Lisa Bonet (1967- ) is an American actress best known for playing Cosby Kid Denise Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” and “A Different World” in the 1980s. On the day she turned 20 she ran off with a rock musician, Lenny Kravitz, to get married. It did not last but they had a daughter, Zoe Kravitz, in 1988.
Since then she has had some small parts in mostly small films, but she did star with Will Smith in “Enemy of the State” (1998 ) and appeared in “High Fidelity” (2000).
I loved her as Denise Huxtable. I was into her. She was not just beautiful and great to look at, she was also like me back then: confused, well-meaning but hopelessly self-centred, the same ISFP personality. In “Enemy of the State” I could not take my eyes off of her.
She had a fashion sense of her own, so even her clothes were interesting to look at. It makes her seem less dated than the other Cosby characters.
Like Lenny Kravitz she is half-black, half-Jewish: her father, a music teacher, is black and her mother is Jewish. They split up when she was little. She was born in San Francisco but grew up mainly in New York and Los Angeles.
She felt like the black sheep of the family: after her father left, she was a black child in a white family. Her grandmother was racist.
Although her parents were atheists, her two best friends growing up were God and her dog. She is Jewish by race but not by religion.
At 11 she started appearing in television ads. In 1984 when she was 16 she was on “The Cosby Show”, which became the number one television show in America.
In 1987 she wanted to get rid of her good girl image, so she appeared in “Angel Heart” in love scenes with Mickey Rourke, some of which had to be cut to keep the film from becoming X-rated. She lost her good girl image but she also lost her part on “Cosby”.
Bill Cosby, however, put her in another show, “A Different World”. Same character but this time away from home at college. After awhile she started coming in late to the studio or not at all. In 1991 she was fired. This was at about the same time she was breaking up with Lenny Kravitz.
When she met Lenny Kravitz she was famous, he was not. He only became famous later. His first two albums, “Let Love Rule” (1989) and “Mama Said” (1991), are partly about her. His star was rising just as hers was falling.
They split up in 1991 and divorced in 1993. It was a rough marriage. She said he was not faithful. That is the trouble with rock stars.
She got sick of Hollywood and cut back on her acting to spend more time with her children. She has at least two: Zoe and Lola, born in 2007 with actor Jason Momoa
For palindrome fans: “Lisa Bonet ate no basil.”
She says, “It’s okay to be a freak”. (Not a palindrome.)
She practises yoga and does not eat meat.
– Abagond, 2008, 2015.
See also:
- Bill Cosby
- The Cosby Show
- Sabrina LeBeauf – fellow Cosby Kid
- Cree Summer – fast friend, also on “A Different World”
- ISFP
- Jewish
- New York
- black actresses
- The most beautiful black actresses
- Creoles
I was in love with her back in the day too. Something about her is so ethereal and otherwordly. She just intrigues you. She actually has a part on an upcoming ABC crime series as the lead character’s girlfriend so she’s back to work, finally!
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Aba:
I agree she is very beautiful inside and out, but I never saw her as the confused, self-centered one on the “Cosby” show. I mainly thought of her as the most grounded of her siblings. She came off as this kind, tranquil spirit, with a twist of humor, and effortlessly authentic.
It is interesting to note that the “one drop” rule doesn’t seem to trump Jewish background, as it typically does others.
I’m not sure if you meant the “rising and falling star” for symbolism, but I thought was a nice touch. 😉
Very nice post.
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“Lisa Bonet ate no basil.” Hee hee. I know the source of that line. Very impressive. Back from vacation and hopelessly behind at work. Have enjoyed reading your blog but haven’t had time to respond.
I didn’t know Lisa had a child with Jason Momoa. She has a penchant for hooking up with male eye candy, I guess. There are also numerous anecdotes of her bisexuality. I gather she’s a sort of Holly Golightly.
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I’m intrigued, by the way, about your comment “Jewish by race but not by religion.” I’ve had many discussions with people as to whether Judaism is a race. It is matrilineal, that we know. In other words, if one’s mother is a Jewess, then one is considered “Jewish,” at least by Jews, regardless whether one actively practices or adheres to the Jewish faith.
I’m aware that Jews like to consider themselves to be a separate race. However, from a global perspective, Jews come in a very wide variety of hues and textures, including many different groups that we traditionally characterize as different “races” of humans. This lack of homogeneity suggests that Jewishness is not a “racial” classification, at least as the word “race” is generally used today.
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Lisa Bonet is a talented actress. However, it was her role as a voodoo priestess in Angel Heart that nearly destroyed her Hollywood career.
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Nah, La Reyna, I think pissing off someone as powerful as Bill Cosby put the bullet in Ms. Bonet’s always-spotting Hollywood career. LOL.
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It is strange how someone can be both Jewish and black – by race.
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She is still a very stunning woman!
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“Jewish by race but not by religion is nonsensical.” Judaism is not a race.
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One can be Jewish by faith – following Judaism – or by race – having a Jewish mother. As already noted, it is not a race in the ordinary sense.
Lisa Bonet is Jewish because her mother is, but she does not practise Judaism. Sammy Davis Jr, on the other hand, converted to Judaism. He is Jewish by faith only.
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Question: I thought Jewish was a religious practice?
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it’s both cocoa
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Love Lisa Bonet.. She has always had a hippish style.. like no other in Hollywood. World Swimwear
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I never knew Lisa was part Jewish.
Interesting.
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i always thought she was different and had her own sence of style shes kinda like me im not all in the fashion or anything .
she is very beautiful ! i actually met her before and she had such a warm spirit .
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I though Angel Heart was a great movie and loved Lisa in it. She is still gorgeous and it appears Zoe is following in her beautiful footsteps. I don’t think she was dropped by Hollywood…in interviews she states she chose to leave the limelight and raise her daughter…I think it was a wise choice–you never hear of Zoe being a ‘bad girl’, and she now has two children with Momoa. …and, being a vegetarian, I bet she DOES eat basil!!! 🙂
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Still looks good!
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BONET is BEAUTIFUL …………….. I can’t see her enough.
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