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Vanessa Williams: Miss America
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Vanessa Williams (born on March 18, 1963 in Millwood, New York) is a pop/R&B singer and actress who made history when she became the first African American woman to be crowned Miss America in September, 1983. She resigned close to the end of her reign on July 23, 1984... when it was discovered that she had posed nude for photographs that were later published in the September 1984 issue adult magazine Penthouse without her permission. The crown was given to Suzette Charles 54 days before the 1984 pageant.
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* Breaking The Color Barrier - In 1983, Vanessa Williams was the first African-American to be crowned Miss America. This important milestone paved the way for other winners such as Suzette Charles (1984), Debbye Turner (1990), Marjorie Vincent (1991) and Kimberly Aiken (1994).
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When Vanessa Williams began her singing career, she was known chiefly as the Miss America pageant winner who'd been forced to renounce her title for posing in Penthouse magazine. Williams not only put the scandal behind her, she all but obliterated it, turning out a series of slick, sophisticated hits that made her one of the most popular adult contemporary R&B singers of her time. In addition to her broad crossover appeal, Vanessa Williams established a parallel acting career in both film and television, ending the '90s as a highly successful all-around entertainer.
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Vanessa Williams managed to rise above the Miss America scandal and become a popular singer with her 1988 debut album, The Right Stuff, which reached gold status and earned her three Grammy Award nominations, including one for Best New Artist. Her most notable songs include "Dreamin'", "Running Back To You", "Save The Best For Last", "Love Is", "The Sweetest Days", "Colors of the Wind", and "Oh How The Years Go By". Throughout her career, Williams has sold six million records and received fifteen Grammy nominations.
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Vanessa Lynn Williams was born March 18, 1963, in the upstate New York town of Millwood to parents who were both music teachers. She loved performing musical theater as a teenager, and won a scholarship to study it at Syracuse University in 1981. In the meantime, she began entering beauty pageants, with considerable success; in 1983, she represented New York in the Miss America pageant and became the first African-American woman ever to be crowned the winner. Unfortunately, her triumph was short-lived. Williams had posed for a series of nude photos for Penthouse prior to her historic victory, and when the magazine published them in 1984, the ensuing scandal forced her to resign as Miss America. Undaunted, Williams began to pursue her first love, singing; she backed George Clinton on his 1986 album R&B Skeletons in the Closet, including the single "Do Fries Go With That Shake?" Vanessa Williams ... returned to acting, making her feature film debut with a small role in The Pickup Artist in 1987; the same year, she married her manager, Ramon Harvey.
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Vanessa Lynn Williams (born March 18, 1963) is an American singer-songwriter and actress. Williams made history on September 17, 1983 when she became the first African American woman to be crowned Miss America. Williams' reign as Miss America came to an abrupt end when scandal led to her subsequent resignation of the title. Williams rebounded by launching a career as an entertainer, receiving Grammy, Emmy, and Tony award recognition while perfecting her craft.
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Miss America