More than 30 years after she was forced to relinquish her title because of a nude photo scandal, Vanessa Williams, 52, will be serving as head judge for the Miss America pageant ceremony, according to an announcement Tuesday from the Miss America foundation.
In September 1983, Williams was crowned Miss America, winning the competition while representing New York and making history. But months later, the pageant’s executive committee voted unanimously to request that she resign after Penthouse magazine published nude photos she’d taken several years earlier, despite the fact that Williams was reportedly the most widely booked Miss America winner in the pageant’s history up to that point.
Williams remains the only title-holder who was given a request to resign in the pageant’s 94 years of existence.
Despite the setback, Williams more than rebounded. She went on to enjoy a long and fruitful career as an actress and singer, co-starring opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in “Eraser.”
She’s netted 17 Grammy nominations, one Tony nomination and three Screen Actors Guild award nods. Her platinum-selling recording of “Colors of the Wind” from “Pocohantas” earned her a Golden Globe, a Grammy and an Oscar for best original song.
Williams’s television resume is especially prolific (she’s been nominated for Emmys four times), her most recent prominent roles being Slater and Renee Perry on “Desperate Housewives.” She performed the national anthem at the Super Bowl in 1996, and for the 2015 U.S. Open where Serena Williams is attempting to record the first calendar-year Grand Slam in women’s tennis since Steffi Graf did it 1988.
The Miss America pageant airs Sept. 13 at 9 p.m. ET on ABC.
The Washington Post
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