
Everlasting Love is the seventh studio album by Vanessa Williams, released in the United States on January 25, 2005 by Lava Records...
in 2005, along with a greatest-hits compilation released in 1998, and a host of other compilations released over the years.
Notable chart performances from subsequent albums, motion picture and television soundtracks have included the songs "Love Is
Love Is (Vanessa Williams song)
"Love Is" is the title of a 1993 duet released by Vanessa Williams and Brian McKnight. The single originally appeared on the soundtrack to the TV drama series, Beverly Hills, 90210. Although the song did not appear in that series, it did appear in the 90210 spinoff series, Melrose Place...
", which was a duet with Brian McKnight
Brian McKnight
Brian McKnight is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, producer, and R&B/Pop musician. He is a multi-instrumentalist who plays nine instruments: piano, guitar, bass guitar, drums, percussions, trombone, tuba, flugelhorn and trumpet....
, the Golden Globe- and Academy Award-winning "Colors of the Wind
Colors of the Wind
"Colors of the Wind" by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, was the 1995 Oscar-winner for Best Original Song from the Disney animated feature film, Pocahontas. It also won the Golden Globe in the same category as well as the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Movie...
", "Where Do We Go from Here?", and "Oh How the Years Go By
Oh How the Years Go By
Oh How the Years Go By is a song written by Simon Climie & Will Jennings. This song was performed by singer-songwriter Amy Grant and released on her 1994 album House of Love. It was the sixth release from that album....
". In total, Williams has sold more than six million records and has received 15 Grammy Award nominations.
In May 2009 she performed two concerts at the Tropicana Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City to sold out crowds.
On June 2, 2009, she released her 8th studio album on Concord Records
Concord Records
Concord Records is a U.S. record label now based in Beverly Hills, California. Originally known as Concord Jazz, it was established in 1972 as an off-shoot of the Concord Jazz Festival in Concord, California by festival founder Carl Jefferson, a local automobile dealer and jazz fan who sold his...
titled The Real Thing
The Real Thing (Vanessa Williams album)
-Charts:...
. It features songs written and/or produced by Babyface, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Bill Withers
Bill Withers
William Harrison "Bill" Withers, Jr. is an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985. Some of his best-known songs are "Lean on Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Just the Two of Us", "Lovely Day", and "Grandma's Hands"...
, Bebel Gilberto, and Rex Rideout. Williams described the album as "a hybrid of samba, bossa nova, some salsa and also some pop and R&B". The title song "The Real Thing
The Real Thing (Vanessa Williams song)
"The Real Thing" is a song by American recording artist Vanessa Williams. The song was written by Stevie Wonder and produced by Soul Seekerz for her ninth studio album, The Real Thing...
", the fourth single released from the album, peaked at #6 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart.
Williams announced plans for a new concert tour beginning in May 2011.
Theatrical roles
Williams parlayed her ascendant music career into a theatrical role when she was cast in the BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
production of Kiss of the Spider Woman
Kiss of the Spider Woman (musical)
Kiss of the Spider Woman is a musical with music by John Kander and Fred Ebb, with the book by Terrence McNally. It is based on the Manuel Puig novel El Beso de la Mujer Araña...
in 1994. She was also featured in the Tony
Tony Award for Best Leading Actress in a Musical
The Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical is the Tony Awards award given to the actress who was voted as the best leading actress in a musical, whether a new production or a revival...
-nominated and Drama Desk Award
Drama Desk Award
The Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
nominated performance as the Witch in Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
's Into the Woods
Into the Woods
Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim...
in a revival of the show in 2002, which included songs revised for her.
Other notable theatrical roles include her performances in Carmen Jones
Carmen Jones
Carmen Jones is a 1943 Broadway musical starring Muriel Smith in the title role, later made into a 1954 musical film; the play also ran for a season in 1991 at London's Old Vic and most recently in London's Royal Festival Hall in the Southbank Centre in 2007. It is an updating of the Georges Bizet...
at the Kennedy Center
John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts
The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts is a performing arts center located on the Potomac River, adjacent to the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C...
, the off-Broadway productions of One Man Band and Checkmates, and the New York City Center
New York City Center
New York City Center is a 2,750-seat Moorish Revival theater located at 131 West 55th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues in Manhattan, New York City. It is one block south of Carnegie Hall...
's Encores!
Encores!
Encores! Great American Musicals in Concert is a program that has been presented by New York City Center since 1994. Encores! is dedicated to performing the full score of musicals that rarely are heard in New York City...
Great American Musicals in Concert, St. Louis Woman.
In 2010, Williams starred in a new Broadway musical revue along with Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook
Barbara Cook is an American singer and actress who first came to prominence in the 1950s after starring in the original Broadway musicals Candide and The Music Man among others, winning a Tony Award for the latter...
, Tom Wopat
Tom Wopat
Tom Wopat is an American actor and singer. He first achieved fame as Luke Duke in the long-running 1979 television series The Dukes of Hazzard, along with John Schneider. He also played Jeff, one of Cybill Shepherd's ex-husbands in the TV series Cybill.-Life and career:Wopat was born in Lodi,...
and Leslie Kritzer
Leslie Kritzer
Leslie Kritzer is an award-winning Broadway actress. She is from Livingston, New Jersey.-Biography:Kritzer, a 1999 graduate of the University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music, has also appeared on Broadway in Hairspray and was the character Serena in Legally Blonde The Musical...
entitled, Sondheim on Sondheim
Sondheim on Sondheim
Sondheim on Sondheim is a musical revue consisting of music and lyrics written by Stephen Sondheim for his many shows. It is conceived and directed by James Lapine. The revue had a limited run on Broadway in 2010.-Background:...
, a look at Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
through his music, film and videotaped interviews. Directed by James Lapine
James Lapine
James Lapine is an American stage director and librettist. He has won the Tony Award for Best Book of a Musical three times, for Into the Woods, Falsettos, and Passion. He has frequently collaborated with Stephen Sondheim and William Finn.-Biography:Lapine was born in Mansfield, Ohio and graduated...
, Sondheim ran from March 19 to June 13 at Studio 54
Studio 54
Studio 54 was a highly popular discotheque from 1977 until 1991, located at 254 West 54th Street in Manhattan, New York, USA. It was originally the Gallo Opera House, opening in 1927, after which it changed names several times, eventually becoming a CBS radio and television studio. In 1977 it...
in New York City.
Feature film roles
Williams has appeared in several feature films. Her most prominent role was in the 1997 film Soul FoodSoul Food (film)
Soul Food is a 1997 American comedy-drama film, produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Tracey Edmonds, and Robert Teitel, and released by Fox 2000 Pictures. Featuring an ensemble cast, the film stars Vanessa L. Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Michael Beach, Mekhi Phifer, Jeffrey D. Sams, Irma...
, for which she won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture:Number of Performances that won or nominated for Oscars:*1. Whoopi Goldberg - The Color Purple*2. Angela Bassett - What's Love Got to Do With It?...
