Lisa Bonet
Lisa Michelle Bonet is an American actress and activist. Bonet played Denise Huxtable on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, which originally aired from 1984 to 1992, and starred in its spinoff comedy A Different World for its first season.
Early life
Bonet was born in San Francisco, California, the daughter of Arlene, a white Jewish music teacher, and Allen Bonet, an African-American opera singer from Texas. She has several younger half siblings. Bonet attended Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California. She attended the Celluloid Actor's Studio in North Hollywood, where she majored in acting.Career
After being in beauty competitions and appearing in guest spots on television series as a child, Bonet landed the role of Denise Huxtable on The Cosby Show, the second oldest child of the parents played by Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad.In 1987, she briefly left The Cosby Show to star in the spin-off series A Different World, which focused on Denise's life at college. That year, Bonet, then 19, played 17-year-old Epiphany Proudfoot in the movie Angel Heart opposite Mickey Rourke. In the film, several seconds of an explicit scene she shared with Rourke were edited to ensure an R rating. It was followed by a topless centerspread in Interview magazine.
After announcing her pregnancy during the run of A Different World, Bonet left the series. She returned to The Cosby Show the following year, but was fired in April 1991 because of "creative differences". After The Cosby Show, Bonet appeared in direct-to-video releases and made-for-television movies.
In September 1992, Bonet hosted Why Bother Voting?, an election special focusing on young voters' concerns and apathy. She had supporting roles in the 1998 film Enemy of the State and the 2000 film High Fidelity. In 2003 she played Queenie in Biker Boyz, which reunited her with her A Different World co-star Kadeem Hardison.
Bonet co starred in the film Whitepaddy in 2005. While she did not have another film role until 2014's Road to Paloma, she did make a number of appearances in episodes of television dramas and comedies, starting in 2008 in the American adaptation of the British television series Life on Mars. She had a recurring role in the 2014–15 series The Red Road, starring her partner and future husband Jason Momoa.
Personal life
On November 16, 1987, her 20th birthday, Bonet eloped with American rock singer Lenny Kravitz in Las Vegas. Bonet recalled of their relationship:Bonet gave birth to their daughter Zoë Isabella Kravitz on December 1, 1988. She and Kravitz divorced in 1993. In 1995, Bonet legally changed her name to Lilakoi Moon, although she still uses the name Lisa Bonet professionally.
In 2005, Bonet began a relationship with actor Jason Momoa. Although it was widely believed that she and Momoa married on November 15, 2007, their marriage was not made official until October 2017. Bonet and Momoa have two children: a daughter born in July 2007, and a son born in December 2008.
In a 1990 interview on The Phil Donahue Show, Bonet said that vaccines could potentially "introduce alien microorganisms into our children’s blood" that could cause "cancer, leukemia, multiple sclerosis, Sudden Infant Death Syndrome."
Filmography
;Film| Years | Title | Role |
| 1987 | Angel Heart | Epiphany Proudfoot |
| 1993 | Bank Robber | Priscilla |
| 1994 | Final Combination | Catherine Briggs |
| 1998 | Enemy of the State | Rachel Banks |
| 2000 | High Fidelity | Marie De Salle |
| 2003 | Biker Boyz | Queenie |
| 2005 | Whitepaddy | Mae Evans |
| 2013 | Road to Paloma | Magdalena |
;Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1983 | St. Elsewhere | Carla | Episode: "Entrapment" |
| 1984–91 | The Cosby Show | Denise Huxtable | 119 episodes |
| 1985 | Tales from the Darkside | Justine | Episode: "The Satanic Piano" |
| 1985 | ABC Afterschool Special | Carrie | 1 episode |
| 1987–89 | A Different World | Denise Huxtable | 23 episodes |
| 1990 | The Earth Day Special | Denise Huxtable | |
| 1992 | Why Bother Voting? | Herself | Elections special with Bonet as host. |
| 1994 | New Eden | Lily | Television movie |
| 2002 | Lathe of Heaven | Heather Lelache | Television movie |
| 2008–09 | Life on Mars | Maya Daniels | 5 episodes |
| 2013–14 | Drunk History | Mary Ellen Pleasant and Rosa Parks | 2 episodes |
| 2014–15 | The Red Road | Sky Van Der Veen | 7 episodes |
| 2014 | New Girl | Brenda Brown | Episode: "Teachers" |
| 2016 | Girls | Tandice Moncrief | Episodes: "Homeward Bound", "Love Stories" |
| 2016 | Ray Donovan | Marisol | Recurring - Season 4 |
;Music video director
| Year | Song | Artist |
| 1990 | "It Never Rains " | Tony! Toni! Toné! |
| 1991 | "Stand By My Woman" | Lenny Kravitz |