This woman is a movie star, a singing star, and was Miss America in 1984. What is her name?

In 1983, Vanessa Williams made history as the first African American woman to be crowned Miss America. Her reign, however, was cut short by a scandal involving the unauthorized publication of private photos from her past, forcing her to relinquish her title just weeks before her year was up. This early-career controversy could have been a permanent setback, but it instead became the prelude to one of show business's most remarkable comeback stories.

Refusing to be defined by the scandal, Williams launched a highly successful music career. She released multi-platinum albums and earned multiple Grammy nominations throughout the 1990s. Her signature ballad, "Save the Best for Last," became a number-one hit, and she won an Academy Award for her performance of "Colors of the Wind" from the Disney film *Pocahontas*, cementing her status as a bona fide singing star.

Williams then conquered the screen, becoming a celebrated actress in film, television, and on Broadway. She is widely recognized for her Emmy-nominated role as the formidable magazine editor Wilhelmina Slater in the hit series *Ugly Betty* and has starred in films like *Eraser* and *Soul Food*. In a powerful full-circle moment, she returned to the Miss America pageant in 2015 as a head judge, where the organization issued her a formal, public apology for the events of decades prior.