HOLLY ROBINSON PEETE NEWS, INTERVIEWS & UPDATES



News for 3/13/2007


ABC's 'Football Wives' Casts a Real One


In real life, Holly Robinson Peete is an actress married to a former NFL player, an experience she'll be able to tap for the ABC pilot "Football Wives."

Robinson Peete is part of a wave of casting that also sees a new sister for "The Bionic Woman" and an actress ready to live the "Wildlife."

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Robinson Peete, wife of journeyman quarterback Rodney Peete, will actually play a football mom in ABC's soapy drama pilot, specifically the mother of the star wide receiver played by Brian White.

The "Hangin' with Mr. Cooper" and "Like Family" star joins a cast that already includes Gabrielle Union, Kiele Sanchez, Lucy Lawless, Ving Rhames, Eddie Cibrian, James Van Der Beek and Arielle Kebbel.



News for 7/9/2006


The following article appeared in the February/March 2006 issue of Today's Black Woman Magazine





News for 11/28/2005


The following article appeared in the September 2005 issue of Ebony Magazine





News for 10/10/2005


The following article appeared in the September 2005 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine





News for 5/30/2005


The following article appeared in the May 30, 2005 issue of Jet Magazine





News for 4/18/2005


Holly Lands In Wingwoman


WINGWOMAN (UPN) - Holly Robinson Peete ("Like Family") has joined the cast of the comedy pilot, about a single woman (Shannen Doherty) who helps her male clients find their soulmates. She'll play the boss of Doherty's character in the project, which comes from creator Andrew Secunda, who executive produces along with Adam Chase, Warren Littlefield, Mark Burg and Oren Koules. The pilot is set up at the Littlefield Co., Chase Television, Evolution Entertainment and Paramount Network Television. Reagan Gomez-Preston and Ion Overman also star.



News for 2/26/2005


Actress Goes Into Labor at Pre-Oscar Party


BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) - Actress Holly Robinson Peete, pregnant with her fourth child, was partying at a pre-Oscar bash when she went into labor.

"One minute she's grooving, the next minute her water breaks," said Michael Lewittes, a producer for "Access Hollywood" who was covering Thursday's party.

Her husband, Carolina Panthers quarterback Rodney Peete, was not at the party.

The 40-year-old actress gave birth to a boy early Friday and was doing "great," said her publicist, Patti Webster.

The couple had not named the child, but were looking for a name starting with "R," she said.

Their other children are 7-year-old fraternal twins Rodney Jr. and Ryan (a girl), and 2-year-old Robinson.

Robinson Peete starred in the sitcoms "Like Family," "Hangin' With Mr. Cooper" and "For Your Love," and played an undercover police officer in the TV series "21 Jump Street."



News for 12/17/2003


Whatever happened to Holly Robinson?


Married to NFL QB, on TV in 'Like Family'

UNIVERSAL CITY, California (AP) -- On screen and off, Holly Robinson Peete is a multitasker.

As Tanya Ward in the WB's sitcom "Like Family" (9:30 p.m. EST Fridays), she's the take-charge mom of her household -- husband, two kids, father-in-law -- but also has time for best friend Maddie Hudson and Maddie's teenage son, Keith, who have moved into her home. (The WB is a division of Time Warner, as is CNN.)

In her own life, Peete juggles her career and family life with her husband, National Football League quarterback Rodney Peete, and their three young children. She also runs the HollyRod Foundation, which helps people with Parkinson's. (The disease killed her father, Matt Robinson, the original Gordon on "Sesame Street.")

And if that's not enough, Peete is writing a women's guide to watching football, designing a line of maternity clothing and recording a lullaby album.

No wonder she says that Tanya is "very much like myself in that she tries to be in control of everything."

Warren Littlefield, executive producer of "Like Family," says his star has "strength and amazing grace," and a real ability to cope with the demands she places on herself.

"When you have to keep as many plates spinning as she does, you know something is sometimes going to crash. If it does she always deals with it with humor," he says. "That's what's really great about her."

Peete, whose previous sitcoms include "Hangin' With Mr. Cooper" and "For Your Love," wanted to get back to work after the birth of her youngest child a year. But the 39-year-old actress was looking for something that "could make some sort of statement ... a really, really positive show on the landscape of television."

One of the main reasons "Like Family" fit the bill was "I was just really tired of segregated television." Tanya's family is black; Maggie and Keith are white.

"I love how the characters blend harmoniously with very little talk of race," says Peete, sitting in her dressing room on the Universal Studios lot wearing flowery pajamas -- a costume from the scene she's just taped. Friction among the characters usually has to do more with personality traits.


A show her kids can watch


In the scene rehearsing this day, Tanya and Maggie (Diane Farr) squabble over which of two girls Keith (J. Mack Slaughter) should date -- the ultraorganized one or the more spontaneous one.

Caught between the two women as their quarrel deepens, Tanya's husband, Ed (Kevin Michael Richardson), backs out by clambering over the sofa. He accomplishes his move with silent comic skill. Cast and crew crack up, as the audience probably will.

Peete is pleased her series has not been "ghettoized" in its Friday night slot, but is part of a "blended multiethnic evening" that includes "Reba," "What I Like About You" and "Grounded For Life."

She's also pleased that it's genuine family fare because "there aren't a lot of shows where my kids can walk into the room and we can all watch it together."

When Peete's father was on "Sesame Street," she begged to be on the show, but "he wouldn't let me. He was so scared I would become one of those typical little show-biz kids."

When she was about 6, she got the chance to say one line, and blew it. "It was 'Hi, Daddy,' she says, blowing it again. "I'm sorry, it was 'Hi, Gordon,' but I kept saying 'Hi, Daddy."' The line was finally edited out. "I got to walk down the street with Big Bird, but I barely made it off the cutting room floor."


Start on '21 Jump Street'


She didn't try show business again until after her college years at Sarah Lawrence, where she studied psychology and French. Then her mother sent her out to audition, thinking she'd be rejected and settle for graduate school.

But in 1987, she was cast as Officer Judy Hoffs on the series "21 Jump Street," for which she also sang the theme song.

"I never made it to grad school. That's one of the few regrets I have about my career."

Peete met her quarterback husband in 1993 when they were introduced by a mutual friend at a nightclub. She's still not inured to the dangers of his profession. Watching 300-pound guys with financial incentives to "get my man down" is usually "very nerve-racking," she says.

And what about some of those other hazards experienced by professional athletes?

"There are some guys out there who do get in trouble. That's a reality in pro sport," she says. "I happen to have a squeaky clean husband -- I say that, right, and tomorrow something will happen."



News for 10/27/2003


The following interview appeared in the September 2003 issue of Heart & Soul Magazine.