Vanessa Estelle Williams facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Vanessa Estelle Williams
Williams in 2011
Born	(1963-05-12) May 12, 1963 (age 62) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Education	Marymount Manhattan College
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1988–present
Spouse(s)	Andre Wiseman ​ ​ (m. 1992; separated 2018)​
Children	2

Vanessa Estelle Williams (born May 12, 1963) is an American actress and producer. She is well-known for her roles in TV shows and movies. She played Maxine Joseph-Chadway in the drama series Soul Food from 2000 to 2004. For this role, she won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series. Vanessa also played Keisha in the 1991 crime film New Jack City. She was Anne-Marie McCoy in the first and fourth Candyman movies. You might also know her as Rhonda Blair from the first season of the TV show Melrose Place (1992–93).

Early Life and Education

Vanessa Estelle Williams was born on May 12, 1963, in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up there with her three brothers and one sister. Her mother passed away when Vanessa was 10 years old, so her grandmother helped raise her. Her father passed away in 2016. After finishing high school, Vanessa went to Marymount Manhattan College. She earned a bachelor's degree in theater and business management.

Acting Career

Starting Out

When Vanessa started acting, she faced a challenge because another famous actress and singer, Vanessa Williams (who was also born in 1963), had a very similar name. Rules for actors meant that two people couldn't use the exact same stage name. Vanessa Estelle Williams 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 appeared in different versions of the story Soul Food. Vanessa L. Williams was in the movie, and Vanessa E. Williams starred in the TV series based on the film. Eventually, the Screen Actors Guild, which is a group for actors, decided that both actresses could use the name "Vanessa Williams" professionally.

TV Shows

Vanessa began her acting journey in 1989. She appeared in popular shows like The Cosby Show and Law & Order. In 1992, she joined the cast of the TV show Melrose Place as Rhonda Blair. She was the first and only Black regular character on the show. However, her character was written out after just one season.

Later, she had guest roles on shows like NYPD Blue and Living Single. In 1995, she became a regular cast member in the legal drama Murder One. Her performance earned her a nomination for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series. In 1996, she played Dr. Grace Carr in the medical drama Chicago Hope, which also earned her an NAACP Image Award nomination.

Williams with Boris Kodjoe in 2011

In 2000, Vanessa took on the role of Maxine Chadway in the Soul Food TV series. This show continued the story from the successful 1997 movie. For her work on Soul Food, Vanessa won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series in 2003. She also received three more nominations for the same award. The series ran until 2004 and became the longest-running drama with a mostly Black cast on American prime-time television.

After Soul Food, Vanessa had guest roles on shows like Cold Case, Knight Rider, and Lincoln Heights. In 2015, she started a recurring role as Iris West's mother in The CW series The Flash. In 2016, she joined the cast of the soap opera Days of Our Lives as Valerie Grant. In 2020, she began a recurring role as Pippa Pascal in The L Word: Generation Q. She continued this role in the third season as well.

Movies

In movies, Vanessa is widely recognized for playing Keisha in the 1991 crime thriller New Jack City. She starred alongside actors Wesley Snipes and Ice T in this film. She is also known for her role as Anne-Marie McCoy in the 1992 horror movie Candyman. She appeared with Tony Todd and Virginia Madsen in that film.

In the years that followed, she had smaller parts in movies like Drop Squad (1994), Mother (1996), Punks (2000), Like Mike (2002), and Imagine That (2009). She also acted in several TV movies, including Our America (2002), which was nominated for an Emmy Award. In 2021, she returned to her role as Anne-Marie McCoy in the fourth movie of the Candyman film series.

Personal Life

Vanessa Williams married Andre Wiseman in November 1992. They have two sons together: Omar Tafari, born in 1997, and Haile Zion Ali, born in 2003. In April 2018, Vanessa filed for divorce from Wiseman.

Filmography

Movies

TV Shows

Awards and Nominations