. Williams appeared in the 1991 cult classic film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
Other songs in the film, but not included on the soundtrack are "Stop the World" by The Screaming Jets, "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi, and "Work to Do" and "The Better Part of Me" by Vanessa Williams.-See also:* List of American films of 1991*...
. She also co-starred with Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger is an Austrian-American former professional bodybuilder, actor, businessman, investor, and politician. Schwarzenegger served as the 38th Governor of California from 2003 until 2011....
in the movie Eraser
Eraser (film)
Eraser is a 1996 American action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Caan and Vanessa L. Williams. It was directed by Chuck Russell. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Sound Effects Editing in 1996.-Plot:...
and opposite Chayanne
Chayanne
Elmer Figueroa Arce , best known under the stage name Chayanne, is a Puerto Rican Latin pop singer and actor. As a solo artist, Chayanne has released 21 solo-albums and sold over 20 million albums worldwide.-Early life:...
in Dance with Me
Dance with Me (film)
Dance with Me is a 1998 drama film on love and dance directed by Randa Haines and starring Vanessa L. Williams and Puerto Rican singer Chayanne.-Plot:...
.
In 2007, Williams returned to the big screen starring in two independent motion pictures. The first being My Brother, for which she won Best Actress honors at the Harlem International Film Festival, the African-American Women in Cinema Film Festival and at the Santa Barbara African Heritage Film Festival, and the second being And Then Came Love
And Then Came Love
And Then Came Love is a 2007 romantic comedy film that premiered at the Urban Film Series Festival in Washington, D.C. on May 10, 2007. It then saw a limited theatrical release in Ridgewood, New Jersey on June 1, 2007 and in Manhattan, New York on June 15, 2007.The film stars Vanessa Williams,...
. In 2009, she starred alongside Miley Cyrus
Miley Cyrus
Miley Ray Cyrus is an American actress and pop singer-songwriter. She achieved wide fame for her role as Miley Stewart/Hannah Montana on the Disney Channel sitcom Hannah Montana....
in Hannah Montana: The Movie
Hannah Montana: The Movie
Hannah Montana: The Movie is a 2009 Walt Disney Pictures musical comedy film based on the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana which was released on April 10, 2009, by Walt Disney Pictures, it was the second Disney Channel series to have a movie for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by...
.
She stars on upcoming movie The Marriage Counselor
The Marriage Counselor (film)
The Marriage Counselor is an upcoming comedy-drama film directed by, written by, and produced by Tyler Perry. The film is adapted from the play of the same name...
.
Television
Williams' first television appearance was on a 1984 episode of The Love BoatThe Love Boat
The Love Boat is an American television series set on a cruise ship, which aired on the ABC Television Network from September 24,1977, until May 24,1986.The show starred Gavin MacLeod as the ship's captain...
, playing herself. She subsequently made guest appearances on a number of shows, including T.J. Hooker, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his aunt and uncle in their...
, Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe...
, LateLine, MADtv
MADtv
MADtv is an American sketch comedy television series. It licensed the name and logo of Mad, but otherwise had no connection with the humor magazine outside the animated Spy vs. Spy and Don Martin cartoon shorts and images of Alfred E. Neuman that the show featured during the late 1990s. Its first...
, Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal
Ally McBeal is an American legal comedy-drama series which aired on the Fox network from 1997 to 2002. The series was created by David E. Kelley, who also served as the executive producer, along with Bill D'Elia...
and Boomtown.
Her appearances in television movies and miniseries include Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer and The Jacksons: An American Dream
The Jacksons: An American Dream
The Jacksons: An American Dream is a five-hour American miniseries broadcast in two halves on ABC and originally broadcast on November 15 through November 18, 1992...
as Suzanne de Passe
Suzanne de Passe
Suzanne de Passe is an American television, music and film producer. As well as the Co-Chairman of de Passe Jones Entertainment Group-Career:Suzanne began her career at Motown as Creative Assistant to company founder, Berry Gordy...
. In 1995, Williams starred as Rose Alvares in a television version of Bye Bye Birdie, a Broadway musical from the 1950s. She played the nymph Calypso
Calypso (mythology)
Calypso was a nymph in Greek mythology, who lived on the island of Ogygia, where she detained Odysseus for a number of years. She is generally said to be the daughter of the Titan Atlas....
in the 1997 Hallmark Entertainment
RHI Entertainment
RHI Entertainment , formerly known as Hallmark Entertainment, is an American producer of television movies and miniseries, founded in 1979 by Robert Halmi Jr. and Robert Halmi Sr. as Robert Halmi Incorporated....
miniseries The Odyssey, starring Armand Assante
Armand Assante
-Personal life:Assante was born in New York City and raised in Cornwall, New York, the son of Katherine , a music teacher and poet, and Armand Anthony Assante, Sr., a painter and artist. His father was Italian and his mother was Irish, and was raised in a devoutly Roman Catholic family...
. She appeared as Ebony Scrooge the Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge
Ebenezer Scrooge is the principal character in Charles Dickens's 1843 novel, A Christmas Carol. At the beginning of the novel, Scrooge is a cold-hearted, tight-fisted and greedy man, who despises Christmas and all things which give people happiness...
character in an update of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
' story A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol
A Christmas Carol is a novella by English author Charles Dickens first published by Chapman & Hall on 17 December 1843. The story tells of sour and stingy Ebenezer Scrooge's ideological, ethical, and emotional transformation after the supernatural visits of Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of...
called A Diva's Christmas Carol. In 2001, Williams starred in the Lifetime cable movie about the life of Henriette DeLille
Henriette DeLille
Venerable Henriette DeLille founded the Catholic order of the Sisters of the Holy Family, made up of free women of color, in New Orleans. The order provided nursing care and a home for orphans, later establishing schools as well. In 1989 the order formally opened its cause with the Vatican in...
, The Courage to Love. In 2003, Williams read the narrative of Tempie Herndon Durham from the WPA slave narratives in the HBO documentary Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives. In early 2006 she starred in the short lived UPN
UPN
United Paramount Network was a television network that was broadcast in over 200 markets in the United States from 1995 to 2006. UPN was originally owned by Viacom/Paramount and Chris-Craft Industries, the former of which, through the Paramount Television Group, produced most of the network's...
drama South Beach
South Beach (2006 TV series)
South Beach is a primetime television drama that ran from January 4, 2006 until February 22, 2006 on UPN. Created by Matt Cirulnick, one of its executive producers was singer/actress Jennifer Lopez. The program was panned by critics and shunned by viewers, finishing 152nd in the Nielsen TV ratings...
.
In 2007, Williams received considerable media attention for her comic/villainess role as former model/magazine creative director turned editor-in-chief Wilhelmina Slater
Wilhelmina Slater
Wilhelmina Vivian Slater is a fictional character in the American dramedy series Ugly Betty. She is played by Vanessa Williams, who received a supporting actress award at the 2007 and 2008 NAACP Image Awards, a Best TV Villain award at the 2007 Teen Choice Awards and a supporting actress...
in the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
comedy series Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty
Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea...
