Tempestt Bledsoe
{{Short description|American actress (born 1973)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Tempestt Bledsoe
| image =
| imagesize =
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1973|08|01}}
| birth_place = Chicago, Illinois, USA
| partner = Darryl M. Bell
| education = New York University
| website =
| occupation = Actress
| yearsactive = 1984–present
}}
Tempestt Bledsoe (born August 1, 1973){{cite web |url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/education/news-wires-white-papers-and-books/bledsoe-tempestt-1973 |title=bledsoe-tempestt-1973 |website=Encyclopedia.com |access-date=April 18, 2023}} is an American actress. She is best known for her childhood role as Vanessa Huxtable, the fourth child of Cliff and Clair Huxtable on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show (1984–92). In December 2010, it was announced that Bledsoe would be the host of Clean House on the Style Network, replacing Niecy Nash. From September 2012 to February 2013, she was one of the stars of the NBC TV sitcom Guys with Kids, portraying Marny.
Career
In 1984, Bledsoe was cast in the role of Vanessa Huxtable on the sitcom The Cosby Show.{{cite web|last=Essex|first=Myeisha|url=https://www.essence.com/news/tempestt-bledsoe-gives-reasons-why-therell-never-be-another-cosby-show/|title=Tempestt Bledsoe Gives Reasons Why There'll Never Be Another 'Cosby Show'|website=Essence|date=October 28, 2020|access-date=June 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210411140830/https://www.essence.com/news/tempestt-bledsoe-gives-reasons-why-therell-never-be-another-cosby-show/|archive-date=April 11, 2021|url-status=live}}{{cite web|last=Robinson|first=Joanna|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/08/bill-cosby-lisa-bonet-tv-daughters-huxtables|title=The Curious Silence of Cosby's TV Daughters|website=Vanity Fair|date=August 25, 2015|access-date=July 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160602023422/http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2015/08/bill-cosby-lisa-bonet-tv-daughters-huxtables|archive-date=June 2, 2016|url-status=live}} She was a regular until its final season in 1992. She also made a one-time appearance as Vanessa on A Different World.{{cite web|last=Penrice|first=Ronda Racha|url=https://thegrio.com/2012/09/21/tempestt-bledsoe-on-why-there-will-never-be-another-cosby-show/|title=Tempestt Bledsoe on why there will never be another 'Cosby Show'|website=The Grio|date=September 21, 2012|access-date=June 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927004459/https://thegrio.com/2012/09/21/tempestt-bledsoe-on-why-there-will-never-be-another-cosby-show/|archive-date=September 27, 2020|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite web|last=Richards|first=Toya|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-08-04-8901020027-story.html|title=Tempestt's Tale|website=Chicago Tribune|date=August 4, 1989|access-date=July 1, 2022|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220702000748/https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-08-04-8901020027-story.html|archive-date=July 2, 2022|url-status=live}}
In the mid-1990s, from 1995 to 1996, Bledsoe hosted a daytime talk show, The Tempestt Bledsoe Show, produced by Columbia TriStar Television and Dick Clark.{{cite news|title= Tempestt In a TV Talk Show - 'Cosby' Daughter Bledsoe Is The Newest Lady Chatterly|publisher= The New York Daily Times|date= September 7, 1995}}{{cite news|last=Whitney|first=Brooks|title= Look Who's Talking|newspaper= The Chicago Tribune|date= January 16, 1996|url= https://www.chicagotribune.com/1996/01/16/look-whos-talking-6/|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201053815/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1996-01-16/features/9601210116_1_cosby-show-vanessa-huxtable-tempestt-bledsoe|archive-date=December 1, 2017|url-status=live}}{{cite news|title= Ex-Cosby Kid's Talk Show Canceled|newspaper= The Chicago Sun Times|date= June 5, 1996|url= http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=CSTB&p_theme=cstb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0EB422A8E3060841&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM}} She made a brief appearance in the sitcom The Parkers, and has been featured in the recurring role of a single mother on the ABC show The Practice.
She also appeared in the Lifetime show Strong Medicine, and South of Nowhere. Her most recent credits include the role of Nina in the Oxygen's original television movie Husband for Hire, Steven Bochco's Raising the Bar, and the role of Abby in the second season of Disney Channel's animated series The Replacements. She appeared on VH1's Celebrity Fit Club and NBC's Fear Factor.
