Holly Robinson Peete

Peete was born Holly Elizabeth Robinson in Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of Dolores and Matt Robinson (the original Gordon on Sesame Street). Her mother was a school teacher, in public relations, and later a personal talent manager, and her father a producer/writer. She has an older brother named Matthew Thomas Robinson III. She attended Greene Street Friends School in nearby Germantown.[4] In 1974, her family moved to California.[5] Peete graduated from Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica, California, where her classmates included Rob Lowe, Yvette Lee Bowser, and Lori Petty. Peete graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in psychology and French.[6] Peete studied abroad for a year at the Sorbonne, and is fluent in French.[6] While there she sang in Paris nightclubs, including a performance with jazz musician Lionel Hampton at the Hotel Meridian Jazz Club.[7][8][9]

In 1969, she made her first television appearance by playing a little girl named Sally on the very first episode of Sesame Street. She recalls that when she was six years old, she kept blowing her line, saying "Hi, Daddy", instead of "Hi, Gordon", his character's name. She ended up with just an appearance where she walked down the street with Big Bird.[10] At the age of 11, Holly worked for the children's show Kidsworld as a celebrity correspondent; she interviewed many actors and actresses for the program. As an actress, she has appeared on the TV series 21 Jump Street (1987–1991), Hangin' with Mr. Cooper (1992–1997), For Your Love (1998–2002), and Like Family (2003–2004). She was featured in the video for the 1990 hit single "Whip Appeal" by Babyface as the sultry radio host at the beginning of the video.[11] In 1992, she portrayed Diana Ross in The Jacksons: An American Dream. Robinson most recently starred on the UPN comedy Love, Inc.. The show lasted just one season, and was canceled after the WB/UPN merger.

Robinson has also had a limited career as a singer and recording artist, including the introductory song to 21 Jump Street.[10] She contributed a variety of songs to the soundtrack of the film Howard the Duck. (She appeared as a musician/singer in a minor role in the film.) She recorded the theme song "We Got Our Love" for the 1988 film Three for the Road. She and Dawnn Lewis, along with R&B quartet En Vogue, performed the theme song for the first season of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper.

In 2006, she won, along with fellow writer Daniel Paisner, the Quills Award in Sports for the book Get Your Own Damn Beer, I'm Watching the Game!: A Woman's Guide to Loving Pro Football.[12]

In 2010, she participated in The Celebrity Apprentice 3, playing for her own charity, the HollyRod Foundation,[10] which provides support for families with Parkinson's disease or autism.

Robinson began co-hosting The Talk, a CBS daytime talk show, on October 18, 2010.[13] In this forum, Robinson was known for expressing herself through her ethnicity and being especially vocal about African American issues and, since her son Rodney is affected by it, autism.[14] In April 2011, Robinson hosted a weekly series on The Talk promoting autism awareness.[15]

After serving on The Talk for its first season, Robinson along with Leah Remini were released from the show. Failure to ever disclose why the two were let go brought on a great deal of audience criticism of the show, as well as protests from the stars' fans.[16][17]

Robinson hosted the 42nd NAACP Image Awards, alongside Wayne Brady, on March 4, 2011.[18]

The Peete family star in a reality TV series on OWN, entitled For Peete's Sake.[19] The series follows the lives of Peete and her husband Rodney as they juggle career choices with their family life.[20]

Robinson Peete with her husband Rodney Peete in 2010

On June 10, 1995, Robinson married Rodney Peete, a National Football League quarterback. He proposed by surprising Holly during an episode of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper. They have four children: twins, daughter Ryan Elizabeth Peete and son Rodney Peete, Jr. (born October 19, 1997), and sons born in August 2002 and February 2005.

One of their twins, Rodney Jr., was diagnosed with autism at age three.[21] Robinson plays baseball for Sierra Canyon, the same school where Bronny James and Zaire Wade play basketball.

After her father was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, Robinson and her husband co-founded the HollyRod Foundation, which is dedicated to help find a cure for the disease, as well as for autism, and assist those living with the conditions.[10][22]

In September 2012, Nestle's Carnation Breakfast Essentials announced they had teamed up with Robinson, featuring her as the spokesperson for the brand.[23][24] On October 4, 2012, Robinson was inducted as an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.[25]

Note: She was credited as Holly Robinson until 1997.

• Holly Robinson Peete on IMDb
• Holly Robinson Peete 2006 Interview on Sidewalks Entertainment
• Holly Robinson Peete Biography