Tempestt Bledsoe (born August 1, 1973) is an American

actress An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

. She is best known for her childhood role as Vanessa Huxtable, the fourth child of Cliff and Clair Huxtable on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

sitcom ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom created by (along with Ed. Weinberger and Michael J. Leeson) and starring Bill Cosby that originally aired on NBC from September 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, with a total of 201 half-hour e ...

'' (1984–92). In December 2010, it was announced that Bledsoe would be the host of ''

Clean House ''Clean House'' is a home makeover and interior design television show, originally broadcast from 2003 until 2011 which aired 10 seasons of programs on the Style Network. Originally hosted by Niecy Nash and later by Tempestt Bledsoe, the show b ...

'' on the

Style Network Esquire Network was an American pay television network that was a 50/50 joint venture between NBCUniversal and the Hearst Corporation. Launched on October 1, 1998 as Style Network, a spin-off of E!, the channel initially consisted of fashion, ...

, replacing

Niecy Nash Carol Denise Betts (previously Nash, née Ensley; born February 23, 1970) (), known professionally as Niecy Nash, is an American actress. Her career began in the late 1990s, with appearances in the films '' Boys on the Side'' (1995) and '' Cooki ...

. From September 2012 to February 2013, she was one of the stars of the

sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...

'' Guys with Kids'', portraying Marny.

Career

In 1984, Bledsoe was cast in the role of Vanessa Huxtable on the sitcom ''

''. She was a regular until its final season in 1992. She also made a one-time appearance as Vanessa on ''

A Different World ''A Different World'' is an American sitcom television series and a spin-off of '' The Cosby Show''. It aired for six seasons on NBC from September 24, 1987, to July 9, 1993. The series originally centered on Denise Huxtable ( Lisa Bonet) an ...

''. In 1986, Tempestt played the role of Grace Wheeler in season 15, episode 4 "(The Gift of Amazing Grace)", of the ABC Afterschool Special program. In 1989 she was a national spokesperson for

DARE Dare may refer to: Places * Dare, Vera Cruz, a ''suco'' in Vera Cruz administrative post, Dili Municipality, Timor-Leste * Darè, Italy, a comune * Dare County, North Carolina, United States * Dare, Virginia, United States, an unincorporate ...

. In the mid-1990s, from 1995 to 1996, Bledsoe hosted a daytime talk show, ''

The Tempestt Bledsoe Show ''The Tempestt Bledsoe Show'' (also called ''Tempestt'') is an American daytime talk show presented by Tempestt Bledsoe which aired from 1995 to 1996. Background The series was a lighter take on another talk show that was produced Columbia/Tri-S ...

'', produced by

Columbia TriStar Television Columbia TriStar Television, Inc. (abbreviated as CTT) was an American television production and distribution company, which was active from 1994 until its reincorporation as Sony Pictures Television in 2002. It was the third iteration of what ...

and

Dick Clark Richard Wagstaff Clark (November 30, 1929April 18, 2012) was an American television and radio personality and television producer who hosted ''American Bandstand'' from 1956 to 1989. He also hosted five incarnations of the Pyramid (game show), ...

. She made a brief appearance in the sitcom ''

The Parkers ''The Parkers'' is an American television sitcom created by Ralph Farquhar, Sara V. Finney and Vida Spears. The series ran for five seasons from August 30, 1999, to May 10, 2004, on UPN. It stars Mo'Nique, Countess Vaughn, Mari Morrow, Dorien Wi ...

'', and has been featured in the recurring role of a single mother on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

show ''

The Practice ''The Practice'' is an American legal drama television series created by David E. Kelley centering on partners and associates at a Boston law firm. The show ran for eight seasons on ABC, from March 4, 1997, to May 16, 2004. It won an Emmy i ...

''. She also appeared in the Lifetime show ''

Strong Medicine ''Strong Medicine'' is an American medical drama with a focus on feminist politics, health issues and class conflict that aired on the Lifetime network from 2000 to 2006. It was created and produced in part by Whoopi Goldberg, who made cam ...

