Vanessa Williams
Biography
An American pop-R&B recording artist, producer, dancer, model, and actress. In 1983, she became the first woman of African-American descent to be crowned Miss America, but a scandal involving nude photographs caused her to relinquish her title early. Williams rebounded by launching a career as an entertainer, earning 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, and spawned the 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 the Oscar-winner for Best Original Song, "Colors of the Wind," from the Disney animated feature film Pocahontas. It went on to reach #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Williams's first major movie 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 self-absorbed diva and former supermodel Wilhelmina Slater in the ABC comedy series Ugly Betty. 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.
Acting (62 movies)
Shaft
2000
Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space
2023
Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
1991
Hoodlum
1997
A Diva's Christmas Carol
2000
Eraser
1996
And Then Came Love
2007
Soul Food
1997
Bye Bye Birdie
1995
My Brother
2006
The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
1999
Futuresport
1999
Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Field
2024
Dance with Me
1998
The Pick-up Artist
1987
Celebrating 50 Years of Broadway's Best
2023
Hannah Montana: The Movie
2009
Light It Up
1999
Johnson Family Vacation
2004
The Courage to Love
2000
Broadway's Lost Treasures III: The Best of The Tony Awards
2005
Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor
2013
Full Exposure: The Sex Tapes Scandal
1989
He's Way More Famous Than You
2013
WW3
2001
Don Quixote
2000
Nothing Lasts Forever
1995
Tripped Up
2023
A Mother's Love
2011
The Trip to Bountiful
2014
Another You
1991
Under the Gun
1988
Santa, Baby!
2001
Seriously... Phil Collins
1990
The Secret She Kept
2016
The Man from Earth: Holocene
2017
VH1 Divas Holiday: Unsilent Night
2016
Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer
1990
Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives
2003
Keep the Faith, Baby
2002
Not Black Enough
2017
Singleholic
2020
Show Boat
2015
Score with Chicks
1994
Miss Virginia
2019
It's Black Entertainment
2002
Batman: Hush
2019
The 7th Annual Soul Train Christmas Starfest
2004
Christmas in Washington
2004
The Legend of Hallowaiian
2018
Pavarotti & Friends - For the Children of Liberia
1998
Stompin' at the Savoy
1992
Bad Hair
2021
Vanessa Williams: Live From the West Side
2020
The Kid Who Loved Christmas
1990
Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay
2018
Gift for the Living
2005
Show of Titles
2021
There She Is
2020
Some Enchanted Evening: Celebrating Oscar Hammerstein II
1995
The Little Pageant That Could
2024
Sesame Street: What's the Name of That Song?
2004
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| The Courage to Love | 2000 | Executive Producer |