. Her performance on the series resulted in a nomination for outstanding supporting actress at the 59th Primetime Emmy Awards
59th Primetime Emmy Awards
The 59th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards were held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, California on September 16, 2007 and were televised live on Fox at 8:00 p.m. EDT for the first time in high definition...
. She also provides the voice for the main character in the PBS Kids
PBS Kids
PBS Kids is the brand for children's programming aired by the Public Broadcasting Service in the United States founded in 1993. As with all PBS programming, PBS Kids programming is non-commercial. It is aimed at children ages 2 to 10...
version of Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies
Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies
Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies is a 2006 animated television series. Set in the African savanna, it focuses on an enthusiastic elephant named Mama Mirabelle, who travels around the world to film real wildlife footage and project them onto a screen of fireflies in front of almost the entire animal...
. In 2008 and 2009, she was again nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series for Ugly Betty.
Williams joined the cast of Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives
Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W...
for the seventh season. Williams portrays Renee Perry
Renee Perry
Renee Perry is a fictional character created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry for the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. She is portrayed by Vanessa Williams.-Personality:...
, an old college friend/rival of Lynette Scavo
Lynette Scavo
Lynette Scavo is a fictional character on the series Desperate Housewives. The character is playedby actress Felicity Huffman, who won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for the role in 2005, and was nominated for Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series...
(Felicity Huffman
Felicity Huffman
Felicity Kendall Huffman is an American film, stage, and television actress. She is known for her role as executive producer Dana Whitaker on the ABC television show Sports Night , which earned her a Golden Globe Award nomination, and as hectic supermom Lynette Scavo on the ABC show Desperate...
), as the new vixen on Wisteria Lane, moving into the late Edie Britt
Edie Britt
Edie Britt Williams is a fictional character created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry for the ABC television series Desperate Housewives...
's old house.
Other media appearances
Williams has appeared in advertisements for RadioShackRadioShack
RadioShack Corporation is an American franchise of electronics retail stores in the United States, as well as parts of Europe, South America and Africa. As of 2008, RadioShack reported net sales and operating revenues of $4.81 billion. The headquarters of RadioShack is located in Downtown...
. She is a spokesmodel for Proactiv Solution
Proactiv Solution
Proactiv Solution is an over-the-counter topical treatment for mild to moderate forms of acne, widely known for being marketed in Guthy-Renker infomercials since 1995...
, and was the first African-American spokesmodel for L'Oréal
L'Oréal
The L'Oréal Group is the world's largest cosmetics and beauty company. With its registered office in Paris and head office in the Paris suburb of Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine, France, it has developed activities in the field of cosmetics...
cosmetics in the late 1990s. Her other media appearances include endorsing Crest Rejuvenating Effects Toothpaste, endorsing Disneyland and Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
in a VisitCalifornia advertisement for British and Irish television in 2008, and hosting the 6th Annual 2008 TV Land Awards
TV Land Awards
The TV Land Awards is an American television awards ceremony that generally commemorates shows now off the air, rather than in current production as with awards such as the Emmys. It is presented in a manner that spoofs other entertainment award ceremonies...
show.
She appeared on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (US game show)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is an American television quiz show which offers a maximum prize of $1,000,000 for correctly answering 14 consecutive multiple-choice questions of random difficulty. Until 2010, the format required contestants to correctly answer 15 consecutive questions of increasing...
in 2000 as a contestant, and once again on 10 August 2009 as a celebrity guest during the show's 10th anniversary prime-time special editions, winning $50,000 for her charity.
Name conflict
Williams is most often referenced and publicly recognized simply as "Vanessa Williams". There is, however, occasional confusion with similarly named actress Vanessa A. WilliamsVanessa A. Williams
Vanessa A. Williams is an American actress who has appeared in several television series such as Melrose Place and the Showtime cable television series Soul Food. In 1996, she was featured in the television series Murder One...
, who is just two months younger.
It has been reported that Williams first became aware of Vanessa A. in the 1980s when her New York University
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
registrar told her that another, similarly aged student with the same name and from the same state had applied. When Williams appeared as Miss America in a Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, often shortened to Macy's Day Parade, is an annual parade presented by Macy's. The tradition started in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States along with America's Thanksgiving Parade in Detroit, and four years younger than...
, Vanessa A. accidentally received her check for the appearance, which she returned.
In the area of acting, the two ran into name conflict when Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
rules prohibited duplicate stage naming. Vanessa A. had registered the name "Vanessa Williams" first, so as a compromise, Williams was occasionally credited as "Vanessa L. Williams" in acting credits. To compound the confusion, both actresses starred in versions of the drama Soul Food
Soul Food (film)
Soul Food is a 1997 American comedy-drama film, produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Tracey Edmonds, and Robert Teitel, and released by Fox 2000 Pictures. Featuring an ensemble cast, the film stars Vanessa L. Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Michael Beach, Mekhi Phifer, Jeffrey D. Sams, Irma...
(Williams in the film version, and Vanessa A. in its TV series adaptation). The Screen Actors Guild eventually took the issue to arbitration
Arbitration
Arbitration, a form of alternative dispute resolution , is a legal technique for the resolution of disputes outside the courts, where the parties to a dispute refer it to one or more persons , by whose decision they agree to be bound...
and decided that both actresses could use the professional name "Vanessa Williams". Today, Williams' prominence has led to a more prevailing association with the stage name "Vanessa Williams", so much so that it has widely become solely attributable to her. She is credited as such in the American television series Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives. Williams is also the owner of the internet domain name vanessawilliams.com. Today, the younger Vanessa Williams is most often publicly and professionally referenced as "Vanessa A. Williams".
Personal life
She has been married twice. Her first marriage, to her then-manager Ramon Hervey II, was from 1987 to 1997. They have three children, Melanie born in 1987, Jillian - 1989, and Devin - 1993.Her second marriage was to former NBA
National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is the pre-eminent men's professional basketball league in North America. It consists of thirty franchised member clubs, of which twenty-nine are located in the United States and one in Canada...
basketball player Rick Fox
Rick Fox
Ulrich Alexander "Rick" Fox is a Canadian television actor and retired professional basketball player who last played for the NBA's Los Angeles Lakers in 2004.-Early life:...
. They married in September 1999 and have a daughter, Sasha, born in May 2000. After The National Enquirer
The National Enquirer
The National Enquirer is an American supermarket tabloid now published by American Media Inc . Founded in 1926, the tabloid has gone through a variety of changes over the years....
published pictures of Fox kissing and hugging another woman in mid-2004, Fox's representative announced that the couple had been "headed toward divorce" for over a year. A few months later in August 2004, Fox filed for divorce. Williams is currently single and resides in Chappaqua, New York. The two remain friendly. Fox acted alongside Williams in two episodes during the second season of Ugly Betty, playing the role of Dwayne, Wilhelmina's sexy bodyguard.
