Vanessa Williams

June 21

Screen Time with Arnold

Williams costars with Arnold Schwarzenegger (left) in the action film Eraser. It grosses $101 million at the box office. "Arnold said to me, 'Your career is very similar to mine because people didn't take us seriously at first. They knew us for our bodies, Mr. Universe and Miss America," Williams tells Ebony. "'So they wrote us off. You showed them that you have guts.'"

January

Take Two

Los Angeles Lakers' star Rick Fox invites Williams, through friends, to his 29th birthday party. A year later, Williams, 36, marries Fox, 30 (left). They maintain a long-distance relationship on two separate coasts, but establish strict rules to make their marriage work: frequent phone calls, visits and plenty of gifts. In May 2000, she gives birth to their daughter Sasha, but four years later, Fox files for divorce.

Broadway Acclaim

Williams earns a Tony nomination for her role as the witch in the Broadway revival of Into the Woods, the Stephen Sondheim-James Lapine fairy-tale musical. "Into the Woods is a great showcase because I get a chance to be scary and funny and wicked and glamorous," she tells Ebony.