Vanessa Williams

1. Vanessa Williams The history of her success How it all started

2. By : Asia Jenkins

3. The Real Thing • Vanessa Williams is one of the most respected and multi-faceted performers in entertainment today. She has conquered the musical charts, Broadway, music videos, television and motion pictures. She has sold over four million albums worldwide and her skills as an actress on stage, in film and on television have earned critical praise.

4. Current info • Vanessa Williams has four kids :Melanie , Jillian, Devin, Sasha • Married : Rick Fox spet.26 1999 to 2005 and divorced and had 1 child • Also married Ramon Herver jan.2 1987 and 1997 divorced and had 3 three kids

5. How it all started • Born: March 18 , Terrytown , Newyork • Vanessa Lynn Williams must be credited with making one of the most startling and unexpected comebacks in show business history. Born to teacher parents in New York City, 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 provocative 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.

6. The issue with miss america • As a Junior at Syracuse University, she was crowned Miss America in the fall of 1983 and dropped out to fulfill her contractual duties, but she eventually earned her Bachelor's degree from the Syracuse University School of Visual and Performing Arts on May 10, 2008. • 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.

7. Views from vanessa of how her career started • Performing – and music in particular – has always played an important role in Vanessa’s life. Born in Millwood, New York, Vanessa’s early years were spent surrounded by music. Her parents were music teachers who recognized her musical gifts early on and encouraged her to pursue her love of the arts.

8. Life as a child continued… • When she was young, she acted, danced, played piano and French horn in her high school orchestra, concert band and marching band and she sang in the concert choir and chorus. Her early interest in performing led to a passion for musical theatre. She won an NFAA scholarship was a finalist for a Presidential Scholarship in acting in 1981 and chose to continue her education at Syracuse University, where she majored in musical theatre. While at college in 1983, Vanessa was sought after by local talent scouts who invited her to participate in the Miss Greater Syracuse Pageant. Three months later, Vanessa won the 1983 Miss America title and the $30,000 scholarship that accompanied it. The controversy that followed only left Vanessa stronger and more empowered in her commitment to a career in the world of entertainment.

9. The Launching of her career … • Vanessa launched her recording career in 1988 with her first album, “The Right Stuff,” which went gold and earned her first three Grammy Award nominations. Her 1991 multi-million selling follow-up, “The Comfort Zone,” which featured the unforgettable “Save the Best For Last,” and her third album, “The Sweetest Days,” each yielded multiple hits and Grammy nominations. She was nominated for yet another Grammy for her hit single “Colors of the Wind,” from Disney’s “Pocahontas,” which went on to win an Academy Award, Golden Globe and the Grammy for Best Song in a Motion Picture

10. C ontinued… • Her numerous recordings also include two holiday albums, “Star Bright” and “Silver & Gold;” “Vanessa Williams Greatest Hits: The First Ten Years;” “Our Favorite Things,” with Tony Bennett, Placido Domingo and Charlotte Church and “Everlasting Love,” a collection of her favorite love songs from the 1970’s. Concord Records released Vanessa’s latest album, “The Real Thing,” in June of 2009.

11. The start of broadway … • In 1994, Vanessa realized a life-long dream, taking Broadway by storm when she replaced Chita Rivera in “Kiss of the Spider Woman.” Her performance won critics over and was a box-office sensation, firmly establishing Vanessa as a multi-talented triple-threat. Vanessa also garnered rave reviews and was nominated for a Tony Award in the 2002 revival of Stephen “Into the Woods,” taking a brief break from the production to headline a limited special engagement of the classic, “Carmen Jones,” at the Kennedy Center, playing to sold-out houses and achieving glowing notices. Previously, Vanessa captivated theatre-goers off-Broadway in “One Man Band” and in the Los Angeles production of Ron Milner’s “Checkmates.” She also starred in the Encore! Series staged concert production of “St. Louis Woman,” which was also released as a cast recording.

12. Film debuts … • Vanessa made her film debut in 1986 in “Under the Gun” • she appeared in the films “The Pick-Up Artist,” “Another You” (with Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder) and “Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man” (with Mickey Rourke). • She starred opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Warner Bros.’ action thriller, “Eraser,” • followed by a leading role opposite Laurence Fishburne and Andy Garcia in “Hoodlum” ”

13. Continued.. • an NAACP Image Award winning performance with the box-office hit, “Soul Food.” • She has starred in the romantic dance-musical “Dance With Me,” • “Light It Up,”. Raymond, Forest Whitaker, and Rosairo Dawson. • “The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland” (as the trash queen) • “Shaft,” opposite Samuel L. Jackson. • She co-starred in “Johnson Family Vacation” with Cedric the Entertainer and Steve Harvey.

14. continued • . She starred recently in the independent features, “My Brother” and “Somebody Like You” and co-stars in Disney’s upcoming feature film, “Hannah Montana The: Movie

15. Television starings • Vanessa has also played diverse roles on television, in such productions as “Stompin’ at the Savoy,” • “The Boy Who Loved Christmas” • “The Jacksons: An American Dream,” for which she won an NAACP Image Award. • She commanded rave reviews for her performance in ABC’s revival of “Bye, Bye Birdie” • starred in the mini-series “Nothing Lasts Forever” • the Emmy-nominated “The Odyssey,” which also garnered impressive ratings and an Image Award nomination for Vanessa.

16. Continued…. • Vanessa starred opposite John Lithgow in TNT’s “Don Quixote” and she executive produced and starred in “The Courage to Love” for Lifetime Television.

17. More movies and shows • She starred in the VH1 Original Movie, “A Diva’s Christmas Carol,” which was the highest rated movie ever for VH1, their second highest rated telecast overall of in 2000 and their fourth highest rated telecast of all time. • She co-starred in the Showtime movie “Keep the Faith, Baby” • the UPN drama, “South Beach.”

18. The last listings for now … • She currently stars in ABC’s critically-acclaimed hit series, “Ugly Betty,” 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.

19. Among Vanessa’s many awards and honors, she was honored in 1996 with the coveted Lena Horne Career Achievement Award at the Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards. In 2007, she achieved a career pinnacle, with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her accomplishments as a performer.

20. Charitable contributes • Vanessa’s charitable contributions are many and varied, embracing and supporting such issues as education, homelessness, abuse, women’s issues and health concerns, AIDS and anything having to do with children

21. Continued • Specifically, she is actively involved with such organizations as Green Chimneys, a working farm in Westchester County that provides educational and residential programs to help troubled inner-city adolescents; The Open Door, which provides walk-in medical care for homeless families; The Cottage School for displaced young women and the Special Olympics, among many others.