During an interview with Barbara Walters
Barbara Walters
Barbara Jill Walters is an American broadcast journalist, author, and television personality. She has hosted morning television shows , the television newsmagazine , former co-anchor of the ABC Evening News, and current contributor to ABC News.Walters was first known as a popular TV morning news...
which aired on February 24, 2008, Williams not only admitted to using Botox
Botulinum toxin
Botulinum toxin is a protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, and is considered the most powerful neurotoxin ever discovered. Botulinum toxin causes Botulism poisoning, a serious and life-threatening illness in humans and animals...
but also called it "a miracle drug, no cutting, nothing, and I love it. But I also want to act so I don't do it to freeze my face."
Williams is Roman Catholic.
Discography
- 1988: The Right StuffThe Right Stuff (album)The Right Stuff is the debut album of Vanessa L. Williams released in 1988. The albums and its singles were well received by both the Urban and Pop markets...
- 1991: The Comfort ZoneThe Comfort Zone (album)The tracks "Work to Do" and "What Will I Tell My Heart?" both appeared in the film Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man; the latter also appeared on the film's soundtrack album.-Production:...
- 1994: The Sweetest DaysThe Sweetest Days-Singles:"The Way That You Love" and "You Can't Run" were both nominated at the 1995 Grammy Awards, for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female and Best R&B Song respectively.The Sweetest Days...
- 1996: Star Bright
- 1997: Next
- 2004: Silver & Gold
- 2005: Everlasting LoveEverlasting Love (Vanessa Williams album)Everlasting Love is the seventh studio album by Vanessa Williams, released in the United States on January 25, 2005 by Lava Records...
- 2009: The Real ThingThe Real Thing (Vanessa Williams album)-Charts:...
Films
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1987 | Rae, Girl with Dog | ||
| 1988 | Under the Gun | Samantha Richards | |
| 1991 | Another You Another You Another You is a 1991 American comedy film. It was the final film pairing Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder. Co-stars included Mercedes Ruehl and Vanessa Williams and Kevin Pollak as Phil.-Plot:... |
Gloria | Gene Wilder Gene Wilder Gene Wilder is an American stage and screen actor, director, screenwriter, and author.Wilder began his career on stage, making his screen debut in the film Bonnie and Clyde in 1967. His first major role was as Leopold Bloom in the 1968 film The Producers... and Richard Pryor Richard Pryor Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, social critic, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities, and profanity, as well as racial epithets... 's final film pairing. |
| Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man Other songs in the film, but not included on the soundtrack are "Stop the World" by The Screaming Jets, "Wanted Dead or Alive" by Bon Jovi, and "Work to Do" and "The Better Part of Me" by Vanessa Williams.-See also:* List of American films of 1991*... |
Lulu Daniels | ||
| 1996 | Eraser Eraser (film) Eraser is a 1996 American action film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, James Caan and Vanessa L. Williams. It was directed by Chuck Russell. The film was nominated for an Academy Award for Sound Effects Editing in 1996.-Plot:... |
Dr. Lee Cullen | Nominated — Blockbuster Entertainment Award |
| 1997 | Hoodlum | Francine Hughes | |
| Soul Food Soul Food (film) Soul Food is a 1997 American comedy-drama film, produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Tracey Edmonds, and Robert Teitel, and released by Fox 2000 Pictures. Featuring an ensemble cast, the film stars Vanessa L. Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Michael Beach, Mekhi Phifer, Jeffrey D. Sams, Irma... |
Teri | Image Award Nominated — American Black Film Festival American Black Film Festival The American Black Film Festival is an independent film festival that focuses primarily on works by Black members of the film industry. It has been called “the nation’s most prominent film festival.” The festival is held annually and features full-length narratives, short films, mobile... Black Film Award |
|
| 1998 | Dance with Me Dance with Me (film) Dance with Me is a 1998 drama film on love and dance directed by Randa Haines and starring Vanessa L. Williams and Puerto Rican singer Chayanne.-Plot:... |
Ruby Sinclair | Nominated — ALMA Award Alma Award The American Latino Media Arts Award, or ALMA Award is a distinction awarded to Latino performers who promote positive portrayals of Latinos in the entertainment field... |
| 1999 | Queen of Trash | ||
| Light It Up Light It Up (film) Light It Up is a 1999 American drama film starring an ensemble cast that consists of R&B singer/actor Usher Raymond , Rosario Dawson, Forest Whitaker, and Vanessa L. Williams. The film was written and directed by Craig Bolotin, and produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and his wife Tracy Edmonds... |
Detective Audrey McDonald | Nominated — Image Award | |
| 2000 | Shaft Shaft (2000 film) Shaft is a 2000 American action-crime film directed by John Singleton, and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jeffrey Wright, Christian Bale, Pat Hingle, Toni Collette, Busta Rhymes, Vanessa L. Williams, and Mekhi Phifer. This film is not a remake of the 1971 film of the same name, but rather a sequel,... |
Carmen Vasquez | Nominated — Image Award |
| 2004 | Johnson Family Vacation Johnson Family Vacation Johnson Family Vacation is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Christopher Erskin. It stars Cedric the Entertainer, Vanessa Williams, Bow Wow, Gabby Soleil, Shannon Elizabeth, Solange Knowles, and Steve Harvey... |
Dorothy Johnson | Nominated — BET Award for Comedy |
| 2007 | My Brother | L'Tisha Morton | Best Actress honors at the Harlem International Film Festival, the African-American Women in Cinema Film Festival and at the Santa Barbara African Heritage Film Festival |
| And Then Came Love And Then Came Love And Then Came Love is a 2007 romantic comedy film that premiered at the Urban Film Series Festival in Washington, D.C. on May 10, 2007. It then saw a limited theatrical release in Ridgewood, New Jersey on June 1, 2007 and in Manhattan, New York on June 15, 2007.The film stars Vanessa Williams,... |
Julie Davidson | ||
| 2009 | Hannah Montana: The Movie Hannah Montana: The Movie Hannah Montana: The Movie is a 2009 Walt Disney Pictures musical comedy film based on the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana which was released on April 10, 2009, by Walt Disney Pictures, it was the second Disney Channel series to have a movie for Walt Disney Pictures. The film was directed by... |
Vita (Hannah's Agent) | |
| 2011 | Delhi Safari | voice: English version | |
| 2012 | He's Way More Famous Than You | Vanessa Williams | |
| The Marriage Counselor The Marriage Counselor (film) The Marriage Counselor is an upcoming comedy-drama film directed by, written by, and produced by Tyler Perry. The film is adapted from the play of the same name... |
Janice |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Full Exposure: The Sex Tapes Scandal | Valantine | |
| 1990 | Lynette | ||
| Perry Mason and The Case of the Silenced Singer | Terri Knight | ||
| 1992 | Suzanne de Passe Suzanne de Passe Suzanne de Passe is an American television, music and film producer. As well as the Co-Chairman of de Passe Jones Entertainment Group-Career:Suzanne began her career at Motown as Creative Assistant to company founder, Berry Gordy... |
||
| Stompin' at the Savoy Stompin' at the Savoy "Stompin' at the Savoy" is a 1934 jazz standard composed by Edgar Sampson. It is named after the Savoy Ballroom.Although the song is credited to Benny Goodman, Chick Webb, and Edgar Sampson, and the lyrics by Andy Razaf, in reality the music was written and arranged for Chick Webb's band by... |
