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Quick Facts
- NAME: Keshia Knight Pulliam
- OCCUPATION: Television Actress
- BIRTH DATE: April 09, 1979 (Age: 34)
- EDUCATION: Foxcroft School, Spelman College
- PLACE OF BIRTH: Newark, New Jersey
- ZODIAC SIGN: Aries
Best Known For
Actress Keisha Knight Pulliam is best known for her portrayal of Rudy Huxtable on The Cosby Show.
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Keisha Knight Pulliam, Ming-Na, Chi McBride, Mia Tyler - Preview (Celebrity Ghost Stories) (1:39)
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Keisha Knight Pulliam, Ming-Na, Chi McBride, Mia Tyler - Preview
A preview featuring Ghost Stories from Keisha Knight Pulliam, Ming-Na, Chi McBride, and Mia Tyler.
Bill Cosby - "The Cosby Show"
Bill Cosby is best known for his time transforming television history as Heathcliff Huxtable on the hit television series "The Cosby Show."
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Play NowKeshia Pulliam Knight. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 03:48, Jun 20, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/keshia-knight-pulliam-17183836.
Keshia Pulliam Knight. [Internet]. 2013. The Biography Channel website. Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/keshia-knight-pulliam-17183836 [Accessed 20 Jun 2013].
"Keshia Pulliam Knight." 2013. The Biography Channel website. Jun 20 2013, 03:48 http://www.biography.com/people/keshia-knight-pulliam-17183836.
"Keshia Pulliam Knight," The Biography Channel website, 2013, http://www.biography.com/people/keshia-knight-pulliam-17183836 [accessed Jun 20, 2013].
"Keshia Pulliam Knight," The Biography Channel website, http://www.biography.com/people/keshia-knight-pulliam-17183836 (accessed Jun 20, 2013).
Keshia Pulliam Knight [Internet]. The Biography Channel website; 2013 [cited 2013 Jun 20] Available from: http://www.biography.com/people/keshia-knight-pulliam-17183836.
Keshia Pulliam Knight, http://www.biography.com/people/keshia-knight-pulliam-17183836 (last visited Jun 20, 2013).
Keshia Pulliam Knight. The Biography Channel website. 2013. Available at: http://www.biography.com/people/keshia-knight-pulliam-17183836. Accessed Jun 20, 2013.
Synopsis
Born in Newark, New Jersey, Keisha Knight Pulliam began appearing in commercials as a baby. She landed her biggest role to date in 1984, when she was just four years old, playing Bill Cosby's adorable daughter Rudy Huxtable on The Cosby Show. After the show ended in 1992, Pulliam appeared in a racy magazine shoot, and has made TV and film appearances.
Child Actor
Actress Keshia Knight Pulliam was born on April 9, 1979, in Newark, New Jersey. Her parents, Denise and James Pulliam, work as her business managers. According to her father, Pulliam had a star quality from the day she was born. "She was always smiling, she cooed a lot and was very friendly," he remembered. "She would let anyone pick her up." When Pulliam was only five months old, her mother decided to send her photograph to a talent agency. "It was all a long shot," she said. "We really didn't expect anything to come of it."
However, only three months later, Pulliam -- not yet a year old -- landed her first job as a model in a print ad for Johnson & Johnson baby products. After appearing in several advertisements, at the age of three Pulliam landed a recurring role on the children's television program Sesame Street. The next year she filmed her big screen debut, The Last Dragon, which was released in 1985 and has since become a cult classic.
Although Pulliam became a successful professional actress before she could walk or talk, her parents worked hard to instill in their daughter a sense of normalcy and responsibility. "We treated Keshia like a regular child, not a television star," her mother recalled. "She was responsible for cleaning the kitchen, babysitting her brothers, and going to school instead of being tutored."
Playing Rudy Huxtable
In 1984, when she was only four years old, Pulliam landed what remains her most iconic role: Bill Cosby's adorable and witty daughter Rudy Huxtable on The Cosby Show. From the outset, Pulliam received rave reviews for her performance on screen and her maturity on set.
"This four-year-old child was unbelievable. She was natural," Cosby remembered. "People gravitated to her. She got big laughs from time to time in front of the audience. We never had a problem. Nobody ever had to come down from wherever they were observing and get the child and stop her from crying. I've done enough Jell-O commercials to know how to appreciate very much Keshia Knight Pulliam at age four."
Pulliam performed on The Cosby Show from 1984 to 1992, seeing the scope of her role expand with each new season as she grew from a kindergartener to a young teenager. For her performance on The Cosby Show, Pulliam won a Young Artist Award, several NAACP Image Awards, a People's Choice Award, and a Nickelodeon Kids Choice Award. In 1986, at the age of six, she became the youngest performer ever nominated for an Emmy for Best Supporting Actress.
Acting As an Adult
When The Cosby Show finally went off the air in 1992, Pulliam decided to take a decade-long break from acting to focus on her education.
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