Vanessa Estelle Williams (sometimes professionally credited as Vanessa A. Williams) is an American actress and producer. She is best known for her roles as Maxine Joseph–Chadway in the Showtime drama series, Soul Food (2000–04), for which she received NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series and as Nino Brown's feisty gun moll, Keisha in the 1991 crime drama film, New Jack City. Williams is also known for her role as Anne-Marie McCoy in the first and fourth of the Candyman films, and as Rhonda Blair in the first season of the Fox prime time soap opera, Melrose Place (1992–93). Early life and education Williams was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Williams has three brothers. Her mother Verdell died when she was 10 years old leaving Williams to be raised by her grandmother, Johnnie Mae Mungen. She has traced her ancestry back to Georgia and Virginia. After high school she went on to get a bachelor's degree in theater and business management from Marymount Manhattan College. Career Williams later went to acting in films and television, becoming known simply as "Vanessa Williams". In the area of acting, she ran into name conflict with singer/actress and former Miss America Vanessa Williams (also born 1963). Screen Actors Guild rules prohibited duplicate stage naming. Vanessa Estelle had registered the name "Vanessa Williams" first, so as a compromise, the former Miss America was occasionally credited as "Vanessa L. Williams" in acting credits. To compound the confusion, both actresses starred in versions of the drama Soul Food (Vanessa L. Williams in the film version, and Vanessa E. Williams in its TV series adaptation). The Screen Actors Guild eventually took the issue to arbitration and decided both actresses could use the professional name "Vanessa Williams". Television Williams began her acting career in 1989, appearing in episodes of The Cosby Show and Law & Order. In 1992, she was cast as Rhonda Blair, the first and only black regular character, in the Fox prime time soap opera, Melrose Place. She was written off after only one season for lack of direction. "I think they didn't make the effort to equip themselves [to write for a black character], either by hiring a black writer or asking me things," said Williams later. She later had guest starring roles on NYPD Blue and Living Single, before she was cast as a series regular in the ABC