Vanessa L. Williams - singer and actress, born 18 March 1963, Bronx, New York, USA. She began entering beauty contests in 1984, eventually winning Miss New York and then becoming the first African-American Miss America. Not to be confused with actress Vanessa Williams, who appears in the cable TV show "Soul Food", while the singer/actress Vanessa L. Williams appears in the movie "Soul Food" (1997).