Pauline | ||
| 1995 | Nothing Lasts Forever | Kat Hunter | |
| Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child is an American animated television series that premiered March 26, 1995, on HBO. Narrated by Robert Guillaume, the series aired 39 episodes from 1995 to 2000, and is currently airing on the HBO Family digital cable television channel in the United... - Beauty and the Beast Beauty and the Beast Beauty and the Beast is a traditional fairy tale. The first published version of the fairy tale was a rendition by Gabrielle-Suzanne Barbot de Villeneuve, published in La jeune américaine, et les contes marins in 1740... |
Animated; Voice | ||
| Bye Bye Birdie | Rose Alvarez | ||
| 1997 | Calypso | ||
| 1998 | Futuresport Futuresport Futuresport is a made-for-TV movie directed by Ernest Dickerson, starring Dean Cain, Vanessa Williams, and Wesley Snipes. It originally aired on ABC in October 1998, and released on DVD in March 1999.... |
Alex Torres | |
| 2000 | Henriette Delille Henriette DeLille Venerable Henriette DeLille founded the Catholic order of the Sisters of the Holy Family, made up of free women of color, in New Orleans. The order provided nursing care and a home for orphans, later establishing schools as well. In 1989 the order formally opened its cause with the Vatican in... |
||
| Don Quixote Don Quixote (2000 TV film) Don Quixote is a 2000 television film adaptation of the classic novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, made by Hallmark Entertainment and distributed by Turner Network Television A dubbed-into-Spanish version was distributed by Divisa Home Video . It was shown in three parts in... |
Dulcinea/Aldonza | ||
| Ebony Scrooge | |||
| 2001 | WW3 | M.J. Blake | |
| Santa Baby Santa Baby "Santa Baby" is a 1953 Christmas song written by Joan Javits and Philip Springer. Although Tony Springer is listed as co-writer, he was a legal fiction created for purposes of membership in the performing rights organization BMI.The song is a tongue-in-cheek look at a Christmas list sung by a... |
Alicia | Animated; Voice | |
| 2002 | Keep the Faith, Baby | Hazel Scott Hazel Scott Hazel Dorothy Scott was an internationally known, American jazz and classical pianist and singer.-Early years and education:... |
|
| 2003 | Unchained Memories Unchained Memories Unchained Memories is a 2003 documentary films about the stories of former slaves interviewed during the 1930s as part of the Federal Writers' Project. This HBO film interpretation directed by Ed Bell and Thomas Lennon is a compilation of slave narratives, narrated by actors, emulating the... |
Reader | |
| 2006 | South Beach South Beach (2006 TV series) South Beach is a primetime television drama that ran from January 4, 2006 until February 22, 2006 on UPN. Created by Matt Cirulnick, one of its executive producers was singer/actress Jennifer Lopez. The program was panned by critics and shunned by viewers, finishing 152nd in the Nielsen TV ratings... |
Elizabeth Bauer | One Season |
| 2006–10 | Ugly Betty Ugly Betty Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea... |
Wilhelmina Slater Wilhelmina Slater Wilhelmina Vivian Slater is a fictional character in the American dramedy series Ugly Betty. She is played by Vanessa Williams, who received a supporting actress award at the 2007 and 2008 NAACP Image Awards, a Best TV Villain award at the 2007 Teen Choice Awards and a supporting actress... |
Main character |
| 2007 | Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies is a 2006 animated television series. Set in the African savanna, it focuses on an enthusiastic elephant named Mama Mirabelle, who travels around the world to film real wildlife footage and project them onto a screen of fireflies in front of almost the entire animal... |
Mama | Animated; Voice |
| 2010-12 | Desperate Housewives Desperate Housewives Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W... |
Renée Perry Renee Perry Renee Perry is a fictional character created by television producer and screenwriter Marc Cherry for the ABC television series Desperate Housewives. She is portrayed by Vanessa Williams.-Personality:... |
Seasons 7 Desperate Housewives (season 7) The seventh season of Desperate Housewives, a television series created by Marc Cherry, began airing on September 26, 2010 and concluded on May 15, 2011. The deceased Mary Alice Young continues to narrate the events in the lives of her friends and Wisteria Lane residents, Susan Delfino, Lynette... and 8 Desperate Housewives (season 8) The eighth season of Desperate Housewives, a television series created by Marc Cherry, began broadcasting in the United States on September 25, 2011.Desperate Housewives was renewed for an eighth season by ABC on May 17, 2011... Series Regular |
Guest appearances
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1984 | Love Boat Love Boat The Overseas Compatriot Youth Formosa Study Tour to Taiwan, informally known as the Love Boat, is currently a four-week summer program for about 400–600 college-aged Overseas Chinese. In Chinese, it is also colloquially referred to as mei-jia-ying - America and Canada Camp, a reference to where... |
| 1984 | Partners in Crime |
| 1986 | T.J. Hooker |
| 1992 | |
| 1996 | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe... |
| 1999 | LateLine LateLine LateLine is an American TV sitcom that ran on NBC from March 17, 1998, through March 16, 1999. Due to an abrupt cancellation, there were seven unaired episodes .Created by John Markus and Al Franken , LateLine depicted the... |
| L.A. Doctors L.A. Doctors L.A. Doctors was an American medical drama television series set in a Los Angeles practice. It ran on CBS during the 1998-99 season.-Premise:... |
|
| 2002 | Ally McBeal Ally McBeal Ally McBeal is an American legal comedy-drama series which aired on the Fox network from 1997 to 2002. The series was created by David E. Kelley, who also served as the executive producer, along with Bill D'Elia... |
| 2003 | Boomtown |
| 2011 | RuPaul's Drag Race RuPaul's Drag Race RuPaul's Drag Race is an American reality television series produced by World of Wonder for Logo. RuPaul plays host, mentor and inspiration for this series, which details RuPaul's search for "America's next drag superstar."... |
Plays and musicals
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1985 | One Man Band |
| 1989 | Checkmates |
| 1994–95 | Kiss of the Spider Woman Kiss of the Spider Woman (musical) Kiss of the Spider Woman is a musical with music by John Kander and Fred Ebb, with the book by Terrence McNally. It is based on the Manuel Puig novel El Beso de la Mujer Araña... |
| 1998 | St. Louis Woman St. Louis Woman St. Louis Woman is a musical by Harold Arlen and Johnny Mercer based upon the novel God Sends Sunday by African-American writer Arna Bontemps. The musical opened at the Martin Beck Theatre in New York on March 30,1946 and ran for 113 performances... |
| 2000 | |
| 2002 | Carmen Jones Carmen Jones Carmen Jones is a 1943 Broadway musical starring Muriel Smith in the title role, later made into a 1954 musical film; the play also ran for a season in 1991 at London's Old Vic and most recently in London's Royal Festival Hall in the Southbank Centre in 2007. It is an updating of the Georges Bizet... |
| Into the Woods Into the Woods Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim... |
|
| 2010 | Sondheim on Sondheim Sondheim on Sondheim Sondheim on Sondheim is a musical revue consisting of music and lyrics written by Stephen Sondheim for his many shows. It is conceived and directed by James Lapine. The revue had a limited run on Broadway in 2010.-Background:... |
Host
| Year | Title |
|---|---|
| 1994 | |
