Vanessa Estelle Williams Biography
Vanessa Estelle Williams is an American actress and producer. She is well recognized for her role as Maxine Joseph-Chadway on Showtime’s drama series Soul Food (2000-04).
Vanessa Estelle Williams Age
She was born on 12 May 1963, in Bedford-Stuyvesant, New York, United States of America. Vanessa is 60 years old as of May 2023.
Vanessa Estelle Williams Height
Vanessa Estelle Williams Parents- Siblings- Sister
Williams was born and reared in Brooklyn, NY. William has three brothers. Williams’ mother, Verdell, died when she was ten years old, leaving her to be raised by her grandmother, Johnnie Mae Mungen. She can trace her ancestors back to Georgia and Virginia.
Vanessa Estelle Williams Husband- Children
Williams married Andre Wiseman in November 1992, after the couple eloped. The couple has two boys, Omar Tafari (born March 5, 1997) and Haile Zion Ali (born 2003). In April 2018, Williams filed for divorce from Wiseman for the second time.
Vanessa Estelle Williams Career
Williams then went on to act in films and television, being known simply as “Vanessa Williams”.[9] She came into a name problem with singer/actress and former Miss America Vanessa Williams (born 1963). The Screen Actors Guild’s bylaws forbade duplicate stage names. Vanessa Estelle was the first to register the name “Vanessa Williams,” so as a compromise, the former Miss America was occasionally credited as “Vanessa L. Williams” in acting credits. To add to the confusion, both actresses appeared in versions of the drama Soul Food (Vanessa L. Williams in the film and Vanessa E. Williams in the television series adaptation). The Screen Actors Guild eventually resolved the dispute through arbitration, deciding that both women could use the professional name “Vanessa Williams”.
Williams started her acting career in 1989, performing on episodes of The Cosby Show and Law & Order. In 1992, she was cast as Rhonda Blair, the first and only black regular character on Fox’s prime-time serial opera Melrose Place. She went on to guest star on NYPD Blue and Living Single before being cast as a series regular in Steven Bochco’s ABC courtroom thriller Murder One (1995-1996). She received her first NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role on the show. In 1996, Williams got an NAACP Image Award for her recurring role as Dr. Grace Carr in the CBS medical drama series Chicago Hope.
Williams was cast as Maxine Chadway in the Showtime drama series Soul Food in 2000, following the success of the 1997 film of the same name. Nicole Ari Parker and Malinda Williams played the roles of two other leads. Vanessa L. Williams starred as Teri Joseph in the 1997 film, while Vivica A. Fox as Maxine. Williams won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series in 2003 and was nominated three more times. The series aired until 2004, becoming the longest-running drama with a mostly black cast in the history of American primetime television. After Soul Food, Williams appeared as a guest star on Cold Case, Knight Rider, and Lincoln Heights.
In 2015, she was cast in a recurring role as Iris West’s mother on The CW drama series The Flash. In October 2016, it was revealed that she has been cast as Valerie Grant on the NBC soap opera Days of our Lives. In 2020, she was cast in a recurring role as Pippa Pascal in the second season of the L Word: Generation Q. Williams is most recognized for her role as Keisha in the 1991 criminal thriller New Jack City, which costarred Wesley Snipes and Ice T. She is also recognized for playing Anne-Marie McCoy in the 1992 horror film Candyman, alongside Tony Todd and Virginia Madsen. In the following years, she had small parts in Drop Squad (1994), Mother (1996), Punks (2000), and Like Mike.
Vanessa Estelle Williams Net Worth
She has an estimated net worth of 20 million dollars.
Vanessa Estelle Williams Movies
2021–23 The L Word: Generation Q
2021–22 9-1-1
2021 American Horror Stories
2020 Two Degrees
2018 40 and Single
2018 A Luv Tale: The Series
2017–18 Famous in Love Ida
2017 Unsung Hollywood
2017 Major Crimes
2016–22 Days of Our Lives
2015–23 The Flash
2015–20 The Bay
2009 Knight Rider
2009 Everybody Hates Chris
2008–09 Lincoln Heights
2007 Cold Case
2003 E! True Hollywood Story
2001 Heavy Gear: The Animated Series
2000–04 Soul Food