Lisa Bonet

Lisa Michelle Bonet was born on November 16, 1967, in San Francisco, California,{{Cite web |title=Lisa Bonet, Actress, and Model born |url=https://aaregistry.org/story/lisa-bonet-talent-and-mystery/ |access-date=2022-03-17 |website=African American Registry |language=en |archive-date=August 10, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220810114922/https://aaregistry.org/story/lisa-bonet-talent-and-mystery/ |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=Lisa Bonet News |url=https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrities/lisa-bonet/ |access-date=2022-03-17 |website=Us Weekly |language=en-US |archive-date=March 19, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319143724/https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrities/lisa-bonet/ |url-status=live }} to Arlene Joyce Litman, an Ashkenazi Jewish-American schoolteacher, and Allen Bonet, an opera singer of African-American heritage from Texas.{{Cite news |url=https://www.net-a-porter.com/gb/en/porter/article-33a55e73f6c7ac7b/cover-stories/cover-stories/lisa-bonet |title=Lisa Bonet on family, husband Jason Momoa & working with Bill Cosby |date=March 9, 2018 |work=Porter Edit / NET-A-PORTER.COM |access-date=May 21, 2018 |quote=Bonet was born in the heart of the hippie movement, in November 1967 in San Francisco, to a white Jewish schoolteacher mother and a black opera-singing father. |archive-date=May 11, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180511215641/https://www.net-a-porter.com/gb/en/porter/article-33a55e73f6c7ac7b/cover-stories/cover-stories/lisa-bonet |url-status=live }}{{cite web |first=Joy |last=D'Souza |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/05/16/zoe-kravitz-mixed-background_n_16641120.html |title=Zoe Kravitz Reveals How She Learned To Love Her Mixed Background |work=HuffPost Canada |date=May 16, 2017 |access-date=May 8, 2018 |archive-date=March 22, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190322171950/https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2017/05/16/zoe-kravitz-mixed-background_n_16641120.html |url-status=live }}{{cite news |last1=Barnes |first1=Henry |title=Zoë Kravitz: 'Why do stories happen to white people and everyone else is a punchline?' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/aug/20/zoe-kravitz-why-do-stories-happen-to-white-people-and-everyone-else-is-a-punchline |newspaper=The Guardian |access-date=August 12, 2017 |date=August 20, 2015 |archive-date=May 25, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180525153056/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/aug/20/zoe-kravitz-why-do-stories-happen-to-white-people-and-everyone-else-is-a-punchline |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last=McCann |first=Bob |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X7ZYsnTPIhwC&pg=PA49 |title=Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television |date=2007 |publisher=McFarland and Company |isbn=978-0-7864-3790-0 |location=Jefferson, N.C. |page=49 |access-date=September 18, 2017}}{{cite web |date=February 8, 2015 |title=Lisa Bonet {{!}} Biography and Filmography {{!}} 1967 |url=http://www.hollywood.com/celebrities/lisa-bonet-57301725/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129090119/http://www.hollywood.com/celebrities/lisa-bonet-57301725/ |archive-date=November 29, 2017 |access-date=August 12, 2017 |publisher=Hollywood.com, LLC.}} She has five half-sisters, including singer Kadhja Bonet, and two half-brothers by her father's marriage to Deborah Church. Bonet's parents separated when Bonet was still a baby. Bonet was raised by her single mother in middle-class Reseda and never knew her father.{{Cite web |last=Valle |first=Victor |date=1987-02-26 |title=BONET'S 'ANGEL' HEARTACHE |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-02-26-ca-5858-story.html |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} Bonet said she never fit in at Birmingham High School, in Van Nuys, California. "I was stuck in the middle," she told The Los Angeles Times. “The black kids called me an Oreo. The white kids didn’t talk to me."

She said she did not date in high school because she didn't fit in. “My biggest worry in high school was who was going to take me to the prom, since I didn’t have a date," she told the Los Angeles Times. She said the problem disappeared when she landed the Cosby job in New York and wouldn’t attend prom.

