Celebrity Spotlight - Vanessa Williams
When Broadway barked, Vanessa Williams came to the rescue of two pups, Cayman and Congo, and invited them to join her family. This multi-talented beauty turns 40 this year and has accomplished as much as ten people in her short lifetime. She’s happy and successful, balancing her home and work lives with grace. Through it all, somehow she keeps everyone’s tails wagging.
She’s out of the woods and getting ready to embark on a new project, a pilot for NBC that is due out this fall. Vanessa Williams, the Broadway beauty who just finished up a starring role in the Stephen Sondheim musical Into the Woods, former Miss America, and successful singer and actor, lives a very full life these days. Along with her NBA-star husband Rick Fox and her four children (Melanie, Jillian, Devin, and Sasha), three dogs also share this busy household. Sebastian, a shih tzu, and Cayman and Congo, two shar-pei/Labrador mixed-breed dogs, add to the excitement. Life is never dull in Vanessa’s household with all of the commotion her two little ones bring—the “little ones” being Congo and Cayman. “They act like adolescents,” Vanessa says.
BROADWAY BABIES
Congo and Cayman were adopted when they were puppies at an event called Broadway Barks! in New York City. Although Vanessa was supposed to present the sibling pups to the crowd and encourage someone to adopt them, she was unable to resist them herself. At 6 weeks of age, these fawn-colored darlings were nothing more than two little bundles of wrinkles, but they have done a lot of growing up since. Still under a year old, their personalities are becoming more distinct. “Congo is the more rambunctious of the two, while Cayman is the smarter one,” Vanessa says.
“They are a handful,” Vanessa admits, but attending to them is clearly a labor of love. Sharing space with the two mischievous puppies is 10-year-old Sebastian. “He can’t stand the puppies,” she says of her beloved shih tzu. Perhaps because he is older and wiser, Sebastian does not participate in the younger dogs’ antics. A more refined sort, Vanessa says, “He has a little chaise lounge that he sits on next to my bed, or he rests on top of the sofa, so he can look out the window.”
A STAR IS BORN
Vanessa was born into a musical family. Her parents, Milton and Helen Williams, are both music teachers, and Vanessa obviously inherited their talent. She pursued a Theater Arts degree at Syracuse University before leaving school to vie for the Miss America title in 1983. Her natural beauty, dazzling blue eyes, and musical talent won her the crown, and she became the first African-American Miss America. She then went on to a successful recording career as her smooth voice won her record deals and her songs hit the top of the pop charts, including the hits “Dreaming” and “Save the Best for Last.” Vanessa’s third album, Sweetest Days, went platinum almost as soon as it was released. She also tried her hand in Hollywood, playing opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in Eraser and appearing in smaller films such as Soul Food, Hoodlum, and Dance With Me. Then Broadway beckoned with critically acclaimed roles in Kiss of the Spider Woman and Into the Woods, which showcased the many diverse talents of this dynamic performer.
LIKE MOTHER, LIKE DOG
So did any of her talent rub off on Sebastian, Cayman, or Congo? Vanessa tried her best, as she brought her two little Broadway barkers to the stage one day soon after she adopted them so they could meet the cast of Into the Woods and perhaps be inspired. That was their only shot on stage, as Vanessa says she does not like mixing business with pleasure (or pleasure with other pleasure, as it were). “When I’m working, I’m working,” she says.
Even though the puppies were the ones that got a brief glimpse of the stage, Sebastian is the one with the talent. “He loves to sing along when I practice,” Vanessa notes. “He’s a howler. You’ll always get a song out of Sebastian when someone is playing an instrument or singing. When I hit a particular note, he chimes in.” Her children inherited Vanessa’s musical talent as well. “My daughter plays trumpet and my son plays saxophone,” she says proudly. “My parents teach music at their house after school, and when my kids go over for lessons Sebastian will accompany them, listen, and start howling along.”
ALL IN THE FAMILY
The key to keeping her dogs healthy is diet and exercise, says Vanessa. “I don’t give them cake or sugar at all.” As for exercise, “our five acres of land is the best luxury I can give them,” she says. “We have a hill that Sebastian loves to climb and chase the deer and geese.” She is certain, “as long as he’s got excitement in his life, he’ll stay young and chipper.” We could all take a lesson from Vanessa’s pets!
One thing Vanessa is adamant about is involving animals in her children’s lives. “I want the pets to be part of the family and part of the kids’ experience,” she says. But make no bones about it, pet ownership is both a “responsibility and a liability. You have to be very careful, especially with the new dogs that are so energetic and large. With a house full of children and their friends, it is especially important to keep an eye on the animals as they interact with the kids.” Vanessa taught her children respect for animals from day one. Having an animal, Vanessa says, “teaches kids about training and respect and responsibility and that the pets are part of our extended family.”
Vanessa promotes proper veterinary care and preventive medicine for all of her dogs. Before adopting them, Vanessa was sure to bring her newest dogs to the veterinarian for proper medical treatment and to a trainer to get a stamp of approval. The adorable pups passed with flying colors and were said to be of “very good disposition.”
SAVING THE BEST FOR LAST
This singer/actor extraordinaire looks forward to her newest project and says she is “crossing her fingers” that everything goes according to plan for her upcoming television show. She is set to play a woman who goes back to her high school to take over the acting program. Would she ever do that—return to her alma mater and teach students? Vanessa pauses. “Maybe on a limited basis,” she says. After all, she does have many responsibilities these days keeping her busy—making sure Sebastian, Cayman, and Congo stay out of trouble, along with raising her four children. Vanessa also has a new album to look forward to, which is due to be released in the spring or summer of 2003. Let the pop charts brace themselves, as Vanessa is back again, making headlines with her musical talent. If you listen very carefully, maybe you can hear a little shih tzu singing backup.