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“I had absolutely had no regrets about my career. I mean it was my life. Everyone has different life experiences and those experiences no two persons are the same. They are what shape the person you are and become. This is the same that goes for me. I’ve been in the business since I was nine months old. This is all I’ve known. This is my life. This is what I do and I love it.” Keshia Knight Pulliam became the youngest actress to have been nominated for an Emmy Award with her nod for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She was just six years old at the time. And while she’ll also be known for her portrayal of spunky and adorable Rudy Huxtable on The Cosby Show, she’s continued to build on her career in the decades since.

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Having made her professional acting debut at just nine months old, Keshia Knight Pulliam was practically a veteran when she took on the role of Rudy Huxtable.  What’s she been up to since? Here’s a closer look at all things Keshia Knight Pulliam.

An Actress Before Age One

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Keshia Knight Pulliam was born in Newark, New Jersey on April 9, 1979. Her parents were Denise and James Knight Pulliam, and she has three brothers: James Knight, Mshon Knight, and Juwan. 

Knight Pulliam made her professional debut months before her first birthday in a national print ad for Johnson & Johnson. She found steady work on television before landing her feature-film debut at age three in the movie, The Last Dragon. Knight Pulliam also appeared on Sesame Street when she was a toddler. 

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Knight Pulliam’s life-changing big break came in 1984 when she was cast as the youngest child of Cliff and Clair Huxtable on the NBC sitcom, The Cosby Show. The series was a huge hit, and so was Knight Pulliam. She was nominated for an Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series award in 1986 when she was just six, making her the youngest-ever actress to have earned this distinction. 

During her years on The Cosby Show, Knight Pulliam also appeared in three episodes of The Cosby Show spinoff, A Different World as well as on numerous television specials.  She also racked up a long list of television movies, including Back to Next Saturday, The Little Match Girl, Polly, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Polly: Comin’ Home!, and What about Your Friends: Weekend Getaway. 
After The Cosby Show ended in 1992, Knight Pulliam took time off to pursue an education. She attended Foxcroft School before enrolling in Spelman College, where she received a bachelor of arts degree in sociology in 2001. As a student at Spelman, Knight Pulliam was also a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority.

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Rudy Huxtable Grows Up

With her degree in hand, Knight Pulliam returned to the public eye in an unexpected capacity: as a reality television competitor. She not only appeared on The Weakest Link and Fear Factor in 2001 and 2002, respectively, but she won both. She later appeared on Celebrity Mole: Yucatan (2004), celebrity diving show Splash (2013), the Celebrity Apprentice Season 7 (2015) and Celebrity Big Brother (2018). 

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During this time, Knight Pulliam also acted in several films, including Motives, Beauty Shop, The Gospel, Cuttin Da Mustard, Death Toll and Madea Goes to Jail. She also appeared in the music video for Chingy’s “One Call Away” in 2003. 

Knight Pulliam enjoyed a major career comeback in 2008 when she was cast in the lead role of Miranda Lucas-Payne on Tyler Perry’s House of Payne. Her performance was critically acclaimed, and she won the NAACP Image Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2009, 2010, and 2012. (She was also nominated in 2011  but did not win.) Most recently, Knight Pulliam appeared in the Lifetime movie, Jingle Belle. 

Pulliam also made headlines for her public support of her former co-star Bill Cosby while he was standing trial. She told Today of her commitment to him, “It was important for me to be there because at the end of the day, I truly believe you’re innocent until proven guilty, and that’s just not the man that I ever experienced.”

“I just thought about it like how would I want to be treated if, God forbid, I was in that situation. And the true test of family, of friendship, of loyalty comes — it’s easy to be there when things are good, when business is good, when money is good, when all of these things, but I wanted to do what I would have wanted to receive,” she continued. 

A resident of Atlanta, Georgia, Knight Pulliam was married to retired football linebacker Ed Hartwell for six months. Together they have a daughter, Ella Grace.

While Knight Pulliam’s divorce was stressful, she worked hard to stay healthy for her baby. “Honestly, at the end of the day, it starts from the inside so you need consistency. You cannot expect miracles overnight; it’s important to commit and give things time. As black women, we are not homogeneous, so you must create a routine based on your individual needs. There are so many vitamins and health products out there. Go to a really good nutritionist or find natural remedies to help maintain your health,” she advised. 

Knight Pulliam also feels strongly about something else: the need for more diversity in Hollywood. Commenting on the fact that only white actors won Golden Globe Awards in 2011 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.”