Vanessa L. Williams
Williams in 2011, kathclick/bigstock.com
Birth Name: Vanessa Lynn Williams
Place of Birth: Tarrytown, New York, U.S.
Date of Birth: March 18, 1963
Ethnicity: African-American, along with some English and Welsh
Vanessa L. Williams is an American actress, singer, songwriter, producer, model, and television personality. She was the first African-American to win the Miss America Pageant, in 1983. Her roles include the films Eraser, Soul Food, Hoodlum, Dance with Me, Light It Up, Shaft (2000), Batman: Hush, and Bad Hair, and the series Ugly Betty.
Vanessa is the daughter of Helen L. (Tinch) and Milton Augustine Williams, Jr. Her parents were both black. Her brother is actor and comedian Chris Williams. Vanessa grew up in the mainly white middle-class suburb of Millwood, New York. Vanessa is married to businessperson Jim Skrip. She has three children, including dancer and singer Jillian Hervey, with her former husband, public relations specialist Ramon Hervey II; and a daughter with her former husband, Canadian basketball player and actor Rick Fox.
An AncestryDNA test taken by Vanessa stated that her genetic ancestry is:
*56% African
——–*23% Ghana
——–*15% Cameroon/Congo
——–*7% Togo
——–*6% Benin
——–*5% Senegal
*44% European
——–*17% British Isles
——–*12% Finnish/Ural/Volga
——–*11% Southern European
——–*4% Spain/Portugal
In an interview, a journalist stated that Vanessa’s mixed heritage includes African-American, Welsh, and Native American. No Native American markers appear on her DNA test. Vanessa appeared on the program Who Do You Think You Are? (2011), where she discovered that her great-great-grandfather, David Carll, was a “mulatto” (mixed race) man who avoided slavery and married a white woman (her great-great-grandmother).
Vanessa’s ancestry is at least 1/32nd English. One of her maternal great-great-great-grandfathers, George Appleford, was born in Surrey, England, in 1802.
Vanessa’s paternal grandfather was Milton Augustine/Abner Williams (the son of John Hill Williams and Mary L. Fields). Milton was born in Tennessee. John was the son of George Williams and Mollie/Molly Turner. Mary L. was the daughter of William A. Fields and Elizabeth “Lizzie” Fields.
Vanessa’s paternal grandmother was Iris Agnes Carl/Carll (the daughter of Frank S. Carl/Carll and Imogene Jackson). Iris was born in New York. Frank was the son of David Carll and Mary Louisa Appleford, who was white, and whose own father was English. Imogene was the daughter of Henry Titus Jackson and Emiline/Emmaline G. Russell.
Vanessa’s maternal grandfather was Edward James Tinch (the son of John Wilbur Tinch and Helen Elizabeth Fitzgerald). Edward was born in New Jersey. John was the son of John Tinch. Helen was the daughter of William Fitzgerald and Margaret.
Vanessa’s maternal grandmother was Doris Catherine Griffen/Griffin (the daughter of Moses George Wilson and Elvira Viola Johnson). Doris was born in New York. Moses George was the son of George Wilson and Frances Duson. Elvira was the daughter of Waldo/Walter Johnson and Fannie/Fanny Cavel/Calvin.
Regarding her DNA test, Vanessa has said:
Now, I can’t wait to go to Ghana and Cameroon and Togo and Senegal — it’s a great opportunity to see why the customs resonate with you. I love to travel and I love to explore, and I have to admit that I was always jealous of people who knew their cultural background. Both my family and myself came out with light eyes, so obviously there is a recessive gene here. Not knowing what that was just made me very curious.
Sources: Genealogy of Vanessa L. Williams – http://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Vanessa’s father (focusing on his mother’s side) – https://www.findagrave.com
Vanessa’s paternal grandmother, Iris Agnes Carl/Carll, on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Anyway, to those ppl who don’t believe that pure africans could have green eyes and light skin, look at this man
http://www.sport24.com/var/plain_site/storage/images/football/ligue-des-champions/phase-finale/clubs-phase-finale/lyon/jean-alain-boumsong/75152-4-fre-FR/jean-alain-boumsong_joueurfoot.jpg
His name is Jean Alain Boumsong, and he is 100% pure cameroonian, from bana tribe, a brunch of the bamiléké tribe.
I admit that we can’t see easily his green eyes, but he does have green eyes and light complextion, like a lot of people in his tribe, with no white blood. that’s it.
Bull Africans are very diverse many Africans are of mixed race every one think they are pure which is not true
To Anonymous: Vanessa williams doesn’t wear contact lenses,i’m not stupid, i was just joking !!!
an btw, you can’t tell if someone is mixed just looking at them. i don’t know if she’s mixed or not, but if she mixed she will not appear less black to me (no offense); when i say the term black, i’m gathering mixed black people with pure black people that’s all.
And for your information, maybe african american could not have blue eyed without being mixed (but i doubt it actually), but africans can !!! I saw a lot of Senegalese men with blue eyes and very dark skin, so black ppl can have blue eyes !!!
Stop trying to act like AA are different than Africans–they are the same–it is just that Aa have more mixtures from more tribes. Since ALL races are descended from the black African female and she possesses ALL phenotypes, then of course Africans can have blue eyes or green or blonde hair or white skin–it is recessive but when two people carry a recessive trait there is a 25% chance of it manifesting.
don’t forget that whites are a MUTATION of black–this means at some point a black couple had a white baby–at some point enough white kids were alive to allow them to leave, and mate with each other. Over time, in their own groups, white skin and blonde hair and blue eyes became dominant so manifested more–BUT it all started in Africa with a black female so theoretically all blacks (including American blacks should have the ability to produce blue eyes or lighter skin–whites just began to realize that some of them made babies with blacks–now they think every time they see light skin it is a bi racial person and every time a black woman has long hair–it is a weave.
A little bit of knowledge is dangerous because it does not let people know that for all they know–they know very little.
All people did come from Africa originally but when people left Africa they weren’t the same as they are now. This includes Africans as well. People have developed different characteristics over time. The mutation for blue eyes and white skin happened AFTER people left Africa and occurred in Caucasian people. Asian people didn’t develop blue eyes but they developed lighter skin but it is a different mutation than the one that occurred in Caucasians. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/how-one-ancestor-helped-turn-our-brown-eyes-blue-776170.html The above link explains how blue eyes occurred. The mutation only occurred 6,000 to 10,000 years ago north of the Black Sea. It occurred in a single individual so everyone alive today with that mutation traces back to that person. If Africans have blue eyes they do have non-African ancestry. Blue eyes, white skin are an adaptation to places with a lot less sun than occurs in Africa.
no she doesnt wear contact lenses!! that is her eye colour! ive seen a photo with her parents and they are mixed white/black
people always say about celebs “no they are not mixed, they are black”. but most african americans have white in them. vanessa has substantial white because she has naturally blue eyes. light eyes is NOT a feature that african americans have without mixture.
no man
her mom is just black
and her dad is black and native american
she is just balck
–
not white
lool so you think that vanessa willaims could wear contact lenses ??
I’m black (light complexion) with the exact same shades and color eyes as Vanessa, but mine are Color Blend contacts! They look amazing and no ever questions me if they’re real.