| Carnegie Hall Salutes the Jazz Masters: Verve Records at 50 | |
| 1998 | 29th NAACP Image Awards |
| 2002 | It's Black Entertainment |
| 2008 | |
| 2009 | |
| Dreams Come True: A Celebration of Disney Animation |
Grammy Awards history
| Year | Category | Track/album | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Best New Artist | "The Right Stuff" | Nominated |
| Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | "The Right Stuff" | Nominated | |
| 1990 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | "Dreamin' Dreamin' (Vanessa Williams song) "Dreamin" is a song written by Lisa Montgomery and Geneva Paschal and originally performed by the family group Guinn in 1986.In 1987, Vanessa Williams recorded the song and released it as a single from her debut album, The Right Stuff... " |
Nominated |
| 1992 | Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | "Runnin' Back to You Running Back to You "Running Back to You" is the lead single from Vanessa Williams' second studio album, The Comfort Zone .The single became one of the biggest hits of her career; it topped Billboards Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart for two weeks from October 5 to October 12, 1991 and reached number eighteen on the... " |
Nominated |
| 1993 | Record of the Year | Save the Best for Last Save the Best for Last "Save the Best for Last" is a 1992 single written by Phil Galdston, Wendy Waldman and Jon Lind in March 1989. It is considered Vanessa Williams' signature song. The lyrics' redemptive themes resonated with Williams' story, as she had put together a successful recording career following her earlier... |
Nominated |
| Song of the Year | "Save the Best for Last Save the Best for Last "Save the Best for Last" is a 1992 single written by Phil Galdston, Wendy Waldman and Jon Lind in March 1989. It is considered Vanessa Williams' signature song. The lyrics' redemptive themes resonated with Williams' story, as she had put together a successful recording career following her earlier... " |
Nominated | |
| Best Female Pop Vocal Performance | "Save the Best for Last Save the Best for Last "Save the Best for Last" is a 1992 single written by Phil Galdston, Wendy Waldman and Jon Lind in March 1989. It is considered Vanessa Williams' signature song. The lyrics' redemptive themes resonated with Williams' story, as she had put together a successful recording career following her earlier... " |
Nominated | |
| Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | "The Comfort Zone The Comfort Zone (song) "The Comfort Zone" is the second single from Vanessa Williams' second studio album, The Comfort Zone . It peaked at number two on the U.S... " |
Nominated | |
| Best Group Pop Vocal Performance | "Love Is Love Is (Vanessa Williams song) "Love Is" is the title of a 1993 duet released by Vanessa Williams and Brian McKnight. The single originally appeared on the soundtrack to the TV drama series, Beverly Hills, 90210. Although the song did not appear in that series, it did appear in the 90210 spinoff series, Melrose Place... " |
Nominated | |
| 1995 | Best Female Pop Vocal Performance | "Colors of the Wind Colors of the Wind "Colors of the Wind" by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Stephen Schwartz, was the 1995 Oscar-winner for Best Original Song from the Disney animated feature film, Pocahontas. It also won the Golden Globe in the same category as well as the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Movie... " |
Nominated |
| Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | "The Way That You Love" | Nominated | |
| Best R&B Song | "You Can't Run" | Nominated | |
| Best Musical Show Album | Kiss Of The Spider Woman Kiss of the Spider Woman (musical) Kiss of the Spider Woman is a musical with music by John Kander and Fred Ebb, with the book by Terrence McNally. It is based on the Manuel Puig novel El Beso de la Mujer Araña... |
Nominated - as part of cast | |
| 1997 | Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album | Star Bright | Nominated |
| 2002 | Best Musical Show Album | Into The Woods Into the Woods Into the Woods is a musical with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim and book by James Lapine. It debuted in San Diego at the Old Globe Theatre in 1986, and premiered on Broadway in 1987. Bernadette Peters' performance as the Witch and Joanna Gleason's portrayal of the Baker's Wife brought acclaim... |
Nominated - as part of cast |
| 2010 | Best Musical Show Album | Sondheim on Sondheim Sondheim on Sondheim Sondheim on Sondheim is a musical revue consisting of music and lyrics written by Stephen Sondheim for his many shows. It is conceived and directed by James Lapine. The revue had a limited run on Broadway in 2010.-Background:... |
Nominated - as part of cast |
Other awards/nominations
| Year | Award body | Category | Awarded for | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1983 | Miss America Miss America The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands... |
N/A | N/A | Winner |
| 1989 | NAACP Image Award NAACP Image Award An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature.... |
Outstanding New Artist NAACP Image Award for Outstanding New Artist The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding New Artist:... |
"The Right Stuff" | Winner |
| 1993 | American Music Award | Favorite Female Artist - Pop / Rock | "The Comfort Zone" | Nominated |
| Favorite Female Artist - Soul / R&B | "The Comfort Zone" | Nominated | ||
| Favorite Album - Adult Contemporary | "The Comfort Zone" | Nominated | ||
| MTV Video Music Awards MTV Video Music Awards An MTV Video Music Award , is an award presented by the cable channel MTV to honor the best in music videos... |
Best Female Video | "Save the Best for Last" | Nominated | |
| Best Cinematography | "Runnin' Back To You" | Nominated | ||
| Billboard Music Award Billboard Music Award The Billboard Music Award is an honor given by Billboard magazine, the preeminent publication covering the music business. The Billboard Music Awards show had been held annually in December until it went dormant in 2007, but it returned in May 2011... |
No. 1 Adult Contemporary Single | "Love Is Love Is (Vanessa Williams song) "Love Is" is the title of a 1993 duet released by Vanessa Williams and Brian McKnight. The single originally appeared on the soundtrack to the TV drama series, Beverly Hills, 90210. Although the song did not appear in that series, it did appear in the 90210 spinoff series, Melrose Place... " |
Winner | |
| Playboy Magazine | Best Female R&B Vocalist. | "The Comfort Zone" | Winner | |
| 1994 | Theatre World Award Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award, first awarded for the 1945-46 season, is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway or off-Broadway.-History:... |
Best Debut Performance | "Kiss Of The Spider Woman Kiss of the Spider Woman (musical) Kiss of the Spider Woman is a musical with music by John Kander and Fred Ebb, with the book by Terrence McNally. It is based on the Manuel Puig novel El Beso de la Mujer Araña... " |
Winner |
| NAACP Image Award NAACP Image Award An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature.... |
Outstanding Female Artist NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Female Artist The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Female Artist:-Stats:*As of 2011 ceremony, Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys & Whitney Houston holds the records with the most wins at three.*Most Nominations**1. Mary J. Blige- 9 nominations... |
"The Sweetest Days" | Winner | |
| Soul Train Music Award | Best R&B Single by Group, Band or Duo | "Love Is Love Is (Vanessa Williams song) "Love Is" is the title of a 1993 duet released by Vanessa Williams and Brian McKnight. The single originally appeared on the soundtrack to the TV drama series, Beverly Hills, 90210. Although the song did not appear in that series, it did appear in the 90210 spinoff series, Melrose Place... " |
