Tonya Williams
*Tonya Williams was born on this date in 1958. She is a Black Canadian actress, producer, director, and media activist.
Williams was born in London, England, to Jamaican parents. She lived in London and Kingston, Jamaica as a young child. At age five, she contracted rheumatic fever; she and her mother then moved to Birmingham, England. In 1969 she and her family settled in Oshawa, Ontario, Canada. As a teenager, she modeled in Eaton's catalogs and danced on a Canadian television series called Boogie. In 1977, Williams was crowned Miss Black Ontario.
In 1979, she graduated from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute. Williams was married to Robert Simpson from 1983 to 1991 but has never remarried. Career Williams' television debut was as a host of the Canadian children's show Polka Dot Door from 1980 to 1983. Appearances on the television series Check It Out! and Generations followed. Her involvement in Generations led her to a role on The Young and the Restless which has become her most lucrative role. Williams won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series in 2000 and 2002.
Williams appeared on A Very Brady Christmas as Cindy's roommate. In March 2004, Williams hosted the special event program Tonya Lee Williams: Gospel Jubilee on CBC Television. She is a member of the Sigma Gamma Rho sorority. Williams is the founder, executive, and artistic director of the Reelworld Film Festival, an annual Toronto film festival featuring talent from ethnically diverse communities.
