Vanessa Lynn Williams

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Williams (2010)

Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963 in Tarrytown , New York ) is an American actress and singer .

Life

Williams' parents were music teachers. She studied piano at Syracuse University . In 1983 she became Miss New York , on September 17, 1983 she was the first African American woman to be elected Miss America . In 1984, Penthouse magazine published nude photos of Williams posing with another woman. Williams was urged to return her crown to Miss America on July 23, 1984.

Her debut album The Right Stuff (1988) won a gold record and was nominated for three Grammys . Her single Save the Best For Last (1992) with the song of the same name composed by Jon Lind, Wendy Waldman and Philip Galdston in 1991 reached first position on the Billboard Hot 100 chart list for five weeks and was also nominated for a Grammy. She also sang the award-winning song Colors of the Wind , which was used in the 1995 Disney film Pocahontas .

Williams made her debut as an actress in the mid-1980s; She was particularly known for her role in the film Eraser (1996), in which she played alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger . For her leading role in Soul Food (1997) she won the Image Award and she was nominated for the Black Film Award of the Acapulco Black Film Festival. For her role in the action film Shaft - Any questions? (2000), in which she played alongside Samuel L. Jackson, she was nominated for the Blockbuster Entertainment Award and the Image Award. She received a nomination for the BET Comedy Award for her leading role in the comedy The Johnson Family Goes On Tour (2004).

From 2006 to 2010 she played "Wilhelmina Slater" in the ABC production Ugly Betty . Between 2007 and 2009 she was nominated for an Emmy three times in a row for the role of the scheming editor of a fashion magazine ; however, it won two Image Awards . In 2010 she was signed for the 7th season of Desperate Housewives and played the character "Renée Perry", a new neighbor who moves into Wisteria Lane, until the end of the series. In March 2012, she got a lead role in the ABC thriller 666 Park Avenue . In 2015 she played the billionaire "Courtney Paige" in the series Good Wife .

From her first marriage to Ramon Hervey (1987-1996) Williams has three children. A daughter born in 2000 is from her marriage to NBA star Rick Fox , who divorced in 2004. On July 4, 2015, she married Jim Skrip, to whom she had been engaged since 2014.

Filmography (selection)

Vanessa Lynn Williams, 2006

cinemamovies

Television films

  • 1989: Dirty Game (Full Exposure: The Sex Tapes Scandal)
  • 1990: The Kid Who Loved Christmas
  • 1990: Perry Mason and the Death of an Idol (Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer)
  • 1992: The Jacksons - An American Dream (The Jacksons: An American Dream)
  • 1992: One Night in the Savoy (Stompin 'at the Savoy)
  • 1995: Doctors - For Life and Death (Nothing Lasts Forever)
  • 1995: Bye Bye Birdie
  • 1997: The Odyssey (The Odyssey)
  • 1998: Futuresport
  • 2000: The Courage To Love
  • 2000: Don Quixote (Don Quixote)
  • 2000: A very special Christmas (A Diva's Christmas Carol)
  • 2001: WW3
  • 2002: Keep the Faith Baby

TV Shows

Plays and musicals

  • 1973: The Trojan Horse
  • 1985: One Man Band
  • 1989: Checkmates
  • 1994: kiss of the spider woman
  • 1998: St. Louis Woman
  • 2001: Broadway Bash
  • 2002: Carmen Jones
  • 2002: Into the Woods
  • 2013: The Trip to Bountiful
  • 2020: City of Angels

Discography

Albums

year title Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1988 The right stuff - - - - US38
gold
gold

(55 weeks)US
1991 The Comfort Zone DE52 (11 weeks)
DE 		- CH29 (6 weeks)
CH 		UK24 (4 weeks)
UK 		US17th
Triple platinum
× 3
Triple platinum

(91 weeks)US
1994 The Sweetest Days DE74 (7 weeks)
DE 		- - - US57
platinum
platinum