Nominated | |
| 1995 | Academy Award | Best Original Song | "Colors Of The Wind" | Winner |
| 1996 | Soul Train Music Award | "Lady of Soul" Award | Career Achievement | Winner |
| NAACP Image Award NAACP Image Award An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature.... |
Outstanding Female Artist NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Female Artist The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Female Artist:-Stats:*As of 2011 ceremony, Mary J. Blige, Alicia Keys & Whitney Houston holds the records with the most wins at three.*Most Nominations**1. Mary J. Blige- 9 nominations... |
"Where Do We Go From Here" | Nominated | |
| Blockbuster Entertainment Award | Favorite Actress - Action | Eraser Eraser An eraser or rubber is an article of stationery that is used for rubbing out pencil markings. Erasers have a rubbery consistency and are often white or pink, although modern materials allow them to be made in any color. Many pencils are equipped with an eraser on one end... |
Nominated | |
| Lena Horne award Lena Horne Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was an American singer, actress, civil rights activist and dancer.Horne joined the chorus of the Cotton Club at the age of sixteen and became a nightclub performer before moving to Hollywood, where she had small parts in numerous movies, and more substantial parts in the... |
For Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the Entertainment |
Winner | ||
| 1997 | NAACP Image Award NAACP Image Award An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature.... |
Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture:Number of Performances that won or nominated for Oscars:*1. Whoopi Goldberg - The Color Purple*2. Angela Bassett - What's Love Got to Do With It?... |
Soul Food Soul Food (film) Soul Food is a 1997 American comedy-drama film, produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Tracey Edmonds, and Robert Teitel, and released by Fox 2000 Pictures. Featuring an ensemble cast, the film stars Vanessa L. Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Michael Beach, Mekhi Phifer, Jeffrey D. Sams, Irma... |
Winner |
| Outstanding Album NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Album The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Album:... |
"Next" | Nominated | ||
| Outstanding Actress in Mini-Series NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special:*Most Wins: Cicely Tyson, Halle Berry, Angela Bassett, Alfre Woodard- 2 wins*Most Nominations:-Stats:... |
The Odyssey The Odyssey (TV miniseries) The Odyssey is a 1997 Emmy award-winning and Golden Globe-nominated American television miniseries. Directed by Andrei Konchalovsky, the miniseries aired in two-parts beginning on May 18, 1997 on NBC. The series later won the award for "Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries or a Special"... |
Nominated | ||
| Online Television Academy Awards | Best Guest Actress - Syndicated Series | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Star Trek: Deep Space Nine is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe... |
Nominated | |
| Black Film Awards | Best Actress - Motion Picture | Soul Food Soul Food (film) Soul Food is a 1997 American comedy-drama film, produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds, Tracey Edmonds, and Robert Teitel, and released by Fox 2000 Pictures. Featuring an ensemble cast, the film stars Vanessa L. Williams, Vivica A. Fox, Nia Long, Michael Beach, Mekhi Phifer, Jeffrey D. Sams, Irma... |
Nominated | |
| 1999 | ALMA Award Alma Award The American Latino Media Arts Award, or ALMA Award is a distinction awarded to Latino performers who promote positive portrayals of Latinos in the entertainment field... |
Best Song from A Movie | "You Are My Home" | Nominated |
| 2000 | Blockbuster Entertainment Award | Favorite Actress - Action | Shaft Shaft (2000 film) Shaft is a 2000 American action-crime film directed by John Singleton, and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jeffrey Wright, Christian Bale, Pat Hingle, Toni Collette, Busta Rhymes, Vanessa L. Williams, and Mekhi Phifer. This film is not a remake of the 1971 film of the same name, but rather a sequel,... |
Nominated |
| NAACP Image Award NAACP Image Award An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature.... |
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture:-Stats:Performances that earned Oscar nominations or wins* Sophie Okonedo - Hotel Rwanda* Jennifer Hudson - Dreamgirls [won Image Award]... |
Light It Up Light It Up (film) Light It Up is a 1999 American drama film starring an ensemble cast that consists of R&B singer/actor Usher Raymond , Rosario Dawson, Forest Whitaker, and Vanessa L. Williams. The film was written and directed by Craig Bolotin, and produced by Kenneth "Babyface" Edmonds and his wife Tracy Edmonds... |
Nominated | |
| 2001 | Shaft Shaft (2000 film) Shaft is a 2000 American action-crime film directed by John Singleton, and starring Samuel L. Jackson, Jeffrey Wright, Christian Bale, Pat Hingle, Toni Collette, Busta Rhymes, Vanessa L. Williams, and Mekhi Phifer. This film is not a remake of the 1971 film of the same name, but rather a sequel,... |
Nominated | ||
| Drama League Award Drama League Award The Drama League Awards, created in 1935, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing... |
Most Distinguished Performance | Into the Woods | Nominated | |
| 2002 | Satellite Awards Satellite Awards The Satellite Awards are an annual award given by the International Press Academy. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards.- Film :*Best Actor – Drama*Best Actor – Musical or Comedy*Best Actress – Drama... |
Best Actress - Miniseries or Movie | Keep the Faith, Baby | Winner |
| NAACP Image Award NAACP Image Award An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature.... |
Outstanding Actress in Mini-Series NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special:*Most Wins: Cicely Tyson, Halle Berry, Angela Bassett, Alfre Woodard- 2 wins*Most Nominations:-Stats:... |
Nominated | ||
| Black Reel Awards Black Reel Awards The Black Reel Awards began in 2000 and were designed to annually recognize and celebrate the achievements of black people in feature, independent and television films... |
Best Actress | Nominated | ||
| Tony Award Tony Award The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway... |
Best Performance By a Leading Actress In a Musical | Into The Woods | Nominated | |
| 2004 | BET Comedy Awards BET Awards The BET Awards were established in 2001 by the Black Entertainment Television network to celebrate African Americans and other minorities in music, acting, sports, and other fields of entertainment over the past year. The awards are presented annually and broadcast live on BET... |
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Box Office Movie | Johnson Family Vacation Johnson Family Vacation Johnson Family Vacation is a 2004 American comedy film directed by Christopher Erskin. It stars Cedric the Entertainer, Vanessa Williams, Bow Wow, Gabby Soleil, Shannon Elizabeth, Solange Knowles, and Steve Harvey... |
Nominated |
| 2006 | Satellite Awards Satellite Awards The Satellite Awards are an annual award given by the International Press Academy. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards.- Film :*Best Actor – Drama*Best Actor – Musical or Comedy*Best Actress – Drama... |
Best Supporting Actress in a Series | Ugly Betty Ugly Betty Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea... |
Nominated |
