Erika Cosby
| Erika Cosby | |
|---|---|
| Born |
Erika Ranee Cosby April 8, 1965 Los Angeles, California |
| Residence | Shelburne, Mass. and New York City |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Erika Ranee |
| Alma mater |
Wesleyan University (BA) School of Visual Arts (BFA) University of California at Berkeley (MA) Skowhegan School of Painting and Sculpture |
| Occupation | Artist; former professor at NYU 2012-2013 |
| Known for | Paintings |
| Parent(s) |
Bill Cosby Camille Cosby |
| Relatives | Ennis Cosby (brother) |
| Website | erikaranee.com |
Erika Ranee Cosby (born April 8, 1965) is a contemporary American painter and was an adjunct art professor at New York University from 2012-2013. As the daughter of comedian Bill Cosby and Camille Hanks Cosby, she grew up in the media spotlight.
Born on April 8, 1965 in Los Angeles, California, Erika Cosby is the oldest of five children born to Bill Cosby and Camille Cosby (née Hanks). All five of the siblings' names began with E, for "excellence." Erika has three younger sisters: Erinn (born in 1966), Ensa (born in 1973), and Evin (born on Erika's birthday in 1976). She had a younger brother, Ennis (born in 1969), who was murdered in 1997 in a botched robbery, which brought a tremendous outpouring of support from the public for the grieving Cosby family.
Along with her mother, Erika Cosby would travel around the world as a child with her father when his work took him out of the country. At just four months old, she took a trip to Japan with her parents and grandmother. In 1966, 16-month-old Erika posed with her parents for the cover of Ebony magazine, but the Cosbys tried to give their children a normal upbringing. Bill Cosby was very intent on teaching his children fiscal responsibility; when Erika was 12, he brought her to some of his concerts to explain what he did for a living, even showing her box office receipts and how he calculated the gross and net from each show. He stated that he did not want his children to think that his life in show business involved any kind of "magic", but came from him as an artist who created his own work.
When Cosby got his own sitcom, The Cosby Show, he based it on his real life, by playing Cliff Huxtable, a man with four daughters and one son. The eldest daughter on the show, Sondra (played by Sabrina Le Beauf), was based on Erika. When Erika went away to college, the character Sondra also went away to college on the show. At one point, Le Beauf had to remind Bill Cosby that she was around and needed more screen time; he apologized, and explained that he associated Sondra so much with Erika that in his mind she was also away at college.
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