LOS ANGELES Many predicted
Vanessa Williams would fade into obscurity when she gave up her
Miss America crown because of a scandal over nude photographs, but
her star shone brightly Monday.
Williams received the 2,331st star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Fellow cast members from the TV show "Ugly Betty," in which she
plays a villainous magazine editor, showed up to cheer for her at
the ceremony in front of the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel.
"We were so happy to get Vanessa," said Salma Hayek, the show's
executive producer. "She is brilliant because she is so nasty on
the show, but in reality she is the sweetest person."
Williams stepped down as the first black Miss America in 1984 after
Penthouse magazine published nude, sexually explicit photographs of
her taken several years earlier. In the years since, she has sung
on Broadway, released Grammy-nominated albums and acted on screens
both big and small.
On Monday, she thanked fellow "Betty" cast members for attending
the ceremony on their day off.
"I love working with these people," she said. "I also want to thank
my family for allowing me to live my dreams. The sun didn't shine
today, but my heart is shining."
Others who attended the ceremony included producer Peter Gruber,
"Betty" co-star Rebecca Romijn and Williams' brother, Chris, a cast
member on the new Fox series "The Wedding Bells."