| 2007 | Screen Actors Guild Awards Screen Actors Guild Awards A Screen Actors Guild Award is an accolade given by the Screen Actors Guild to recognize outstanding performances by its members. The statuette given, a nude male figure holding both a mask of comedy and a mask of tragedy, is called "The Actor"... |
Best Performance - Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated | |
| NAACP Image Award NAACP Image Award An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature.... |
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series:-Stats:*Most Wins**Terri J. Vaughn & Camille Winbush- 3 wins*Most Nominations**1. Sheryl Lee Ralph, Wendy Raquel Robinson- 5 nominations, 0 wins... |
Winner | ||
| Emmy Award Emmy Award An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various... |
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| Teen Choice Awards Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards, are an annual awards show that air on the Fox cable channel, that honor the year's biggest biggest achievements in music, movies, sports, television, fashion and more, voted by teen viewers aged 14 through 17. Winners receive an authentic full size surfboard designed with... |
Choice TV Villain | Winner | ||
| Hollywood Walk of Fame Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California... |
Recording | Career Achievement | Awarded | |
| 2008 | Human Rights Campaign Human Rights Campaign The Human Rights Campaign is the United States' largest LGBT advocacy group and lobbying organization; according to the HRC, it has more than one million members and supporters... |
"Ally For Equality" Award | Humanitarian Work | Awarded |
| Jacobi Children's Arts Award | "Humanitarian/Charitable" | Awarded | ||
| Satellite Awards Satellite Awards The Satellite Awards are an annual award given by the International Press Academy. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards.- Film :*Best Actor – Drama*Best Actor – Musical or Comedy*Best Actress – Drama... |
Best Supporting Actress in a Series | Ugly Betty Ugly Betty Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea... |
Winner | |
| Screen Actors Guild Awards Screen Actors Guild Awards A Screen Actors Guild Award is an accolade given by the Screen Actors Guild to recognize outstanding performances by its members. The statuette given, a nude male figure holding both a mask of comedy and a mask of tragedy, is called "The Actor"... |
Best Performance - Ensemble in a Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| Best Performance - Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | Nominated | |||
| NAACP Image Award NAACP Image Award An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature.... |
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series:-Stats:*Most Wins**Terri J. Vaughn & Camille Winbush- 3 wins*Most Nominations**1. Sheryl Lee Ralph, Wendy Raquel Robinson- 5 nominations, 0 wins... |
Winner | ||
| Teen Choice Awards Teen Choice Awards The Teen Choice Awards, are an annual awards show that air on the Fox cable channel, that honor the year's biggest biggest achievements in music, movies, sports, television, fashion and more, voted by teen viewers aged 14 through 17. Winners receive an authentic full size surfboard designed with... |
Choice TV Villain | Nominated | ||
| Emmy Award Emmy Award An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various... |
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Nominated | ||
| 2009 | NAACP Image Award NAACP Image Award An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature.... |
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series:-Stats:*Most Wins**Terri J. Vaughn & Camille Winbush- 3 wins*Most Nominations**1. Sheryl Lee Ralph, Wendy Raquel Robinson- 5 nominations, 0 wins... |
Nominated | |
| Daytime Emmy Award Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming... |
Outstanding Performer in an Animated Program | Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies Mama Mirabelle's Home Movies is a 2006 animated television series. Set in the African savanna, it focuses on an enthusiastic elephant named Mama Mirabelle, who travels around the world to film real wildlife footage and project them onto a screen of fireflies in front of almost the entire animal... |
Nominated | |
| Emmy Award Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American primetime television programming... |
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Ugly Betty Ugly Betty Ugly Betty is an American comedy-drama television series developed by Silvio Horta, which premiered on ABC on September 28, 2006, and ended on April 14, 2010. The series revolves around the character Betty Suarez and is based on Fernando Gaitán's Colombian telenovela soap opera Yo soy Betty, la fea... |
Nominated | |
| Satellite Awards Satellite Awards The Satellite Awards are an annual award given by the International Press Academy. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards.- Film :*Best Actor – Drama*Best Actor – Musical or Comedy*Best Actress – Drama... |
Best Supporting Actress in a Series | Nominated | ||
| 2010 | NAACP Image Award NAACP Image Award An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature.... |
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series:-Stats:*Most Wins**Terri J. Vaughn & Camille Winbush- 3 wins*Most Nominations**1. Sheryl Lee Ralph, Wendy Raquel Robinson- 5 nominations, 0 wins... |
Nominated | |
| Outstanding Jazz Album | The Real Thing The Real Thing (Vanessa Williams album) -Charts:... |
Nominated | ||
| Mary Pickford Award Mary Pickford Mary Pickford was a Canadian-born motion picture actress, co-founder of the film studio United Artists and one of the original 36 founders of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences... |
For Outstanding Artistic Contribution to the Entertainment Industry Satellite Awards The Satellite Awards are an annual award given by the International Press Academy. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards.- Film :*Best Actor – Drama*Best Actor – Musical or Comedy*Best Actress – Drama... |
Winner | ||
| 2011 | NAACP Image Award NAACP Image Award An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature.... |
Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series The NAACP Image Award winners for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series:-Stats:*Most Wins**Jasmine Guy- 6 wins*Most Nominations-Winners:... |
Desperate Housewives Desperate Housewives Desperate Housewives is an American television comedy-drama series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Cherry Productions. Executive producer Cherry serves as Showrunner. Other executive producers since the fourth season include Marc Cherry, Bob Daily, George W... |
Winner |
See also
- List of number-one hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the Hot 100 (U.S.)
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the U.S. Dance chart
- William A. FeildsWilliam A. FeildsWilliam A. Feilds was an African American legislator in the Tennessee House of Representatives. He served as a Republican for one term from 1885 to 1886. According to researchers on the American documentary series Who Do You Think You Are? , he is the great-great-grandfather of recording artist...
, African American legislator in the Tennessee House of RepresentativesTennessee House of RepresentativesThe Tennessee House of Representatives is the lower house of the Tennessee General Assembly, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee.-Constitutional requirements:...
, her great-great-grandfather.
External links
- Vanessa Williams interview by Pete Lewis, 'Blues & Soul' October 2009
- "Vanessa Williams Makes 'Ugly Betty' Look Good", The TV Tattler, November 8, 2006.
- Vanessa Williams biography, Women's History Month, March 2007, by U.S. Department of StateUnited States Department of StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries...
.