Holly Robinson Peete Biography

Holly Elizabeth Robinson Peete (born September 18, 1964) is an American actress and singer. She is perhaps best known for her roles as Judy Hoffs on the Fox TV police drama 21 Jump Street, Vanessa Russell on the ABC sitcom Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, and Dr. Malena Ellis on the NBC/WB sitcom For Your Love. She also served as one of the original co-hosts of the CBS daytime talk show The Talk.

After graduating from high school, Peete entered Sarah Lawrence College in New York. She majored in Psychology and French. After she graduated in 1986, she considered attending graduate school and perhaps working in languages for the U.S. State Department. However, she decided to give an acting career a chance. Within a short time, Peete found roles on a television series and in two films.

Peete's children's book, My Brother Charlie, won her an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in March 2011.

In March 2016, a reality series debuted entitled For Peete's Sake, documenting the everyday life of her family.

Early life

Peete was born in Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to 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 III. She attended Greene Street Friends School in nearby Germantown. In 1974, her family moved to California. Peete graduated from Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica, California, where her classmates included Rob Lowe. Peete graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in psychology and French. Peete studied abroad for a year at the Sorbonne, and is fluent in French. While there she sang in Paris nightclubs, including a memorable performance with jazz legend Lionel Hampton at the Hotel Meridian Jazz Club.

Career

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. 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. 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. 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. Peete and her daughter Ryan Elizabeth co-wrote a children's book My Brother Charlie, which was released in March 2010.

In 2010, she participated in The Celebrity Apprentice 3, playing for her own charity, the HollyRod Foundation, which provides support for families with Parkinson's disease or autism. She set an "Apprentice" record for the most money made on a single task, and finished as the runner-up to winner Bret Michaels.

Robinson began co-hosting The Talk, a CBS daytime talk show, on October 18, 2010. 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. In April 2011, Robinson hosted a weekly series on The Talk promoting autism awareness.

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.

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

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

Personal life

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. Together, they have four children: daughter Ryan, son Rodney, Jr. (twins born in 1997), son Robinson (born 2002), and son Roman (born 2005). Rodney Jr. was diagnosed with autism at age 3.

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.

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

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Howard the Duck	K.C., Cherry Bomb
2007	Matters of Life and Dating
2010	Speed-Dating	Gayle
2012	21 Jump Street	Judy Hoffs	Cameo
2014	Instant Mom	Mrs. Kimberley Phillips

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1969	Sesame Street	Sally	Walk-on role (and deleted scene)
1979	Dummy	Genettia Lang	Movie
1987-1991	21 Jump Street	Officer Judy Hoffs	Main role (102 episodes)
1992	The Jacksons: An American Dream	Diana Ross	Miniseries
1992-1997	Hangin' with Mr. Cooper	Vanessa Russell	Main role (101 episodes)
1998	Killers in the House	Jennie Sawyer	Movie
1998-2002	For Your Love	Malena Ellis	Main role (84 episodes)
1999	After All	Michelle Troussaint	Movie
2002	My Wonderful Life	Samika	Movie
2003-2004	Like Family	Tanya Jones	23 episodes
2004	Earthquake	Heaven	Movie
2005-2006	Love, Inc.	Clea	22 episodes
2009	The Bridget Show	Macy	Movie
2010	The Celebrity Apprentice	Herself	12 episodes; runner-up
2010-2011	The Talk	Herself/co-host	59 episodes
2011	The Young and the Restless	Herself	July 28, 2011 episode
2011-2012	Mike & Molly	Christina	12 episodes
2016	Chicago PD	Tamara Jones	2 episodes
2016-	For Peete's Sake	Herself	Reality television series