NOW: Vanessa Williams
Williams would not allow this tragic loss to derail her, however. Quite the opposite, in fact, as she left the pageant industry in the dust to pursue a hugely rewarding television career. She ended up winning plenty of SAG and Emmy nominations for her impressive acting abilities. Younger television fans probably best recognize her for her part in Ugly Betty as the cruel Wilhelmina Slater. She was also in 1997’s Soul Food, a biopic about Teri Joseph, which Williams played outstandingly.
NOW Vanessa Williams
THEN: Sarah Palin
You might now know it, but Sarah Palin was quite a successful beauty pageant contestant before she entered the world of politics. Indeed, the Sandpoint, Idaho-born Palin migrated with her family to Skagway, Alaska when she was just a few months old. After a successful sporting career in high school, Palin entered a local beauty pageant called Miss Wasilla and took the crown. In the Miss Alaska pageant, she took third place, also being awarded the “Miss Congeniality” title.
THEN Sarah Palin
