
Vanessa Williams
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.
Known For | Acting |
---|---|
Most Rating | 0.497 |
Birthday | 1963-03-18 |
Place of Birth | Tarrytown, New York, USA |
Also Known As | Vanessa L. William, Vanessa Lynn Williams, ونسا ویلیامز, |

2000

Shaft
6/1300
New York police detective John Shaft arrests Walter Wade Jr. for a racially motivated slaying. But the only eyewitness disappears, and Wade jumps bail...
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Shaft

2023

Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space
5/2
Raised in the small all-Black Florida town of Eatonville, Zora Neale Hurston studied at Howard University before arriving in New York in 1925. She wou...
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Zora Neale Hurston: Claiming a Space

1991

Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man
6.3/439
It's the lawless future, and renegade biker Harley Davidson and his surly cowboy buddy, Marlboro, learn that a corrupt bank is about to foreclose on t...
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Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man

1997

Hoodlum
6.4/198
In 1934, the second most lucrative business in New York City was running 'the numbers'. When Madam Queen—the powerful woman who runs the scam in Harle...
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Hoodlum

2000

A Diva's Christmas Carol
6.1/34
In this remake of Charles Dickens' classic "A Christmas Carol", a cold-hearted superstar singer gets a reality check when she meets three Christmas sp...
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A Diva's Christmas Carol

1996

Eraser
6.069/1842
U.S. Marshall John Kruger erases the identities of people enrolled in the Witness Protection Program. His current assignment is to protect Lee Cullen,...
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Eraser

2007

And Then Came Love
5.9/9
Successful New York journalist and single mom Julie Davidson's six-year old son Jake is acting up, so she finds his sperm-donor father Paul Cooper, wh...
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And Then Came Love

1997

Soul Food
6.3/83
Traditional Sunday dinners at Mama Joe's (Irma P. Hall) turn sour when sisters Teri (Vanessa L. Williams), Bird (Nia Long) and Maxine (Vivica A. Fox)...
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Soul Food

1995

Bye Bye Birdie
5.9/18
In 1995, ABC presented a telemovie version of the Broadway musical Bye Bye Birdie produced by RHI Entertainment. It starred Seinfeld's Jason Alexande...
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Bye Bye Birdie

2006

My Brother
4.7/3
"My Brother" is an inner city story of two impoverished boys, Isaiah and James. James is developmentally disabled. Their mother, L'Tisha, finds hersel...
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My Brother

1999

The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland
6.3/87
Elmo loves his fuzzy, well-worn blue blanket more than anything in the whole world. However, when Elmo's blanket gets sucked through a colorful, swirl...
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The Adventures of Elmo in Grouchland

1999

Futuresport
4.3/57
In the not too distant future, a new deadly sport is the only way to stop a war that will kill millions. Fix is the creator of the sport, but the spot...
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Futuresport

2024

Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Field
0/0
Enter the colorful world of Emmy-winning, Oscar-nominated Patricia Field, the costume designer behind Sex and the City, Emily in Paris, Ugly Betty, an...
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Happy Clothes: A Film About Patricia Field

1998

Dance with Me
6.9/207
Young Cuban Rafael just buried his mother, and comes to Houston to meet his father John for the first time. The difficult part is that John doesn't kn...
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Dance with Me

1987

The Pick-up Artist
5.6/190
A womanizer meets his match when he falls for the daughter of a gambling addict who is in debt to the mob.
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The Pick-up Artist

2023

Celebrating 50 Years of Broadway's Best
2/1
Enjoy a revue of milestone Broadway shows and songs from 1973 to 2023 hosted by two-time Tony Award winner Sutton Foster. Features performances by And...
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Celebrating 50 Years of Broadway's Best

2009

Hannah Montana: The Movie
6.6/2019
When Miley Stewart (aka pop-star Hannah Montana) gets too caught up in the superstar celebrity lifestyle, her dad decides it's time for a total change...
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Hannah Montana: The Movie

1999

Light It Up
6.6/34
On a winter day in a southside Queens high school, events collide and six students are suddenly in an armed standoff with the NYPD. At the school, cla...
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Light It Up

2004

Johnson Family Vacation
5.5/194
Nate Johnson, a Los Angeles man estranged from his wife and three children, decides to reconnect with his family by taking them with him on a road tri...
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Johnson Family Vacation

