Vanessa Estelle Williams facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Vanessa Estelle Williams
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Williams in 2011
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| Born | May 12, 1963 |
| Education | Marymount Manhattan College |
| Occupation | Actress |
| Years active | 1988–present |
| Spouse(s) |
Andre Wiseman
(m. 1992; separated 2018) |
| Children | 2 |
Vanessa Estelle Williams is an American actress and producer. She was born on May 12, 1963. You might know her as Maxine Joseph–Chadway from the TV show Soul Food. She won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series for this role.
Vanessa Estelle Williams is also famous for playing Keisha in the 1991 movie New Jack City. She was also Anne-Marie McCoy in the first and fourth Candyman films. Another role she had was Rhonda Blair in the first season of the TV show Melrose Place.
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Early Life and Education
Vanessa Estelle Williams grew up in Brooklyn, New York. She has three brothers and one sister. Her mother passed away when Vanessa was 10 years old. After that, her grandmother, Johnnie Mae Mungen, raised her. Her father passed away in 2016.
After finishing high school, Vanessa went to Marymount Manhattan College. There, she earned a bachelor's degree in theater and business management.
Her Acting Career
Vanessa Estelle Williams started acting in films and on television. Early in her career, she faced a challenge with her name. Another famous actress and singer, Vanessa Williams, was also born in 1963 and had the same name!
Rules for actors meant that two people couldn't use the exact same stage name. Vanessa Estelle had registered the name "Vanessa Williams" first. So, the other Vanessa Williams sometimes used "Vanessa L. Williams" in her acting credits.
To make things even more confusing, both actresses starred in different versions of a story called Soul Food. Vanessa L. Williams was in the movie version, and Vanessa E. Williams was in the TV show version. Eventually, it was decided that both actresses could use the name "Vanessa Williams" professionally.
TV Shows She Starred In
Vanessa started her acting journey in 1989. She appeared in episodes of popular shows like The Cosby Show and Law & Order.
In 1992, she joined the TV show Melrose Place as Rhonda Blair. She was the first and only Black main character on the show. However, she left after just one season. She later said that the show's writers didn't know how to write well for a Black character.
After Melrose Place, she had guest roles on NYPD Blue and Living Single. Then, she became a regular cast member in the legal drama Murder One (1995–1996). For her work on this show, she was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
In 1996, Vanessa had a recurring role as Dr. Grace Carr in the medical drama Chicago Hope. This role also earned her an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series nomination.
In 2000, Vanessa was cast as Maxine Chadway in the TV series Soul Food. This show continued the story from the successful 1997 film. For her performance, Vanessa won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series in 2003. She also received three more nominations for this role. The Soul Food TV series ran until 2004. It became the longest-running drama with a mostly Black cast in American prime-time TV history.
After Soul Food, Vanessa had guest roles on shows like Cold Case, Knight Rider, and Lincoln Heights. In 2015, she played Iris West's mother in The CW show The Flash. In 2016, she joined the soap opera Days of Our Lives as Valerie Grant. More recently, in 2020, she had a recurring role as Pippa Pascal in The L Word: Generation Q.
Movies She Starred In
In movies, Vanessa Estelle Williams is best known for her role as Keisha in the 1991 crime thriller New Jack City. She starred alongside actors like Wesley Snipes and Ice T in this film.
She is also famous for playing Anne-Marie McCoy in the 1992 horror movie Candyman. She appeared with Tony Todd and Virginia Madsen in that film. She returned to her role as Anne-Marie McCoy in the fourth Candyman film in 2021.
Vanessa has also had smaller parts in other movies. These include Drop Squad (1994), Mother (1996), Punks (2000), Like Mike (2002), and Imagine That (2009). She also acted in several TV movies, like Our America (2002), for which she received an Emmy Award nomination.
Personal Life
Vanessa Estelle Williams has two sons. Their names are Omar Tafari, born in 1997, and Haile Zion Ali, born in 2003.
Awards and Nominations
Vanessa Estelle Williams has been recognized for her acting with several awards and nominations.
- In 1993, she was nominated for a Fangoria Chainsaw Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Candyman.
- She received NAACP Image Awards nominations for her roles in Murder One (1996) and Chicago Hope (1997).
- For her work on Soul Food, she was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series in 2001, 2004, and 2005. She won this award in 2003 for Soul Food.
- In 2003, she was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special and a Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actress: Television Movie/Cable for Our America.
- She also received nominations for Flirting with Forty (2009) and "Raising Izzie" (2013).