'', and ''

South of Nowhere ''South of Nowhere'' is an American teen drama television series created by Thomas W. Lynch. It first aired on November 4, 2005, on Noggin as part of its teen programming block, The N. The show was produced by Noggin LLC in association with ...

''. Her most recent credits include the role of Nina in the

Oxygen Oxygen is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol, symbol O and atomic number 8. It is a member of the chalcogen group (periodic table), group in the periodic table, a highly reactivity (chemistry), reactive nonmetal (chemistry), non ...

's original television movie '' Husband for Hire'',

Steven Bochco Steven Ronald Bochco (December 16, 1943 – April 1, 2018) was an American television writer and producer. He developed a number of television series, mostly crime dramas, including '' Hill Street Blues''; ''L.A. Law''; '' Doogie Howser, M.D.''; ...

's '' Raising the Bar'', and the role of Abby in the second season of

Disney Channel Disney Channel is an American pay television television channel, channel that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship property of Disney Branded Television, a unit of the Disney Entertainment business segment of the Walt Disney Company ...

's animated series '' The Replacements''. She appeared on

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

's ''

Celebrity Fit Club ''Celebrity Fit Club'' is a reality television series that follows eight overweight celebrities as they try to lose weight for charity. Split into two competing teams of four, each week teams are given different physical challenges, and weighed ...

'' and NBC's ''

Fear Factor ''Fear Factor'' is an American stunt/ dare game show that first aired on NBC from 2001 to 2006 and was initially hosted by comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan. The show was adapted by Endemol USA from the original Dutch series titled '' ...

''. It was announced on December 1, 2010 that Bledsoe would return to TV, replacing Niecy Nash as the host of ''

'' on Style Network. Her first episode aired on January 26, 2011. In 2012, Bledsoe was heard as the voice of Sheriff Hooper in the

Laika Laika ( ; , ; – 3 November 1957) was a Soviet space dog who was one of the first animals in space and the first to orbit the Earth. A stray mongrel from the streets of Moscow, she flew aboard the Sputnik 2 spacecraft, launched into lo ...

animated film ''

ParaNorman ''ParaNorman'' is a 2012 American animated comedy horror, comedy horror film produced by Laika, LLC, Laika. Directed by Sam Fell and Chris Butler (filmmaker), Chris Butler (the latter's feature directorial debut), and written by Butler, the film ...

''. From September 2012 to February 2013, she portrayed Marny in the

'' Guys with Kids''. In 2014, Bledsoe appeared in the ''

Instant Mom ''Instant Mom'' is an American sitcom produced for the NickMom block on the Nick Jr. Channel. It was developed by Howard Michael Gould and stars Tia Mowry as a stepmother of three children alongside her husband. The series first aired on Se ...

'' episode "Not Your Mother's Day" in which she reprised her role as Vanessa Huxtable. In July 2019 Bledsoe appeared in the Netflix show ''Family Reunion'' episode 10 "Remember When Our Boys Became Men?".

Filmography

Personal life

Bledsoe earned a

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ...

in finance from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. Since 1993 she has been in a relationship with actor Darryl M. Bell, who co-starred in the

TV comedy ''

'', a spinoff of ''The Cosby Show''. The couple appeared together in the

Fox Reality Channel Fox Reality Channel was an American pay television channel. It was launched on May 24, 2005, and was owned by the Fox Entertainment Group. It featured many shows that were originally on the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network (or produced by Fo ...

series '' Househusbands of Hollywood'', which debuted August 2009. Bledsoe is a

vegetarian Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bledsoe, Tempestt African-American television personalities American television talk show hosts Living people 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Participants in American reality television series African-American television talk show hosts 20th-century African-American actresses American television actresses American film actresses American child actresses African-American child actresses New York University Stern School of Business alumni 21st-century African-American actresses 1973 births