It was announced on December 1, 2010 that Bledsoe would return to TV, replacing Niecy Nash as the host of Clean House 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 animated film ParaNorman.{{cite web|last=Weintraub|first=Steve|url=https://collider.com/paranorman-set-visit-laika-studios/|title=35 Things to Know About PARANORMAN From Our Set Visit; Plus Video Blog Recap and 30 Behind-the-Scenes Images|website=Collider|date=May 15, 2012|access-date=July 1, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702002330/https://collider.com/paranorman-set-visit-laika-studios/|archive-date=July 2, 2022|url-status=bot: unknown}}
From September 2012 to February 2013, she portrayed Marny in the NBC TV sitcom Guys with Kids.{{cite web|url=https://www.nbc.com/guys-with-kids/credits/character/marny|title=Marny|website=Guys With Kids|publisher=NBCUniversal|access-date=June 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628235140/https://www.nbc.com/guys-with-kids/credits/character/marny|archive-date=June 28, 2022|url-status=live}}
In 2014, Bledsoe appeared in the Instant Mom 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?".{{cite web|last=Topel|first=Fred|url=https://www.slashfilm.com/567588/family-reunion-showrunner-interview/|title='Family Reunion' Creator Meg DeLoatch On Assembling An All-Black Writers' Room And When We'll See Jaleel White Show Up [Interview]|website=SlashFilm|date=July 10, 2019|access-date=July 1, 2022|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220702000700/https://www.slashfilm.com/567588/family-reunion-showrunner-interview/|archive-date=July 2, 2022|url-status=live|quote=I believe it's episode 10...[Jaleel White is] playing a friend. Tempest Bledsoe and he are playing a couple and they're friends of Moz and Cocoa's.}}
Filmography
| class="wikitable"
! colspan=4 style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Film |
| style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Year
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Title ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Role ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Notes |
|---|
| 1987
| Looking Good! | Herself | Exercise Video |
| 1988
| Dance til' Dawn | Margaret | |
| 1998
| Johnny B Good | | |
| 2003
| BachelorMan | Janey | |
| 2010
| N-Secure | Jill | |
| 2012
| Sheriff Hooper | Voice |
| 2018
| Jingle Belle | Jackie | |
| class="wikitable"
! colspan=4 style="background:#B0C4DE;" | Television |
| style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Year
! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Title ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Role ! style="background: #CCCCCC;" | Notes |
|---|
| 1984–1992
| Vanessa Huxtable | Main role – 157 episodes |
| rowspan=3—|1985
| Herself / Interviewee | Season 9 episode 4: "Kids Just Kids" |
| Andy Williams and the NBC Kids Search for Santa
| Herself | Christmas special |
| One to Grow On
| Herself | Episode: "Making Money" |
| 1986
| Herself | Recurring Guest |
| 1986–1988
| Herself / Panelist | 2 episodes |
| 1986–1994
| Grace Williams / Herself | 3 episodes |
| rowspan=2|1988
| Margaret | TV movie |
| Monsters
| Dottie | Season 1 episode 5: "My Zombie Lover" |
| rowspan=2|1989
| Vanessa Huxtable | Season 2 episode 13: "Risky Business" |
| Dream Date
| Danni Fairview | TV movie |
| 1990
| Vanessa Huxtable |
| 1995
| Herself | Season 5 episode 25: "For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll" |
| 1995–1996
| Host | Also known as Tempestt |
| 1997
| Jenny | Kaylene | Episode 5: "A Girl's Gotta Live in the Real World" |
| 1998
| Roberta Baylor | 3 episodes |
| rowspan=2|1999
| Neena Davis | Season 1 episode 9: "And the Band Plays On" |
| Santa and Pete
| Maria Dangola | TV movie |
| 2000
| Tanika | TV movie |
| 2001
| Fire & Ice | Pam Moore | TV movie |
| 2002
| The Cosby Show: A Look Back | Herself / Vanessa Huxtable | |
| 2003
| Pet Star | Herself / Celebrity Judge | 3 episodes |
| 2004
| Chloe | Episode 13: "Pretty Baby" |
| 2005
| | Season 6 episode 3: "Clinical Risk" |
| 2006
| Cecily | 3 episodes |
| rowspan=2|2008
| Nina | TV movie |
| Raising the Bar
| Camilla Hansen | Season 1 episode 7: "A Leg to Stand On" |
| 2008–2009
| Abbey / Claudia / Abbey-clone | Voice |
| 2009
| Herself | 9 episodes |
| 2009
| Enid | Aired in the United Kingdom in 2009 and the United States in 2010 |
| 2010–2011
| Host | 12 episodes |
| 2011
| Elizabeth Allen | Also known as Vietnam Lost Films |
| 2012–2013
| Marny | |
| 2014
| Vanessa Huxtable | Season 1 episode 20: "Not Your Mother's Day" |
| 2019
| Katrina | Episode 10: "Remember When Our Boys Became Men?" |
Personal life
Bledsoe earned a bachelor's degree in finance from New York University. Since 1993 she has been in a relationship with actor Darryl M. Bell, who co-starred in the NBC TV comedy A Different World, a spinoff of The Cosby Show. The couple appeared together in the Fox Reality Channel series Househusbands of Hollywood, which debuted August 2009.{{cite web|last=Daniels|first=Karu F.|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/22/showbiz/celebrity-news-gossip/tempestt-bledsoe-daniels|title=Tempestt Bledsoe returns to NBC|website=CNN|date=November 22, 2012|access-date=June 28, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121129034317/http://edition.cnn.com/2012/11/22/showbiz/celebrity-news-gossip/tempestt-bledsoe-daniels/|archive-date=November 29, 2012|url-status=live}} Bledsoe is a vegetarian.{{cite web|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20472992,00.html|title=Tempestt Bledsoe: A Cosby Kid's Clean Break|website=People|date=March 21, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160101014203/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20472992,00.html|archive-date=January 1, 2016|access-date=July 1, 2022}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|0088144}}
{{Authority control}}
{{Commons category|Tempestt Bledsoe}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bledsoe, Tempestt}}
Category:African-American television personalities
Category:American television talk show hosts
Category:20th-century American actresses
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:Participants in American reality television series
Category:African-American television talk show hosts
Category:20th-century African-American actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:American film actresses
Category:American child actresses
Category:African-American child actresses
Category:New York University Stern School of Business alumni