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IMDbPro

Vanessa Williams(V)

  • Actress
  • Producer
  • Additional Crew
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,0009
Vanessa Williams at an event for Meet the Browns (2008)
A struggling inner-city mother sacrifices everything to give her son a good education. Unwilling to allow her son to stay in a dangerous school, she launches a movement that could save his future - and that of thousands like him.
Play trailer2:02
Miss Virginia (2019)
30 Videos
99+ Photos
Vanessa Lynne Williams was born on March 18, 1963 in Tarrytown, Greenburgh, New York and raised in Millwood, New Castle, New York to Helen Williams & Milton Williams, both music teachers. Vanessa and her brother grew up in suburban New York in comfortable surroundings. Vanessa sang and danced in school productions and signed her high school yearbook with a promise to "see you on Broadway". After winning a performing scholarship to Syracuse University, she left school and tried to make it in New York show business. She began entering beauty contests in 1984, eventually winning Miss New York and then becoming the first African-American Miss America. During her reign, some nude girl-girl photos, taken while she was in New York, surfaced in Penthouse magazine. Although the photos were taken before her beauty contest victories, she was forced to resign her crown. Many predicted that her future in show business was over. She went on to land a recording contract and released several albums, including "The Comfort Zone" and "The Sweetest Days".

Vanessa made her film debut in 1986 in Under the Gun (1988) and appeared in the films The Pick-up Artist (1987), Another You (1991) and Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man (1991). She starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Eraser (1996), opposite Laurence Fishburne and Andy Garcia in Hoodlum (1997) and the box office hit, Soul Food (1997). She also starred in Dance with Me (1998), Light It Up (1999), Shaft (2000), opposite Samuel L. Jackson and Johnson Family Vacation (2004). She starred recently in the independent features, My Brother (2006) and And Then Came Love (2007) (aka "Somebody Like You"). On television, Vanessa starred in such movies and mini-series as Stompin' at the Savoy (1992), The Kid Who Loved Christmas (1990), The Jacksons: An American Dream (1992), ABC's revival of Bye Bye Birdie (1995), Nothing Lasts Forever (1995), The Odyssey (1997), Don Quixote (2000) and Keep the Faith, Baby (2002), and she executive-produced and starred in Lifetime's The Courage to Love (2000) for Lifetime and the VH1 Original Movie, A Diva's Christmas Carol (2000).

Her albums "The Right Stuff", "The Comfort Zone and "The Sweetest Days" earned multiple Grammy nominations and have yielded the Academy Award-winning single "Colors of the Wind", from Disney's Pocahontas: The Musical Tradition Continues (1995). Her recordings also include two holiday albums, "Star Bright" and "Silver & Gold", "Vanessa Williams Greatest Hits: The First Ten Years" and "Everlasting Love", a romantic collection of love songs from the 1970's. In 1994, Vanessa took Broadway by storm when she replaced Chita Rivera in "Kiss of the Spider Woman", winning the hearts of critics and becoming a box-office sensation. She garnered rave reviews and was nominated for a Tony Award for the 2002 revival of "Into the Woods". She also headlined a limited special engagement of the classic, "Carmen Jones", at the Kennedy Center and starred in the Encore! Series staged concert production of "St. Louis Woman".

She stars in ABC's critically-acclaimed hit series, Ugly Betty (2006), for which she has won or been nominated for numerous individual and ensemble awards, including the Emmy, SAG Award, Golden Globe and NAACP Image Awards. Vanessa achieved a career pinnacle, with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her accomplishments as a performer. Her charitable endeavors are many and varied, embracing and supporting such organizations as Special Olympics and many others.
BornMarch 18, 1963
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BornMarch 18, 1963
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,0009
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Nominated for 3 Primetime Emmys

Photos385

Vanessa Williams in A Diva's Christmas Carol (2000)
Vanessa Williams, Michelle Visage, Leona Lewis, and Trixie Mattel in Queen of the Universe (2021)
Vanessa Williams in Queen of the Universe (2021)
Vanessa Williams in Bad Hair (2020)
Vanessa Williams in First Wives Club (2019)
Vanessa Williams in The Odyssey (1997)
Vanessa Williams and Sarah Hyland in Modern Family (2009)
Vanessa Williams and Sarah Hyland in Modern Family (2009)
Vanessa Williams and Sarah Hyland in Modern Family (2009)
Vanessa Williams, Sarah Hyland, and Nolan Gould in Modern Family (2009)
Vanessa Williams in Modern Family (2009)
Vanessa Williams, Sarah Hyland, and Nolan Gould in Modern Family (2009)

