Vanessa Williams

Vanessa Williams is an American singer, actress, and performer whose career spans music, film, television, and theater. She first gained national recognition after winning the Miss America 1984 pageant. She released her debut album, The Right Stuff, in 1988, which produced the hit singles "The Right Stuff," "He's Got the Look," and "Dreamin'." Her second album, The Comfort Zone (1991), featured the successful singles "Running Back to You," "The Comfort Zone," "Work to Do," and the chart-topping hit "Save the Best for Last." She followed with The Sweetest Days (1994), which included the singles "Betcha Never," "You Can't Run," "The Way That You Love," and the title track.

Williams released the holiday albums Star Bright (1996) and Silver & Gold (2004), along with the studio albums Next (1997), Everlasting Love (2005), The Real Thing (2009), and Survivor (2024). She also released the compilation Greatest Hits: The First Ten Years (1998). Other notable recordings include "Love Is" with Brian McKnight, "Colors of the Wind," "Where Do We Go from Here?," and "Oh How the Years Go By." In 2024, she launched her own record label, Mellian Music, and released the singles "Legs (Keep Dancing)" and "Bop!" with Trixie Mattel and Lion Babe.

Williams made her television debut on The Love Boat in 1984 before appearing in numerous guest roles. She starred as Rose Alvarez in the television adaptation of Bye Bye Birdie (1995), Calypso in The Odyssey (1997), Henriette DeLille in The Courage to Love (2000), and narrated Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives (2003). She portrayed Wilhelmina Slater on Ugly Betty (2006–2010), earning three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She later played Renee Perry on Desperate Housewives (2010–2012), General Cynthia Rockwell on The Librarians (2016), and Maxine Robinson on Daytime Divas (2017).

Her film credits include Eraser (1996), Soul Food (1997), The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland (1999), Shaft (2000), My Brother (2007), and Hannah Montana: The Movie (2009). For Soul Food, she received the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture, and for My Brother she won Best Actress honors at several film festivals.

On stage, Williams made her professional theater debut in One Man Band (1985), followed by Checkmates (1989). She joined the Broadway cast of Kiss of the Spider Woman (1994), appeared in St. Louis Woman (1998), Carmen Jones (2002), and starred as the Witch in the Broadway revival of Into the Woods (2002), earning Tony Award and Drama Desk Award nominations. She returned to Broadway in Sondheim on Sondheim (2010), The Trip to Bountiful (2013), After Midnight (2014), and POTUS: Or, Behind Every Great Dumbass Are Seven Women Trying to Keep Him Alive (2022). In 2015, she appeared in the PBS production of Show Boat, and in 2024 she starred as Miranda Priestly in the West End production of The Devil Wears Prada.

In addition to her acting and music career, Williams has hosted numerous television specials and award shows, including the Essence Awards (1994), the NAACP Image Awards (1998), It's Black Entertainment (2002), the TV Land Awards (2007), the Daytime Emmy Awards (2009), and Dreams Come True: A Celebration of Disney Animation (2009). She also voiced Ms. Brown in M&M's Super Bowl XLVI commercial (2012) and won an episode of RuPaul's Secret Celebrity Drag Race (2020).