Bonet graduated Birmingham High School and later studied acting at the Celluloid Actor's Studio in North Hollywood.{{cite web |url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800018126/bio |title=Lisa Bonet Biography |publisher=Yahoo! Movies|access-date=January 16, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090113183130/http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800018126/bio|archive-date=January 13, 2009}}{{cite web |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-02-26-ca-5858-story.html |title=Bonet's 'Angel' Heartache |first=Victor |last=Valle |author-link=Victor Valle |date=February 26, 1987 |work=Los Angeles Times |access-date=June 20, 2020 |archive-date=August 15, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200815200436/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-02-26-ca-5858-story.html |url-status=live }}

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.{{Cite web |url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Biographies&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=MultiTab&searchType=PersonSearchForm¤tPosition=2&docId=GALE%7CK1618001484&docType=Biography&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZXAM-MOD1&prodId=BIC&contentSet=GALE%7CK1618001484&searchId=R2&userGroupName=unlv_main&inPS=true |title=Lisa Bonet |date=June 8, 2009 |website=Biography in Context|access-date=March 27, 2019}} Later in the show, she becomes the stepmom to Olivia Kendall played by Raven-Symoné.

The same year, Bonet, then 19, played 17-year-old Epiphany Proudfoot in the movie Angel Heart opposite Mickey Rourke.{{cite web |url=http://alanparker.com/film/angel-heart/making/ |title=Angel Heart – Alan Parker – Director, Writer, Producer – Official Website |last=coopa.net |website=alanparker.com |access-date=July 9, 2018 |archive-date=December 2, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202183454/http://alanparker.com/film/angel-heart/making/ |url-status=live }} In the film, several seconds of an explicit scene she shared with Rourke (filmed when she was 18) were edited to avoid an X rating.{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/21/movies/appeals-board-upholds-angel-heart-x-rating.html |title=Appeals Board Upholds 'Angel Heart' X Rating |date=February 21, 1987 |newspaper=The New York Times |access-date=June 20, 2020 |archive-date=June 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200622080241/https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/21/movies/appeals-board-upholds-angel-heart-x-rating.html |url-status=live }} For Angel Heart, Bonet earned a nomination for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. She was featured topless in Interview magazine.{{cite web |first=Lynn |last=Norment |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uswDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA150 |title=Lisa Bonet: The Growing Pains of a Rising Star |work=Ebony |publisher=Ebony Media Corporation |date=December 1987|access-date=September 30, 2014}}

Bonet didn't appreciate the way the press covered her or the controversy at the time. “I think the whole scandal is ridiculous,” she said. “They (the news media) are trying to steam it up.” She said that the brief glimpse of one of her bare breasts is "nothing that hasn't been done before or that hasn't been seen before," including in films like Blue Velvet, which was rated R even though it contained frontal nudity.

In 1986, Bonet earned a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series.{{Cite web |last=Ramisetti |first=Kirthana |title=Emmys 2014: From Anna Nicole Smith's breasts to Lassie, the 10 oddest nominations of all time |url=https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/10-oddest-emmy-nominations-time-article-1.1913644 |access-date=2022-02-02 |website=nydailynews.com |date=August 25, 2014 |archive-date=February 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220202031918/https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv/10-oddest-emmy-nominations-time-article-1.1913644 |url-status=live }} After announcing her pregnancy during the run of A Different World, Bonet left the series.{{cite web |url=http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/D/htmlD/differentwor/differentwor.htm |title=A Different World |last=Hunt |first=Darnell|author-link=Darnell Hunt |publisher=museum.tv |access-date=October 17, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060210085528/http://www.museum.tv/archives/etv/D/htmlD/differentwor/differentwor.htm|archive-date=February 10, 2006}}{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-yPzsKSzcaQ |title=Debbie Allen discusses why Lisa Bonet left "A Different World" - EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG |date=2015-07-30 |last=FoundationINTERVIEWS |access-date=2024-08-01 |via=YouTube}} She returned to The Cosby Show the following year, but was fired in April 1991 because of "creative differences".{{cite magazine |url=https://people.com/archive/leaving-the-nest-vol-37-no-17/ |title=Leaving the Nest |last=Allis |first=Tim |date=May 4, 1992 |magazine=People |access-date=October 17, 2008 |archive-date=November 8, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161108000109/http://people.com/archive/leaving-the-nest-vol-37-no-17/ |url-status=live }}

In September 1992, Bonet hosted Why Bother Voting?, an election special focusing on young voters' concerns and apathy.{{Cite web |last=Zurawik |first=David |date=1992-09-23 |title='Vote': power to young people |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1992/09/23/vote-power-to-young-people/ |access-date=2024-08-01 |website=Baltimore Sun |language=en-US}} 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.{{cite news |last=Westbrook |first=Caroline |title=Lisa Bonet |publisher=SomethingJewish |date=September 14, 2003 |url=http://www.somethingjewish.co.uk/articles/387_lisa_bonet.htm| access-date =December 13, 2006| archive-date =January 7, 2019| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20190107091939/http://www.somethingjewish.co.uk/articles/387_lisa_bonet.htm%20| url-status =dead}}

