Early life

Peete was born in Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Dolores and Matt Robinson (the original Gordon on Sesame Street). Her mother was a school teacher, in public relations, and later a personal talent manager, and her father a producer/writer. She has an older brother named Matthew Thomas III. She attended Greene Street Friends School in nearby Germantown. In 1974, her family moved to California. Peete graduated from Santa Monica High School in Santa Monica, California, where her classmates included Rob Lowe. Peete graduated from Sarah Lawrence College with a degree in psychology and French. Peete studied abroad for a year at the Sorbonne, and is fluent in French. While there she sang in Paris nightclubs, including a memorable performance with jazz legend Lionel Hampton at the Hotel Meridian Jazz Club.

Career

In 1969, she made her first TV appearance by playing a little girl named Sally on the very first episode of Sesame Street. She recalls that when she was six years old, she kept blowing her line, referring to her father instead of her father's character name, and ended up with just an appearance where she walked with Big Bird. At the age of 11, Holly worked for the children's show Kidsworld as a celebrity correspondent; she interviewed many actors and actresses for the program. As an actress, she has appeared on the television series 21 Jump Street (1987—1991), Hangin' with Mr. Cooper (1992—1997), For Your Love (1998—2002), and Like Family (2003—2004). She was featured in the video for the 1990 hit single "Whip Appeal" by Babyface as the sultry radio host at the beginning of the video. In 1992 she portrayed Diana Ross in The Jacksons: An American Dream. Robinson most recently starred on the UPN comedy Love, Inc.. The show lasted just one season, and was canceled after the WB/UPN merger.

Robinson has also had a limited career as a singer and recording artist, including the introductory song to 21 Jump Street. She contributed a variety of songs to the soundtrack of the film Howard the Duck. (She appeared as a musician/singer in a minor role in the film.) She recorded the theme song "We Got Our Love" for the 1988 film Three for the Road. She and Dawnn Lewis, along with R&B quartet En Vogue, performed the theme song for Season 1 of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper.

Robinson has been a spokesperson for Colgate Total toothpaste since 2008. Robinson and her husband currently co-host a talk show on Oprah & Friends Radio. In 2009, she co-starred in the ABC comedy pilot, The Bridget Show.

In 2006, she won, along with fellow writer Daniel Paisner, the Quills Award in Sports for the book Get Your Own Damn Beer, I'm Watching the Game!: A Woman's Guide to Loving Pro Football. Peete and her daughter Ryan Elizabeth co-wrote a children's book My Brother Charlie, which was released in March 2010.

In 2010, she participated in the third season of Celebrity Apprentice, playing for her own charity, the HollyRod Foundation, which provides support for families with autism. She set an "Apprentice" record for the most money made on a single task, and finished as the runner-up to winner Bret Michaels.

Robinson began co-hosting The Talk, a CBS daytime talk show, on October 18, 2010. In this forum, Robinson was known for expressing herself through her ethnicity and being vocal on especially issues of the African American race and autism, which one of her children, Rodney, has. In April 2011, Robinson hosted a weekly series on The Talk promoting autism awareness.

After serving on The Talk for its first season, Robinson along with Leah Remini were unceremoniously released from the show. Failure to ever disclose why the two were let go brought on a great deal of audience criticism of the show, as well as protests from the stars' fans.

Robinson hosted the 42nd NAACP Image Awards, alongside Wayne Brady, on March 4, 2011.

Robinson and her family will be starring in a new reality TV series on OWN, entitled For Peete's Sake. "For Peete's Sake" will be following the lives of husband and wife duo Holly Robinson Peete and Rodney Peete as they juggle career choices with their family life.

Personal life

On June 10, 1995, Robinson married Rodney Peete, a National Football League quarterback. He proposed by surprising Holly during an episode of Hangin' with Mr. Cooper. Together, they have four children: daughter Ryan Elizabeth Peete and son Rodney Peete, Jr. (twins born in 1997), son Robinson James Peete (born in 2002), and son Roman Peete (born in 2005). Rodney Peete, Jr., was diagnosed with autism at age 3. One of Holly's closest friends is Terry Ellis of the popular R&B group En Vogue.

After her father was diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, Robinson and her husband co-founded the HollyRod Foundation, which is dedicated to help find a cure for the disease and assist those living with the condition.

In September 2012, Nestle's Carnation Breakfast Essentials announced they had teamed up with Robinson, featuring her as the spokesperson for the brand. On October 4, 2012, Robinson was inducted as an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1969	Sesame Street	Sally	Premiere episode
1979	Dummy	Genettia Lang
1986	Howard the Duck	K.C., Cherry Bomb
1987-1991	21 Jump Street (TV Series)	Officer Judy Hoffs	102 episodes
1992	The Jacksons: An American Dream	Diana Ross
1992-1997	Hangin' with Mr. Cooper	Vanessa Russell	101 Episodes
1998	Killers in the House	Jennie Sawyer
1998-2002	For Your Love	Malena Ellis
1999	After All	Michelle Troussaint
2002	My Wonderful Life	Samika
2003-04	Like Family	Tanya Jones
2004	Earthquake	Heaven
2005-06	Love, Inc.	Clea
2007	Matters of Life and Dating
2009	The Bridget Show		TV Movie
2010	Speed-Dating	Gayle
2010	Celebrity Apprentice	Herself
2010-11	The Talk	Herself
2011	The Young and the Restless	Herself	July 28, 2011 episode
2011-12	Mike & Molly	Christina	12 episodes
2012	21 Jump Street	Judy Hoffs	Cameo
2014	Instant Mom	Mrs. Kimberley Phillips
2016	Chicago Fire	Tamara Jones	2 episodes

[ Source: Wikipedia ]