On this day in comedy on April 9, 1979, Actress, Keshia Knight Pulliam was born in Newark, New Jersey
Pulliam began her career at the age of nine months. She was featured in a Johnson & Johnson national print ad for baby products. At the age of three she appeared on Sesame Street in the challenging role of “Keshia”. However, she is best known as Rudy Huxtable, the baby girl on NBC’s smash hit 80’s sitcom, The Cosby Show from 1984-1992. During that fruitful period, she made her big screen debut in The Last Dragon in 1985 and in 1986 Pulliam became the youngest actress ever nominated for an Emmy Award for her work on The Cosby Show.
Keshia Knight Pulliam was not just relegated to being known only as little Rudy. She appeared in commercials and guest starred on other television shows. She was seen in the films, Polly, Polly Comin Home, Beauty Shop (with Queen Latifah) and Madea Goes to Jail. In 2002, she won the celebrity version of Fear Factor. She was big on winning celebrity versions of shows because she won the celebrity version of The Weakest Link, too. She’s done music videos (Chingy’s “One Call Away” and Tank’s “Can’t Make You Love Me”) and plays (Donald Gray’s The Man of Her Dreams). In 2007 Pulliam returned as a regular TV star in Tyler Perry’s House of Payne playing the part of Miranda Lucas-Payne.
In VH1’s list of the 100 Greatest Kid Stars, Pulliam ranks #19 and she has three NAACP image Awards (House of Payne) for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.
By Darryl “D’Militant” Littleton
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