Bonet co-starred in the film Whitepaddy in 2005. She did not have another film role until 2014's Road to Paloma, opposite her future husband Jason Momoa. She did, however, appear in a number of television series, including the American adaptation of the British television series Life on Mars.{{cite magazine |last=Ausiello |first=Michael |title=Exclusive: Lisa Bonet Sentenced to 'Life on Mars' |url=https://ew.com/article/2008/08/01/lisa-bonet-join/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |publisher=Meredith Corporation |location=New York City |date=August 1, 2008 |access-date=June 23, 2017 |archive-date=March 22, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180322015249/http://ew.com/article/2008/08/01/lisa-bonet-join/ |url-status=live }}{{cite news |title='Life on Mars' Star Lisa Bonet Pregnant |url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/zap-lisabonetpregnant-story.html |newspaper=Chicago Tribune |access-date=June 23, 2017 |archive-date=March 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180321193144/http://www.chicagotribune.com/zap-lisabonetpregnant-story.html |url-status=live }} She again played a romantic lead opposite Jason Momoa on the Sundance TV series The Red Road.{{Cite web |last=Khatchatourian |first=Maane |date=2014-02-25 |title=Jason Momoa, Lisa Bonet Celebrate SundanceTV's 'Red Road' |url=https://variety.com/2014/scene/news/jason-momoa-lisa-bonet-celebrate-sundancetvs-red-road-1201120412/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=Variety |language=en-US}} “I felt protected and I feel safe when I work with him," Bonet said of working with Momoa.

Since then, Bonet has made guest appearances on TV shows including Girls and Ray Donovan.{{Cite web |last=Young |first=Susan |date=2016-08-29 |title='Ray Donovan' Postmortem: Lisa Bonet Discusses How Marisol's Story Washed Out |url=https://www.indiewire.com/features/general/ray-donovan-lisa-bonet-marisol-1201721002/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=The 30 Best 'Girls' Guest Stars |url=https://ew.com/tv/girls-guest-stars/ |access-date=2024-08-06 |website=EW.com |language=en}}

On November 16, 1987, her 20th birthday, Bonet eloped with American rock singer Lenny Kravitz in Las Vegas. Bonet recalled of their relationship: {{cquote|It was interesting when we were first finding out about each other, that our backgrounds were so similar. When I first told him my mom was Jewish, and he said "So's my dad," I thought that was 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.{{cite news |last=Cooper |first=Carol |date=February 1990 |title=Let Love Rule |page=104 |work=Essence |publisher=Essence Ventures |id={{ProQuest|223114238}}}}{{cite web |last=Bloom |first=Nate |author-link=Nate Bloom |date=January 12, 2009 |title=Interfaith Celebrities: Young, Gifted, Black and Jewish |url=https://www.interfaithfamily.com/arts_and_entertainment/popular_culture/interfaith_celebrities_new_projects_by_bonet_okonedo_lumet_and_paltrow/ |access-date=May 21, 2018 |work=InterfaithFamily |archive-date=May 21, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180521112828/https://www.interfaithfamily.com/arts_and_entertainment/popular_culture/interfaith_celebrities_new_projects_by_bonet_okonedo_lumet_and_paltrow/ |url-status=live }}

}} Bonet gave birth to their daughter, actress Zoë Isabella Kravitz, on December 1, 1988.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110709222751/http://movies.nytimes.com/person/1465139/Zoe-Kravitz/biography "Zoe Kravitz. Alternate Name: Zoe Isabella Kravitz"] at All Movie Guide via The New York Times She and Kravitz divorced in 1993. That same year, she legally changed her name to Lilakoi Moon, although she still uses the name Lisa Bonet professionally.{{Cite web |date=December 16, 1993 |title=GOODBYE LISA BONET, HELLO LILAKOI MOON |url=https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1993-12-16-9312160531-story.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221123045604/https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-xpm-1993-12-16-9312160531-story.html |archive-date=November 23, 2022 |access-date=2022-11-23 |website=Orlando Sentinel}}

Since meeting on the set of A Different World in its first season in 1987, Bonet has been close friends with actress Marisa Tomei, who is a godmother to all three of Bonet's children.{{Cite magazine |last=Cooper |first=Leah Faye |date=2021-05-25 |title='A Different World': Cast Members and Crew Tell the Oral History |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2021/05/a-different-world-cast-members-and-crew-oral-history |access-date=2024-07-29 |magazine=Vanity Fair |language=en-US}}

