Keshia Knight Pulliam (born April 9, 1979) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actor, and landed her breakthrough role as Rudy Huxtable, on the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...
''
The Cosby Show
''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...
Tyler Perry's House of Payne
''House of Payne'' is an American sitcom television series created and produced by Tyler Perry that premiered in syndication on June 21, 2006.
The series revolves around a multi-generational family living under one roof in Atlanta led by patriarc ...
'' (2007–present).
Career
In 1986, Knight Pulliam became one of the youngest actresses to be nominated for an Emmy Award, receiving a nomination at age 6 for Outstanding Supporting Actress in A Comedy Series. She made her professional debut at 9 months old, in a national print advertisement for Johnson & Johnson baby products. At age 3, she was on ''
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...
''. She continued working, appearing in television commercials and TV shows, and making her feature film debut in ''
The Last Dragon
''The Last Dragon'' (sometimes listed as Berry Gordy's ''The Last Dragon'') is a 1985 American martial arts comedy film produced by Rupert Hitzig for Berry Gordy and directed by Michael Schultz. The film stars Taimak, Vanity, Julius Carry, C ...
'' (1985). She also appeared in the movies ''Polly'' and its sequel ''Polly: Comin' Home!'' with her ''
Cosby Show
''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class African- ...
'' co-star
Phylicia Rashad
Phylicia Rashad ( ) ( née Ayers-Allen; born June 19, 1948) is an American actress, singer and director who is dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University. She is best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the NBC sitcom ''The Cosby ...
. She is ranked at No. 27 in VH1's list of the "100 Greatest Kid Stars".
Knight Pulliam won a celebrity version of '' Fear Factor'' in September 2002. She also won a celebrity version of '' The Weakest Link'', and participated in '' Celebrity Mole: Yucatan''. In 2004, she appeared in
Chingy
Howard Earl Bailey Jr. (born March 9, 1980), known professionally as Chingy, is an American rapper. Chingy grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, and began rapping in his late teens. He toured as an opening act with Nelly in the summer of 2002 and the ...
's
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...
for " One Call Away". In 2005, she played Darnelle in ''
Beauty Shop
''Beauty Shop'' is a 2005 American comedy film directed by Bille Woodruff. The film serves as a spin-off of the '' Barbershop'' film franchise, and stars Queen Latifah as Gina, a character first introduced in the 2004 film '' Barbershop 2: Back i ...
'' with
Queen Latifah
Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album '' All Hail the Qu ...
. Knight Pulliam performed in Donald Gray's play ''The Man of Her Dreams'' in the fall of 2006 in St. Louis. In 2008, she joined the cast of ''
Tyler Perry's House of Payne
''House of Payne'' is an American sitcom television series created and produced by Tyler Perry that premiered in syndication on June 21, 2006.
The series revolves around a multi-generational family living under one roof in Atlanta led by patriarc ...
Madea Goes to Jail
''Madea Goes to Jail'' is a 2009 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tyler Perry, which was based on his 2006 play, and starring Perry, Derek Luke, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Ion Overman, RonReaco Lee, Sofía Vergara, Vanessa Ferl ...
''. Knight Pulliam appeared in
Tank
A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engi ...
's 2010 music video for his cover of " I Can't Make You Love Me", playing his love interest.
In 2011, commenting on the fact that only white actors had won Golden Globe Awards that year, she said: "I think that there is definitely work to be done. It can always be more diverse. We live in a very multicultural and global society. More needs to be done to increase the representation of all people and really show the world for what it is. It’s not just one color."
In 2013, she was a contestant on the ABC celebrity diving show '' Splash''. She was first to be eliminated. In 2015, Knight Pulliam was a contestant on the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
show '' The Celebrity Apprentice Season 7'' and was the first contestant eliminated after being the losing project manager for her team. In 2018, Knight Pulliam was a HouseGuest on the first season of the
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
series ''
Celebrity Big Brother
''Big Brother VIP'', is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, the housemates or houseguest ...
'', where she was the second person evicted out of the house, on Day 13.
Personal life
Keshia Knight Pulliam was born in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area. She has three brothers, James Knight Pulliam II, Mshon Knight Pulliam, and Juwan Pulliam. Knight Pulliam attended Rutgers Preparatory School in
Somerset, New Jersey
Somerset is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) located within Franklin Township, in Somerset County, New Jersey, United States.The Cosby Show
''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...
Middleburg, Virginia
Middleburg is a town in Loudoun County, Virginia, United States, with a population of 673 as of the 2010 census. It is the southernmost town along Loudoun County's shared border with Fauquier County.
Middleburg is known as the "Nation's Horse ...
, from which she graduated in 1997. She received a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from
Spelman College
Spelman College is a private, historically black, women's liberal arts college in Atlanta, Georgia. It is part of the Atlanta University Center academic consortium in Atlanta. Founded in 1881 as the Atlanta Baptist Female Seminary, Spelman rece ...
in 2001. She is a member of the Eta Kappa chapter of Delta Sigma Theta sorority.
On New Year's Eve 2015, Knight Pulliam became engaged to retired
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
player
Edgerton Hartwell
Edgerton "Ed" Hartwell II (born May 27, 1978) is a former American football linebacker. He played college football at Western Illinois and was drafted by the Baltimore Ravens in the fourth round of the 2001 NFL Draft. Hartwell was also a member ...
. They were married the next day, January 1, 2016, in Knight Pulliam's
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
home. Hartwell filed for divorce on July 25, 2016. On January 23, 2017, Knight Pulliam gave birth to a daughter, named Ella Grace Hartwell. The divorce was finalized in April 2018, with Knight Pulliam receiving primary custody of Ella while Hartwell was ordered to pay child support of about $3,000 a month.
In December 2020, she became engaged to actor Brad James. The pair began dating in 2019 after they met on the set of the TV movie ''Pride and Prejudice: Atlanta''. They were married in an intimate ceremony in September 2021. In December 2022, it was announced the couple were expecting their first child together.
The Cosby Show
''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class Africa ...
''
*2009:
NAACP Image Awards
The NAACP Image Awards is an annual awards ceremony presented by the U.S.-based National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to honor outstanding performances in film, television, theatre, music, and literature. Similar to ...
Best Supporting Actress in the Comedy Series (won) ''
Tyler Perry's House of Payne
''House of Payne'' is an American sitcom television series created and produced by Tyler Perry that premiered in syndication on June 21, 2006.
The series revolves around a multi-generational family living under one roof in Atlanta led by patriarc ...
''
*2010: NAACP Image Awards Best Supporting Actress in the Comedy Series (won) ''Tyler Perry's House of Payne''
*2011: NAACP Image Awards Best Supporting Actress in the Comedy Series (nominated) ''Tyler Perry's House of Payne''
*2012: NAACP Image Awards Best Supporting Actress in the Comedy Series (won) ''Tyler Perry's House of Payne''