2000

The Courage to Love
6.4/6
In 19th century New Orleans, creole Henriette must choose between love and devotion to the church. Neither choice is going to be easy, as there is gre...
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The Courage to Love

2005

Broadway's Lost Treasures III: The Best of The Tony Awards
7.2/4
Broadway royalty and Tony-winners Tommy Tune, Carol Channing, Robert Goulet, and Harvey Fierstein are your hosts for this third compilation of great m...
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Broadway's Lost Treasures III: The Best of The Tony Awards

2013

Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor
6.6/175
Judith has known her husband Brice since they were children, but now their marriage is growing stale. Having just completed her graduate work in psych...
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Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor

1989

Full Exposure: The Sex Tapes Scandal
4.583/6
A high-priced call girl who has been secretly videotaping her rich clients is shot to death. An investigation of her murder ensues, bringing those inv...
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Full Exposure: The Sex Tapes Scandal

2013

He's Way More Famous Than You
4/19
When once-up-and-coming indie film starlet Halley Feiffer loses her boyfriend, her agent and her career in one fell swoop she finally realizes that so...
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He's Way More Famous Than You

2000

Shaft: Still the Man
6/1
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Shaft: Still the Man

2001

WW3
5.6/14
Terrorists release a deadly biological-warfare virus in the United States.
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WW3

2000

Don Quixote
6.1/31
Adapted from the work of Miguel de Cervantes, this is the story of a hidalgo, fanatic for chivalry novels, who loses his sanity and believing to be a...
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Don Quixote

1995

Nothing Lasts Forever
6/1
Story of the personal lives and careers of three female doctors, from different backgrounds and walks of life, who work at a San Francisco county hosp...
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Nothing Lasts Forever

2023

Tripped Up
5/13
Aspiring chef Lizzy sets off with her three best friends in tow to compete in the prestigious Saucy Food Festival. What begins as a calculated career...
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Tripped Up

2006

Rehearsing a Dream
0/0
Support for the arts in America may be dwindling, but talent in our high schools isn't. Every year a group of the country's most gifted 17-year-old pe...
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Rehearsing a Dream

2011

A Mother's Love
0/0
Regina Reynolds is a strong black woman in the truest sense -- but her taste for the good life doesn't necessarily include her husband, Marcus, or her...
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A Mother's Love

2014

The Trip to Bountiful
5.9/15
Carrie Watts begrudgingly lives with her busy, overprotective son, Ludie and pretentious daughter-in-law, Jessie Mae. No longer able to drive and forb...
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The Trip to Bountiful

1991

Another You
5.4/95
George has been in a mental hospital for 3 years and is finally ready to go out into the real world again. Eddie Dash, a dedicated con-man, is suppose...
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Another You

1988

Under the Gun
5.5/3
A St. Louis cop, Mike Braxton (Sam Jones), receives an urgent call for help from his brother Tony (Nick Cassavetes), a small time thief in Los Angeles...
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Under the Gun

2001

Santa, Baby!
3.8/4
Songwriter Noel is struggling to write a hit song, and so he takes his frustrations out on his family. His daughter Dakota is granted one wih for doin...
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Santa, Baby!

2000

Afrocentricity
0/0
On the surface, this collection of shorts by up-and-coming African American filmmakers arrived at a perfect time. The cutting-edge products of the New...
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Afrocentricity

1990

Seriously... Phil Collins
0/0
4 TV Executives attempt to make a television special to promote ...But Seriously. Mostly made of sketches this film includes a rap version of Don't Lo...
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Seriously... Phil Collins

2016

The Secret She Kept
6.8/4
Based on ReShonda Tate Billingsley's novel of the same name, The Secret She Kept, a successful magazine executive marries a driven lawyer, who's on th...
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The Secret She Kept

2017

The Man from Earth: Holocene
5.5/242
14,000-year-old "Man from Earth" John Oldman, now teaching in northern California, realizes that not only is he finally starting to age, but four stud...
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The Man from Earth: Holocene

2016

VH1 Divas Holiday: Unsilent Night
0/0
VH1’s beloved Divas franchise made its return after a four-year hiatus with a holiday spin. The Unsilent Night special, airing on December 5, 2016, br...
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VH1 Divas Holiday: Unsilent Night

2000

Christmas is Coming: Rob Mathes & Very Special Friends
10/1
An extraordinary program of holiday music featuring special guest appearances and musical contributions by Vanessa Williams, Michael McDonald, David S...
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Christmas is Coming: Rob Mathes & Very Special Friends

