Some parents dream big. Milton and Helen Williams put it in print. When their daughter Vanessa was born in March 1963, the birth announcement read "Here she is: Miss America." Twenty years later, that line came true. And the whole story runs straight through Millwood.
Two Music Teachers in Millwood
Vanessa Lynn Williams was born on March 18, 1963. Her family moved to Millwood when she was still a baby. That's where she grew up.
Both of her parents taught music in the local public schools. So was the birth announcement a joke, or a plan? Either way, they sent it out to friends, and it was bold. Most baby announcements stop at the name and the weight.
A House Full of Music
With two music teachers at home, you don't really get to skip practice. Vanessa played the French horn, the piano and the violin. She also studied classical and jazz dance.
That's a lot of lessons for one kid. It's also the kind of training that shows up later, when a performer can sing, dance and act all in the same night.
Horace Greeley, Then Syracuse
She went to school in the Chappaqua district and graduated from Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua in 1981. By then she had real options. Carnegie Mellon offered her a drama scholarship. She picked Syracuse University instead, and started there in 1981 as a musical theater major.
Years later, in May 2008, Syracuse gave her a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Better late than never, and she earned it many times over by then.
The Birth Announcement Came True
At Syracuse she got asked to enter a local pageant, Miss Greater Syracuse. She wasn't sure about it at first. She said yes for the scholarship money, and she won. Then she won Miss New York.
On September 17, 1983, she was crowned Miss America 1984. She was 20 years old. She was also the first Black woman ever to win the title.
Picture Milton and Helen watching that night. The line they wrote two decades earlier had just turned into a headline.
What Came Next
Miss America turned out to be the opening act. Her song "Save the Best for Last" hit No. 1 in the United States and stayed there for five weeks. She made her Broadway debut in 1994 in "Kiss of the Spider Woman." In 2002 she earned a Tony nomination for playing the Witch in "Into the Woods."
Then TV fans got Wilhelmina Slater. She played the scheming fashion boss on "Ugly Betty" from 2006 to 2010, and the role earned her three Emmy nominations. After that she moved to Wisteria Lane as Renee Perry on "Desperate Housewives." In 2024 she took on Miranda Priestly in the London stage musical of "The Devil Wears Prada." Singer, Broadway star, TV star. Not bad for a kid from a Millwood music house.
She and her mom even wrote a book together in 2012, called "You Have No Idea." The title fits. Nobody had any idea, except maybe the two people who wrote that birth announcement.
Did your parents predict anything big for you when you were born? Tell us on Instagram at @the914collective. And for more Westchester stories, pick up Not Upstate Magazine at thenineonefour.com.
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