PINE BLUFF -- America may know her best as the precocious Rudy Huxtable on The Cosby Show, where, for eight seasons in the 1980s and early 1990s, she captured hearts as an adorable child actress famous for planting "zerbert" kisses on the cheeks of her fictional family members.
But Keshia Knight Pulliam is all grown up now. Thursday night at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, Pulliam spoke to a packed house at the Hathaway-Howard Fine Arts building as part of Welcome Back Week, offering advice on how to live a successful life during and after college.
Pulliam told students not to focus on getting rich and instead follow their dreams.
"Don't chase money, chase passion," she said. "If you do that, the money will come. But it takes hard work, sacrifice and dedication. And you must choose something you are utterly and completely passionate about. Either look at it as a challenge or an opportunity to know yourself better. And apply that going forward into the rest of your life."
Pulliam's path toward success and stardom began very early in life.
At 9 months old, she appeared in a national print advertisement for Johnson & Johnson baby products. She worked continuously on both the small and big screen, including several commercials, television shows and even a feature film called The Last Dragon before getting her most famous role as Rudy Huxtable on The Cosby Show at age 5.
Pulliam was on the show for its entire eight-year run and went on to act in several made-for-TV movies.
She graduated with honors from Spelman College in Atlanta in 2001 with a bachelor's degree in sociology and a concentration in film.
After graduating, Pulliam continued acting, starring in several other made-for-TV films, and in 2005, she returned to the big screen in Beauty Shop, alongside Queen Latifah, Djiomn Hounsou, Kevin Bacon, Alfre Woodard and Alicia Silverstone. In 2007, Pulliam joined the cast of Tyler Perry's show House of Payne as Miranda Payne, a role for which she won four NAACP Image Awards.
In 2009, Pulliam starred alongside Perry, Derek Luke and Academy Award winner Viola Davis in Madea Goes To Jail as Candace.
Pulliam told the crowd at UAPB that she has remained grounded in life and often visits friends she met in college, one of whom lives in Little Rock.
"Folks told me that I didn't know nothing about Arkansas. You have never even been to Arkansas, they said," Pulliam joked. "I tell them, 'Oh yes I have. I know about y'all.'"
Pulliam told students that it's important to forge connections with people they meet in college and nurture them because to get ahead in life "you have to realize we live in a global society. You have to travel and get out of your comfort zone. See what other people have to offer. If you stay on your own block, you will never find that out."
Pulliam also spoke of the importance of giving back to a community. She urged students to become involved in community-service projects and remain involved in them for the rest of their lives.
"It's not about what you take from this world; it's about what you give back and leave behind," she said. "Help the next person up, and you will only be limited by how much you can dream."
Pulliam spoke for around 15 minutes before opening up a question-and-answer session with the audience.
Kathy Tisdale of Little Rock went Thursday to see Pulliam, who she called "an inspiration." Tisdale's son, Robert, is a junior at UAPB.
"It's not often you see a young person who speaks with such poise and understanding," Tisdale said. "It's nice to see, and I hope these students, my son included, can get something out of what she says. She is just wonderful."
State Desk on 08/28/2015