In 2005, Bonet began a relationship with actor Jason Momoa. They married in October 2017.{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/jason-momoa-lisa-bonet-officially-marry-in-secret-wedding/ |title=Jason Momoa, Lisa Bonet Officially Marry in Secret Wedding |date=November 2, 2017 |magazine=Us Weekly |publisher=American Media Inc. |location=New York City |access-date=November 2, 2017 |language=en-US |archive-date=April 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418055912/https://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/jason-momoa-lisa-bonet-officially-marry-in-secret-wedding/ |url-status=live }} Bonet and Momoa have two children: a daughter born in July 2007,{{cite web |url=https://people.com/parents/update-a-daught/ |title=Update: A daughter for Lisa Bonet and Jason Momoa |work=People |date=August 20, 2007 |access-date=September 29, 2019 |archive-date=September 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190929212316/https://people.com/parents/update-a-daught/ |url-status=live }} and a son born in December 2008.{{cite magazine |url=https://people.com/parents/lisa-bonet-and-jason-momoa-welcome-son-nakoa-wolf/ |title=Lisa Bonet and Jason Momoa Welcome Son Nakoa-Wolf |date=January 7, 2009 |magazine=People |publisher=Meredith Corporation |location=New York City |access-date=October 26, 2019 |archive-date=October 26, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191026193528/https://people.com/parents/lisa-bonet-and-jason-momoa-welcome-son-nakoa-wolf/ |url-status=live }} In January 2022, Momoa and Bonet announced their separation.{{cite news |last1=France |first1=Lisa Respers |date=January 12, 2022 |title=Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet announce split |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/entertainment/jason-momoa-lisa-bonet-split/index.html |publisher=CNN |access-date=January 15, 2022 |archive-date=January 13, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220113141244/https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/12/entertainment/jason-momoa-lisa-bonet-split/index.html |url-status=live }} On January 8, 2024, Bonet filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences.{{cite news|url=https://people.com/lisa-bonet-files-divorce-jason-momoa-two-years-after-announcing-breakup-8423742|title=Lisa Bonet Files for Divorce from Jason Momoa 2 Years After Announcing Breakup|first=Benjamin|last=VanHoose|publisher=People|date=January 8, 2024|accessdate=January 10, 2024}}{{Cite web |title=Lisa Bonet files for divorce from estranged husband Jason Momoa following separation: Reports |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2024/01/08/lisa-bonet-jason-momoa-divorce-aquaman/72154597007/ |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=USA TODAY |language=en-US}} In her divorce filing, Bonet revealed that she and Momoa had actually separated on October 7, 2020. Court documents which were obtained by People confirmed that the divorce was granted one day later.{{cite news|url=https://people.com/jason-momoa-lisa-bonet-divorce-granted-8424487|title=Jason Momoa and Lisa Bonet's Divorce Granted Just One Day After Filing|first=Angel|last=Saunders|publisher=People|date=January 9, 2024|accessdate=January 10, 2024}} A Los Angeles county judge declared them divorced on July 9, 2024. Neither Bonet nor Momoa asked for financial support, and they agreed on how to split their assets. The court granted them joint custody of their children, who, at the time, included: 16-year-old daughter Lola and 15-year-old son Nakoa-Wolf.{{Cite web |agency=Associated Press |date=2024-07-09 |title=Jason Momoa, Lisa Bonet finalize divorce anyone |url=https://pagesix.com/2024/07/09/entertainment/jason-momoa-lisa-bonet-finalize-divorce/ |access-date=2024-08-01 |language=en-US}}

{{reflist}}

• {{cite web |url=https://andscape.com/features/lisa-bonet-may-1988-cover-rolling-stone/ |title=Lisa Bonet's May 1988 cover of Rolling Stone is timeless in its confident rebellion |first=Julian |last=Kimble |date=May 23, 2017 |publisher=Andscape}}

{{Commons category|Lisa Bonet}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• {{IMDb name|956}}

{{Young Artist Award for Best Leading Young Actress in a Feature Film}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonet, Lisa}}

Category:1967 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century African-American actresses

Category:21st-century African-American actresses

Category:21st-century American Jews

Category:Actresses from Los Angeles

Category:Actresses from San Francisco

Category:African-American child actresses

Category:American child actresses

Category:African-American Jews

Category:American film actresses

Category:American television actresses

Category:Birmingham High School alumni

Category:Jewish American actresses

Category:Jews from California

Category:Entertainers from Topanga, California

Category:Jewish American film people