(31 weeks)US
1996 Star Bright - - - - US36
gold
gold

(9 weeks)US
1997 Next - - - - US53 (9 weeks)
US
2001 Our Favorite Things -
Christmas in Vienna VII 		DE79 (2 weeks)
DE 		AT48 (5 weeks)
AT 		CH78 (1 week)
CH 		- -
2004 Silver & Gold - - - - US120 (5 weeks)
US
2005 Everlasting Love - - - - US159 (2 weeks)
US
2009 The real thing - - - - US91 (2 weeks)
US

More albums

Compilations

  • 1994: Ballad Collection
  • 1996: ... with Love
  • 1996: Love Songs
  • 1998: Greatest Hits: The First Ten Years
  • 1998: The Very Best of Vanessa Williams
  • 2003: 20th Century Masters - The Millennium Collection: The Best of Vanessa Williams
  • 2009: Best Selection

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
DE DE AT AT CH CH UK UK US US
1988 The Right Stuff
The Right Stuff 		- - - UK62 (3 weeks)
UK 		US44 (10 weeks)
US
1989 Dreamin '
The Right Stuff 		- - - UK74 (2 weeks)
UK 		US8 (20 weeks)
US
First published: 1988
Darlin 'I
The Right Stuff 		- - - - US88 (4 weeks)
US
First published: 1988
1991 Running Back to You
The Comfort Zone 		- - - - US18 (21 weeks)
US
The Comfort Zone
The Comfort Zone 		- - - - US62 (12 weeks)
US
1992 Save the Best for Last
The Comfort Zone 		DE19 (19 weeks)
DE 		- CH6 (14 weeks)
CH 		UK3 (11 weeks)
UK 		US1
gold
gold

(27 weeks)US
First publication: 1991
Just for Tonight
The Comfort Zone 		- - - - US26 (19 weeks)
US
Work to Do
The Comfort Zone 		- - - - US52 (11 weeks)
US
1993 Love Is
 - - - - US3 (28 weeks)
US
First published: 1992
with Brian McKnight
1994 The Sweetest Days
The Sweetest Days 		- - - UK41 (2 weeks)
UK 		US18 (23 weeks)
US
1995 The Way That You Love
The Sweetest Days 		- - - UK52 (1 week)
UK 		US67 (7 weeks)
US
Colors of the Wind
Pocahontas OST 		- - - UK21 (5 weeks)
UK 		US4th
gold
gold

(23 weeks)US
1996 Where Do We Go from Here?
Eraser OST 		DE87 (6 weeks)
DE 		- - - US71 (14 weeks)
US

More singles

  • 1988: (He's Got) The Look
  • 1991: The Quiet Zone (EP, promo with 4 tracks from the album The Compfort Zone )
  • 1994: R&B Sampler (EP, promo with 4 tracks from the album The Sweetest Days )
  • 1995: Open Your Eyes You Can Fly
  • 1995: For All the Children
  • 1995: You Can't Run
  • 1996: If I Had Wings
  • 1995: Higher Ground
  • 1996: One of a Kind (with Lenny Williams)
  • 1996: Alfie
  • 1997: First Thing on My Mind
  • 1997: Happiness
  • 1997: Who Were You Thinkin '' Bout?
  • 1998: Oh How the Years Go By
  • 1998: You Are My Home (with Chayanne , from the soundtrack Dance with Me )
  • 1998: My Flame
  • 2005: You Are Everything
  • 2009: The Real Thing

Web links

Commons : Vanessa L. Williams  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Beat Scherler: Best of Pop & Rock for Classical Guitar. Volume 6. Edition Dux, 2004, pp. 48-51.
  2. ↑ Vanessa Williams becomes Desperate Housewife , Hamburger Abendblatt from May 19, 2009
  3. ↑ More Casting News for 666 Park Avenue on dreadcentral.com
  4. ↑ Jamin Schneider: Desperate Housewives: Vanessa Williams is getting married for the third time . In: Serienjunkies.de . July 6, 2015. Accessed July 6, 2015.
  5. ↑ a b Chart sources: Singles Albums US1 US2
  6. ↑ a b gold / platinum database US
personal data
SURNAME Williams, Vanessa Lynn
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Williams, Vanessa L .; Williams, Vanessa; Van (nickname); Ness (nickname)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American actress and singer
DATE OF BIRTH March 18, 1963
PLACE OF BIRTH Tarrytown , New York, United States