Law and Order
Vanessa Williams
Character
Vera
Date of birth
May 12, 1963
Place of birth
Brooklyn, New York
IMDb profile

Vanessa Estelle Williams (born May 12, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York) is an American actress who portrayed Vera in the Law & Order season 1 episode "Happily Ever After".

Williams also appeared on Showtime's Soul Food: The Series (with Nicole Ari Parker and Malinda Williams) as Maxine Joseph-Chadway.

Williams' television credits include Melrose Place and The Cosby Show. She also portrayed Keisha in the film New Jack City (featuring Ice-T and Mario Van Peebles) and Anne-Marie McCoy in Candyman and it's 2021 sequel of the same name (featuring Tony Todd).

Williams was often confused with the singer/actress/former Miss America of the same name. She was credited as Vanessa A. Williams because she wasn't able to register her first and middle names with the Screen Actors Guild due to their prohibition of registering duplicate names.