Vanessa Williams adds initial 'L' to her name

Jet, August 11, 1997

Award-winning singer-actress and former Miss America Vanessa Williams, whose middle name is Lynne, recently had to add her middle initial to her stage name because another actress shares her moniker.

The other actress, Vanessa Williams, who appears on TV's "Chicago Hope," had her name registered first with the Screen Actors Guild, and she asked the union to impose a distinction.

Vanessa Lynne Williams' publicist told Entertainment Weekly that the other actress was having problems with the confusion and had the right to ask for the change.