Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963) is an American actress, singer, and fashion designer. She was the first African-American Miss America, crowned Miss America 1984 in September 1983. Williams resigned on July 22, 1984, after Penthouse magazine announced it would publish unauthorized nude photos of her, and she was succeeded by first runner-up Suzette Charles.
Williams later achieved success as a singer with the song "The Right Stuff" and as an actress in roles such as Teri Joseph in Soul Food (1997), Wilhelmina Slater in Ugly Betty, and Renee Perry in Desperate Housewives. In 2016, Sam Haskell, CEO of the Miss America Organization, publicly apologized to Williams at the Miss America pageant for the events surrounding her resignation in 1984.
United States
