VanessaWilliams is used to being awarded, and now she has a new honor to add to her long list of achievements. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce has presented Williams with 2018’s Lifetime Achievement Award.
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Williams was given the award on Thursday, the event took place at the Sheraton Universal Hotel in Universal City, Calif. The celebration was co-sponsored by Variety and the Hollywood Museum in the Historic Max Factor Building, and during the event, Williams was honored with a portrait of herself.
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The president and CEO of the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, Leron Gubler, explained the event was founded in 2000 to 2000 to “recognize celebrities who’ve made a difference in Hollywood.” The first honoree was “The Tonight Show’s” first host, Steve Allen, according to Variety.
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“I ended up doing musical theater in high school and some theater in college and Broadway was the tangible goal for me,” Williams said as she accepted her award. “Hollywood was never on the radar because it was one of those things that was unattainable.”
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Williams truly has an extensive list of achievements. Some of which are becoming the first Black Miss America in 1983 and 1984, singing at the Oscars in 1996, claiming her star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame in 2010 and so much more.
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“Even though I feel like an outsider because this is all a dream, the fact that I can look at my life and see my achievements and know that Hollywood was such an integral part of what made me and what’s helped my career, I thank you.”
