1963-
Singer, Actress, Former Miss America

From Infamy to Fame.

Young, beautiful, and ambitious for an entertainment career, Vanessa Williams made headlines in the 1980s for two "firsts" in American history: she was the first black Miss America and the first Miss America to resign her crown. The resignation took place, under pressure from the Miss America organization, following the 1984 publication in Penthouse magazine of steamy photographs taken of Williams when she was nineteen. Williams emerged from the controversy with a great deal of sympathy from the public — many people believed that she had been exploited — and was well on the way to the career she desired. In fact, the publicity surrounding her resignation may have helped her chances more than merely being Miss America could have.

The Girl Next Door.

The daughter of two music teachers, Williams grew up in Millwood, New York, with the...