Lilakoi Moon (born and known professionally as Lisa Michelle Bonet, November 16, 1967) is an American actress. Bonet is best known for her role as Denise Huxtable on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show which originally aired from 1984 to 1992 and later originally starring in its spinoff comedy, A Different World for its first season (1987–88).
Bonet was born in San Francisco, California. Her Texas-born African-American father, Allen Bonet, is an opera singer; her Jewish mother, Arlene (née Litman), was a music teacher. She has several younger half-siblings. Bonet attended Birmingham High School in Van Nuys, California. She attended the Celluloid Actor's Studio in North Hollywood where she majored in acting.
After being in beauty pageants and appearing in guest spots on television series as a child, Bonet landed the role of Denise Huxtable on The Cosby Show alongside Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad. In 1987, she briefly left The Cosby Show to star in the spin-off series, A Different World, which focused on Denise Huxtable's life at college. That year, Bonet, then 19, accepted the role of 17-year-old Epiphany Proudfoot in the movie Angel Heart opposite Mickey Rourke, directed by Alan Parker.