1990

Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer
7.313/8
Perry Mason defends the husband of a famous rock singer who was found being killed after having had a tremendous discussion with her husband and her m...
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Perry Mason: The Case of the Silenced Singer

2003

Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives
5.9/5
When the Civil War ended in 1865, more than four million slaves were set free. Over 70 years later, the memories of some 2,000 slave-era survivors wer...
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Unchained Memories: Readings from the Slave Narratives

2002

Keep the Faith, Baby
5.8/5
Harry J. Lennix stars as trailblazing and controversial African-American congressman and Civil Rights activist Adam Clayton Powell Jr., who started ou...
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Keep the Faith, Baby

2017

Not Black Enough
7.7/3
A deep look at the class warfare and the contradictions that African-Americans face within their own community when many of them are ostracized becaus...
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Not Black Enough

2020

Singleholic
2/1
Story of a woman who wakes up on the morning of her 35th birthday and decides she wants to settle down and get married, so she goes on a series of hil...
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Singleholic

2015

Show Boat
0/0
The landmark musical brought vividly to life by the New York Philharmonic, with an all-star cast led by Vanessa Williams, Julian Ovenden, Lauren Worsh...
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Show Boat

1994

Score with Chicks
0/0
47 minute comedic parody with Professor N. Likeflynn (Martin Keegan) offers dating advice on how to score with hot chicks and older women. Consists sh...
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Score with Chicks

2019

Miss Virginia
8.2/8
A struggling inner-city mother sacrifices everything to give her son a good education. Unwilling to allow her son to stay in a dangerous school, she l...
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Miss Virginia

2002

It's Black Entertainment
8/2
A star-studded tribute (from the creators of That's Entertainment) to the contributions of Afro-Americans in film over the last century. Vanessa Willi...
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It's Black Entertainment

2019

Batman: Hush
7.166/886
A mysterious new villain known only as Hush uses a gallery of villains to destroy Batman's crime-fighting career as well as Bruce Wayne's personal lif...
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Batman: Hush

2004

The 7th Annual Soul Train Christmas Starfest
0/0
An extremely unique celebration of Christmas for the young and hip and the young at heart.
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The 7th Annual Soul Train Christmas Starfest

2004

Christmas in Washington
2/1
Directed by Michael Stevens. With Michael McDonald, Phil McGraw, LeAnn Rimes, Ruben Studdard.
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Christmas in Washington

2018

The Legend of Hallowaiian
8.1/8
After releasing a mythical monster upon the islands, a group of three young friends must use local legends to restore peace to their home.
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The Legend of Hallowaiian

1998

Pavarotti & Friends - For the Children of Liberia
0/0
The Pavarotti & Friends for the Children of Liberia was held on June 9, 1998, in support of the War Child charity, specifically to benefit the orphans...
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Pavarotti & Friends - For the Children of Liberia

1992

Stompin' at the Savoy
0/0
As the Harlem Renaissance flourishes in jazzy New York City, Pauline, Esther and Alice struggle to survive. By day, they toil at dreary jobs, dreaming...
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Stompin' at the Savoy

2021

Bad Hair
5.8/78
In 1989, an ambitious young woman gets a weave in order to succeed in the image-obsessed world of music television. However, her flourishing career ma...
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Bad Hair

2020

Vanessa Williams: Live From the West Side
0/0
Join us for a livestream concert series featuring singer and actress Vanessa Williams. Streamed live from New York’s Shubert Virtual Studios, the show...
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Vanessa Williams: Live From the West Side

1990

The Kid Who Loved Christmas
6.6/4
In this sentimental holiday tale, a young boy is taken away from his loving, adoptive household when his new mom is killed in an auto accident and his...
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The Kid Who Loved Christmas

2018

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay
7.1/668
It’s batter up at Belle Reve and that can only mean that Amanda Waller, the penitentiary’s cold and calculating warden, has a mission that only the da...
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Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay

2005

Gift for the Living
0/0
Inspired by the O. Henry short story "Gift of the Magi", Gift for the Living is a story about a grandmother and her granddaughter who, without the oth...
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Gift for the Living

2021

Show of Titles
0/0
An evening of celebrated stars performing the titles songs from Broadway’s best.
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Show of Titles

2020

There She Is
0/0
The film examines the "who" and "why" of women and girls in beauty pageants, emphasizing the #MeToo era. It examines the good (pageants for the disabl...
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