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Did You Know That Vanessa Williams Was First Black Miss America?

Vanessa Williams, then 20 years old, becomes the first Black woman to win Miss America on September 17, 1983. Williams gave up her title less than a year later, on July 23, 1984, after naked images of her appeared. Despite the scandal, Williams went on to have a successful singing and acting career, which included a recurring part on the TV sitcom Ugly Betty.

Vanessa Lynn Williams was born on March 18, 1963, in suburban New York City, to music-teacher parents. She studied musical theater at Syracuse University and graduated with a bachelor’s degree. Williams flew to Atlantic City, New Jersey, to compete in the Miss America competition after winning Miss New York.

Williams made history on September 17, 1983, when she became the first African-American woman to win the Miss America title in the pageant’s 63-year history. (Black women were not allowed to compete for the first 30 years of the pageant.) However, controversy erupted later when nude images of Williams appeared, allegedly taken while she worked for a photographer prior to her pageant days. In July 1984, she was compelled to resign her Miss America title. The images were then published in Penthouse magazine (without Williams’ permission).

Williams resurfaced after a period away from the spotlight and launched a successful singing career.

Williams’ debut album, The Right Stuff, The Comfort Zone, was released in 1988 and went platinum. It featured the hit single “Save the Best for Last.” Williams’ third album, The Sweetest Days, was released in 1994 and went platinum as well. She sang “Colors of the Wind,” the theme song for the animated film Pocahontas, in 1995, and it was later nominated for an Academy Award.

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Williams’ acting career grew as she continued to produce and perform music into the next decade. She made her big-screen debut in 1987’s The Pick-Up Artist, alongside Molly Ringwald and Robert Downey Jr., and again in 1991’s Another You, starring Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder.

She went on to co-star with Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1996’s Eraser; Nia Long, Vivica A. Fox, and Mekhi Pfifer in 1997’s Soul Food; the 2000 remake of Shaft, directed by John Singleton and starring Samuel L. Jackson; and Cedric the Entertainer in 2004’s Johnson Family Vacation. Williams has had parts on the small screen, including Boomtown and South Beach, both of which were short-lived programs. 

She was a co-star on the hit ABC series Ugly Betty from 2006 until 2010. For her work as the cunning former supermodel Wilhelmina Slater, Williams got three Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.

Williams has also performed on Broadway, where she made her debut in 1994 in The Kiss of the Spider Woman as a leading lady. She was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in the 2002 revival of Into the Woods.

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