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Lisa Michelle Bonet

Born 1967-11-16 in San Francisco, CA
An Actor

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In Brief:

Lisa Michelle Boney (born November 16, 1967), known professionally as Lisa Bonet, is an American actress who is a native of San Francisco, California.

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Bio:

Bonet, who is Black and Jewish, lived most of her life in New York and Los Angeles, where she attended Reseda High School in Reseda, California, and Celluloid Actor's Studio in North Hollywood where she majored in Acting.

Lisa is the child of a Jewish mother and a black father, who was a music teacher. Her parents divorced when she was young.

She is best known for playing the role of Denise Huxtable on The Cosby Show alongside Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad, among others, but Bonet actually began acting when she was 11, attending many auditions and participating in several television commercials before she became a star.

Bonet was known to have a wild side. In 1987 she accepted the role of Epiphany Proudfoot in the movie Angel Heart opposite Mickey Rourke, directed by Alan Parker. Her appearance caused controversy and some scenes had to be cut to avoid an X rating. [2] Her explicit sex scenes in the film (and later a nude photo shoot for Rolling Stone Magazine) drew concern from the producers of The Cosby Show, who felt it detracted from her character's image. She was initially fired by the producers at the urging of Bill Cosby; however, when she threatened legal action, the spinoff series A Different World was created as a compromise. The movie appearance made headlines, but didn't greatly boost her film career. On her 20th birthday, she married singer Lenny Kravitz (they went to Las Vegas and eloped) (his mother was the late Roxie Roker of The Jeffersons sitcom fame).

"It was interesting when we were first finding out about each other, that our backgrounds were so similar," Bonet recalled. "When I first told him my mom was Jewish, and he said 'So's my dad,' I thought that was both unusual and enchanting. I felt like, 'Okay, here's someone who really knows how it is.' And I think I trusted him a little more with my feelings and let him inside a little more than I ordinarily would have."

Bonet was a sex symbol, especially among African-American men who were teens during her time on The Cosby Show. Sean Combs mentions this during an I Love the 80's featurette on The Cosby Show. Her status as sex symbol became controversial when African Americans questioned the long standing stereotype of light skinned blacks being considered more attractive than dark skinned blacks---reactions included the celebration of so-called "black" features such as in songs by Sir Mix-A-Lot (Baby Got Back) and later by rapper Snoop Dogg (Thick Legs).

After giving birth to daughter Zoe Isabella Kravitz in 1989, she and Lenny separated in a bitter breakup and they eventually divorced in 1993. She began to accept jobs on straight-to-video releases and made-for-TV movies. She then changed her name legally in 1995 to Lilakoi Moon, deciding to continue using her birth name on the productions she participated in. Soon she started dating yoga instructor Brian Kest, with whom she had a son, and in 1998 she had a supporting role in Enemy of the State with Will Smith. In 2000 she appeared in the movie High Fidelity. Her most recent film appearance was in Biker Boyz which reunited her with former co-star Kadeem Hardison of A Different World.

A hip-hop album dedicated to Lisa Bonet called Felt, Vol. 2: A Tribute to Lisa Bonet was created by Slug (from Atmosphere) and MURS and produced by Ant (also from Atmosphere) and was released on June 12, 2005. This album was the sequel to "Felt: A Tribute to Christina Ricci". Each CD was released lightheartedly, supposedly to resurrect the careers of each struggling B-level actress.

In August 2006 Lisa appeared in a week-long A Different World reunion special that aired on Nick At Nite, along with fellow co-stars Hardison, Jasmine Guy, Cree Summer, Dawnn Lewis, Darryl M. Bell, and Sinbad. Lisa Bonet has taken a role in Gambit starring Colin Firth,and Ben Kingsly.

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Filmography:

• Gambit (2007)
• Whitepaddy (2006)
• Biker Boyz (2003)
• The Lathe of Heaven (2002)
• High Fidelity (2000)
• Enemy of the State (1998)
• Dead Connection (1994)
• New Eden (1994)
• Bank Robber (1993)
• Angel Heart (1987)

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