Known for

America Ferrera in Ugly Betty (2006)
Ugly Betty
6.7
TV Series
  • Wilhelmina Slater
Samuel L. Jackson in Shaft (2000)
Shaft
6.0
  • Carmen Vasquez
  • 2000
Arnold Schwarzenegger and Vanessa Williams in Eraser (1996)
Eraser
6.2
  • Lee
  • 1996
Teri Hatcher, Felicity Huffman, Marcia Cross, and Eva Longoria in Desperate Housewives (2004)
Desperate Housewives
7.6
TV Series
  • Renee Perry

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • David Ogden Stiers, David McCullough, and Michael Murphy in American Experience (1987)
    American Experience
  • T.O.T.S. (2019)
    T.O.T.S.
  • Twenties (2020)
    Twenties
  • Marvel Wastelanders: Old Man Star-Lord (2021)
    Marvel Wastelanders: Old Man Star-Lord
  • Crossovers Live! (2021)
    Crossovers Live!
  • Busy Philipps, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Paula Pell, and Sara Bareilles in Girls5eva (2021)
    Girls5eva
  • Kenan (2021)
    Kenan
  • 54 Below Premieres (2020)
    54 Below Premieres
  • Broadway Celebrates Veterans Day
  • Bad Hair (2020)
    Bad Hair
  • Happy Accident
  • Miss Virginia (2019)
    Miss Virginia
  • First Wives Club (2019)
    First Wives Club
  • Batman: Hush (2019)
    Batman: Hush
    • (voice)
  • Doc McStuffins (2012)
    Doc McStuffins
    • (voice)

Producer

  • And Then Came Love (2007)
    And Then Came Love
  • Vanessa Williams Christmas: Live by Request
  • Vanessa Williams and Gil Bellows in The Courage to Love (2000)
    The Courage to Love
  • Vanessa Williams & Friends: Christmas in New York

Additional Crew

  • John Stamos, Vanessa Williams, John Fogerty, Yolanda Adams, Trace Adkins, Renée Fleming, Patti LaBelle, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Kelli O'Hara, The Temptations, National Symphony Orchestra, Jack Everly, Mandy Gonzalez, Chrissy Metz, Lauren Alaina, Andy Grammer, and Brantley Gilbert in A Capitol Fourth (2020)
    A Capitol Fourth

Videos30

Hannah Montana: The Movie
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Hannah Montana: The Movie
Hannah Montana: The Movie
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Hannah Montana: The Movie
Hannah Montana: The Movie
Clip 2:00
Hannah Montana: The Movie
Hannah Montana: The Movie
Clip 1:16
Hannah Montana: The Movie
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:12
Official Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:02
Official Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:34
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 1:45
Official Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 1:01
Official Trailer
U.S. Version #1
Trailer 2:32
U.S. Version #1
Theatrical Version
Trailer 2:53
Theatrical Version
Miss Virginia
Trailer 2:02
Miss Virginia

Personal details

Edit
  • Official sites
    • Apple Music
    • Facebook
    • March 18, 1963
    • Bronx, New York City, New York, USA
    • July 4, 2015 - present
    • Jillian Hervey
    • Milton Williams
    • Chris Williams(Sibling)
  • Other works
    (1994-95) Stage: Appeared in a production of "Kiss of the Spider Woman".
  • Publicity listings
    • 2 Print Biographies
    • 7 Interviews
    • 13 Articles
    • 14 Pictorials
    • 9 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Former Miss America 1984, resigned after nude photos surfaced in Penthouse magazine. The centerfold model for that issue was 16-year-old Traci Lords. Because Ms. Lords was underage, it is illegal to own or trade that issue of the magazine, unless the centerfold pictorial is removed.
  • Quotes
    I throw myself into my work. It's exhausting. It's time-consuming. I feel guilty for not being with my kids all the time. But then when I'm home with my children and devoting my life to my kids, in the back of my mind, I'm wondering whether I'll ever get employed again. So there's a constant battle of doing what fuels me and what I do best. And also, being there for my kids.

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