Women Who Paved the Way: Vanessa Williams - The First Black Miss America
I recently watched a fascinating interview with the incredible Vanessa Williams, which most of us know as an actress, singer and/or Broadway star. If you were a fan of a shows like Desperate Housewives or Ugly Betty or the song 'Save the Best for Last' rings a bell, you will know exactly who I am talking about. Her first claim to fame, however, was becoming the very first black Miss America.
Many people forget that a pageant can (and in those days it was easier) catapult you into some sort of direction but as we have become overwhelmed with content and content creators, reality TV stars and thousands of shows in an ever-growing number of channels and streaming platforms, winning a pageant doesn't guarantee anything anymore. While many stars, do everything they can to downplay their pageant history, Williams remain unapologetic and speaks candidly about the matter when asked.
Winning a pageant often comes with its own can of worms: people's preconceived perceptions. Every possible label or stereotype often basically become your new invisible crowns when trying to break into business boardrooms or the entertainment industry because you are seen as "just beautiful" and it takes grit and determination and the willingness to work 10 times as hard as others to prove your worth.
Also, being the first of anything is often historic, it comes with loads of attention but there's definitely a dark side that comes along with it, not to mention an incredible amount of pressure. Having a very supportive network of people (your village) and unbreakable spirit go a long way in navigating the trials and tribulations that come along with making history.
Let's take a look at the career of this Woman Who Paved the Way, the fabulous Vanessa Williams, Miss America 1984.
Early Life: A New Yorker
Born in March 1963 in Tarrytown, a suburb of New York City, Vanessa's birth announcement proved that sometimes the stars align. It read: Here she is: Miss America, a take on the famous catchphrase of Miss America in those days: There she is: Miss America. How incredible is that given that her fate was to become the very first black Miss America 20 years later.
As the child of music teachers, her love for the arts started a young age and she studied dance and played several musical instruments including the French horn, the piano and the violin. Her grit showed from a young age as she was a high achiever and was awarded the Presidential Scholarship for Drama to attend the esteemed Carnegie Mellon University, one of only 12 students to be awarded this opportunity.
She ended up choosing the Syracuse College of Visual Arts (Department of Drama) on a different scholarship though where she completed her first two years but then, of course, life had other plans for her with her historic win and she did not finish her degree.
Talking about how she got into pageantry, she describes it as getting in "on a lark". She was scouted by pageant officials and initially turned down the offer because she was due to appear in a show. When the show got cancelled, she decided to enter the Miss Greater Syracuse Pageant for the chance to win scholarship money and she won.
Three months later, she won the Miss New York state title, which meant that she would have to represent New York at the Miss America 1984 Pageant in Atlantic City in September 1983. (Miss America used to crown the preceding year, meaning that even though she won in 1983, she held the title of Miss America 1984.
Going into the final as one of the huge favourites, after winning Preliminary Swimsuit and Talent awards, Vanessa Williams, as Miss New York, made history by becoming the first black Miss America on September 17, 1983.
As the first black winner of the pageant, Williams' win got major attention. One of the first major things was getting a call from then President Ronald Reagan hailing her success by calling it "a great thing for our country". She later described her historic winner as a huge honor. Williams mentioned that people would come up to her during appearances telling her that they never thought the day would come that this would happen or that they thought they would never see this happen in their lifetime with tears in their eyes.
There was also a dark side. As soon as she won, for the first time in pageant history, many death threats were received. Her parents kept a box with all the death threats, which had to be tracked by the FBI. Williams was mostly shielded from the sheer amount of threats that came in, in order to protect her mental health and to help her focus on her reign. She said only got an inkling of how bad it was when she sharpshooters on top of a building in the tiny town she is from during her homecoming. Another moment that made her wonder about her safety was when she had to a parade in open top convertible car in Alabama but shortly before the parade, the decision was made to put the roof up.
* Williams would later go on to co-author a book with mother titled 'You Have No Idea: A Famous Daughter, Her No-Nonsense Mother, and How They Survived Pageants, Hollywood, Love, Loss (and Each Other). The book was published in 2012.
Miss America Controversy and Resignation
During her reign, Williams became in a scandal that would eventually lead her to resigning from her title as Miss America 1984. She posed for some photographs that were not for release but when she became famous the photographer, which she describes as shady, immediately tried to sell them. The adult magazine Penthouse planned to put them on the cover and a spread in the magazine in September 1984, the same month she was supposed to hand over her title. Pageant officials threatened to revoke her title, prompting Williams to publicly resign on July 23, 1984.
Showbiz Career
Vanessa Williams, as we know, went on to forge a hugely successful career in the entertainment industry but says following the scandal she was left with huge baggage due to everything that had transpired as she was trying to establish herself in this field. She often talked about the public humiliation and bullying that followed, nevertheless she stayed strong and decided to prove her worth.
MUSIC: As a recording artist, she had several hits including Dreamin, her #1 Save the Best for Last and the song Colors of the Wind from the Disney movie Pochahontas. Her version of the song played during the end credits and won an Oscar, Grammy and Golden Globe for Best Original Song for a screenplay. She performed the song live during the 1996 Academy Awards (Oscars). In her own right, Vanessa Williams and has been nominated for 11 Grammy Awards.
Television
Williams is perhaps best known for her roles as the iconic Wilhelmina Slater in the popular show Ugly Betty for which she won a Teen Choice Awards and received 2 Screen Actors Guild and 3 Emmy nominations.
She also starred as Renee Perry in the show Desperate Housewives from 2010-2012. Additionally, she has appeared in more than 70 television shows.
Stage and Screen
Vanessa Williams, on top of her successful television and music career, has appeared in more than 40 movies, including Hannah Montana: The Movie. She has also appeared in several Broadway shows and is currently starring as Miranda Priestly in The Devil Wears Prada on London's West End.
Miss America Publicly Apologizes
31 years after her resignation, Vanessa Williams was invited back to the Miss America Pageant in 2016 and received a formal apology from the pageant's then CEO Sam Haskell. He apologized to her (and her mother who was in attendance) for anything that the organization did or said at the time that made Williams feel less than the Miss America she was and will always be. Haskell also praised her for her grace and dignity, which she has shown time and time again, starting from her time as Miss America. Williams stated in the interview linked below that she agreed to this for her mother.
ATTENDING THE BAFTA AWARDS IN 2025
What began as an exciting pageant victory followed by a traumatic resignation eventually had a very happy ending for this phenomenal star who is one of the best example of a woman who paved the way for others, not only in pageants but in showbiz.
Watch this interview with this remarkable woman who paved the way for many others to follow:
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