Keshia Knight Pulliam on AllMovie

A native of New Jersey, actress Keshia Knight Pulliam first rocketed into the national spotlight -- and won the hearts of many a devoted '80s television viewer -- as Rudy Huxtable, the spunky, pint-sized youngest daughter of Dr. Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby), on The Cosby Show. Initially brought in at the age of five (in 1984), Knight Pulliam imparted the series with a "cuteness" factor that laudably waned somewhat as the program wore on and the actress herself aged (though producers eventually brought in Raven-Symone to fill the gap). By the fall of 1992, in fact -- when Cosby wrapped -- Knight Pulliam had reached her teens. Over the course of the series run, she received an Emmy nod for Best Supporing Actress at age six, and qualified at the time as the youngest actress to be nominated for an Emmy in history.

During Cosby, Knight Pulliam also essayed occasional feature roles; among other accomplishments, she headlined at several telemovies, including the period holiday drama The Little Match Girl (1987), the Mark Twain update A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court (1989), and Debbie Allen's musical version of Pollyanna, Polly (1989), as well as its sequel, Polly: Comin' Home! (1990). After The Cosby Show wrapped, Knight Pulliam attended Spelman College in Atlanta, then achieved a second wind in her career as a reality television star, on programs including a celebrity installment of Fear Factor, Celebrity Mole: Yucatan, and a TV child stars episode of The Weakest Link. She also signed for a starring role in Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail (2009), as Candy, a locked-up prostitute befriended by the sardonic, hell-raising Madea.