Tonya Lee Williams
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Tonya Lee Williams (born Tonya Maxine Williams on July 12, 1957 in London) is a black Canadian actress, best known for her role as Dr. Olivia Barber Winters on the American soap opera The Young and the Restless, from 1990 to 2005. She will briefly return to The Young and the Restless for two episodes in April 2007.
Williams and her family lived in London and Kingston, Jamaica while she was a young child. At age 5, she contracted rheumatic fever; she and her mother went to live in Birmingham, United Kingdom. In 1969, she and her family settled in Oshawa, Ontario. As a teenager, she modeled in Eaton's catalogues and danced on a television series called Boogie! which ran on CityTV. In 1977, Williams was crowned Miss Black Ontario.
Her television debut was as a host of the Canadian children's show Polka Dot Door after graduating from Ryerson University. Appearances on the television series Check it Out! and Generations followed. Her involvement on Generations snagged her a role on The Young and the Restless, and has become her most lucrative role. Williams won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series in 2000 and 2002..
She also appeared on A Very Brady Christmas as Cindy's roommate.
In March 2004, she hosted the special event programming Tonya Lee Williams: Gospel Jubilee, on the CBC. She is an honorary member of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.
Williams is also the founder and president of the [1] ReelWorld Film Festival, an annual film festival in Toronto that features talent from diverse visible communities.
Williams was married to Robert Simpson from 1983 to 1991. She has never remarried.
