Vanessa Williams’ Life Comes Full Circle

Vanessa Williams has had a roller-coaster life, that’s for sure. The woman who plays evil Wilhelmina on Ugly Betty hasn’t always been on Disney’s “A” list.

In 1984, Williams was crowned Miss America, only to lose the title when some very risque photographs of her showed up in Pentouse Magazine. Even in the 90’s, when she was in the middle of a comeback, the photos came back to haunt her.

“I was supposed to do one of the voices in The Lion King, ” Williams, 45, recalls outside her trailer at the Santa Monica Airport after rehearsing her hosting duties for the TV Land Awards, which were taped and will air at 9 p.m. Sunday.

“I had met with the directors, saw the boards and everything, and then was told through my agent that I would never be Disney material. That was 16, 17 years ago, so it’s interesting how far we get. Now I’m a Disney employee.”

It’s pretty interesting to note that one year later, Williams had one of her biggest hits with Colors of the Wind from the sountrack of Disney’s Pocohantas.

Now, of course, Williams is one of the stars of Disney-ABC’s Ugly Betty, and is currently filming that most Disney of projects, Hannah Montana: The Movie. Williams had was originally going to take her summer off to relax, but there was no turning down a film starring daughter Sasha’s favorite star, Miley Cyrus (a.k.a. Hannah Montana). Williams plays Hannah’s pushy publicist, Vita. (I love that name!)

What a difference a couple of decades make.

Vanessa’s 3 daughters have no interest in the Miss America pageant (even with Michael Urie hosting?), but they are quite excited about their mom being involved in the family-friendly TV Land Awards.

Williams will perform “I’m Flying” from Peter Pan, while introducing TV legends Beav (Jerry Mathers), Mary Ann (Dawn Wells) and Greg Brady (Barry Williams).

Everyone in the number will be airborne (including Williams), except 74-year-old “Partridge Family” mom Shirley Jones. “Just the thought cracks me up,” Williams says.

Here is something quite surprising: the move to New York has been frustrating for Vanessa. I would have thought the NY native would love it, but apparently, this past year, she had set up a permanent home in Los Angeles and enrolled 8-year-old Sasha in school.

Like I said, a roller coaster.

Source: USA Today
Image: Newscom