Williams was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York.[3] Williams has three brothers.[4] Her mother, Verdell, died when she was 10 years old leaving Williams to be raised by her grandmother, Johnnie Mae Mungen.[5][6] She has traced her ancestry back to Georgia and Virginia.[7] After high school she went on to get a bachelor's degree in theater and business management from Marymount Manhattan College.[8]
Career
Williams later went to acting in films and television,[9] In the area of acting, she ran into name conflict with singer/actress and former Miss America Vanessa Williams (also born 1963). Screen Actors Guild rules prohibited duplicate stage naming. Vanessa Estelle had registered the name "Vanessa Williams" first,[10] so as a compromise, the former Miss America was occasionally credited as "Vanessa L. Williams" in acting credits. To compound the confusion, both actresses starred in versions of the drama Soul Food (Vanessa L. Williams in the film version, and Vanessa E. Williams in its TV series adaptation). The Screen Actors Guild eventually took the issue to arbitration and decided both actresses could use the professional name "Vanessa Williams".[11]
Television
Williams began her acting career in 1989, appearing in episodes of The Cosby Show and Law & Order. In 1992, she was cast as Rhonda Blair, the first and only black regular character, in the Fox prime time soap opera, Melrose Place. She was written off after only one season for lack of direction. "I think they didn't make the effort to equip themselves [to write for a black character], either by hiring a black writer or asking me things," said Williams later.[12]
After Soul Food, Williams had guest starring roles on Cold Case, Knight Rider and Lincoln Heights. In 2015, she was cast in a recurring role of Iris West's mother in The CW drama series, The Flash.[14][15] In October 2016, it was announced she was cast in the role of Valerie Grant on the NBC soap opera, Days of Our Lives.[16] In 2020, she was cast in a recurring role as Pippa Pascal in the second season The L Word: Generation Q
Film
In film, Williams is best known for playing Keisha in the 1991 crime thriller New Jack City opposite Wesley Snipes and Ice T. She is also known for playing Anne-Marie McCoy in the 1992 horror film Candyman opposite Tony Todd and Virginia Madsen. The following years she had small parts in Drop Squad (1994), Mother (1996), Punks (2000), Like Mike (2002), and Imagine That (2009) alongside Soul Food co-star Nicole Ari Parker. Williams has also starred in a number of made for television movies, including Emmy Award-nominated performance in Our America (2002).[8] She also had roles in several smaller productions in recent years. In 2021, she returned to her role of Anne-Marie McCoy in the fourth film in the Candyman film series.[17]
Personal life
Williams married Andre Wiseman in November 1992 when the couple eloped.[5] The couple have two sons together: Omar Tafari (March 5, 1997)[18] and Haile Zion Ali (born 2003).[19] In April 2018, Williams filed for divorce from Wiseman for the second time.[20]
