Erinn Cosby

Erinn Chalene Cosby is an American photographer and the inspiration for Denise Huxtable on The Cosby Show. She is the daughter of Bill Cosby and Camille Hanks Cosby.
Early life
Erinn Chalene Cosby was born to Bill and Camille Hanks Cosby on July 23, 1966, in Los Angeles, California. She was the second oldest of the Cosby children, following sister Erika Cosby, who was born 1965. Her younger siblings included Ennis William, born in 1969; Ensa Camille, born in 1975; and Evin Harrah, born 1977. Along with mother Camille and sister Erika, Erinn would often travel around the world with Bill as a young child for work that took him out of the country. When younger, Erinn was a Michael Jackson fan.
Erinn was the inspiration for the character of Denise Huxtable on The Cosby Show. The actress Lisa Bonet filled the role, which launched Bonet's career.
After high school, Erinn attended Spelman College. During that time, she developed a cocaine addiction, which Mark Whitaker covered in Cosby: His Life and Times. In her sophomore year of college, Erinn told her father that she intended to drop out of college, and the two became estranged. Bill stated, "This particular daughter appears to be the only one who is really very selfish. She's never held down a job, never kept an apartment for more than six months. She never finishes anything. She uses her boyfriends. She wants the finer things but can't stand anybody's else's dirt, which is important." After the death of Ennis, however, the two began a relationship again.
After Spelman, Erinn moved to Miami, where she worked as a club promoter and lived between friends' apartments.
Photography
Erinn began taking photographs around age six. She stated, "I just remember always having a camera in my hand. It really wasn't known to me, really, until I really started looking at photographs and seeing myself with a camera as opposed to always having it in my hand back then. I just loved Polaroids. For the 29th annual Celebration of Black Writing at Philadelphia's Art Sanctuary, Erinn gathered 68 pieces to be shown for her exhibit called "Beauty". The pieces ranged in price from $250-$4000.
Dr. Frank Farley of Temple University has endorsed Erinn's photography highly: "An international example of the power of the picture is the work of Erinn Chalene Cosby, inheritor of the insightful eye on the human condition of her father... Bill Cosby. Erinn Cosby is a world-class photographer but also a PhD student in educational psychology. This unique combination brings a special sensitivity to the capture of the cultural and personal conditions of our many journeys. Travelling the world, camera in hand, she has fitted a global pictorial recording of our far-flung species in between academic courses and requirements, including the mounting of art gallery shows of her work in New York and Philadelphia."
Erinn also has taken many photos of her father Bill, which she lets the media use as a courtesy for articles about the family or about Bill himself.
Later life
In 1999, Erinn married physician Dr. Michael Cannaday, a general practitioner. The ceremony was held at her parents' home and officiated by former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young.
Erinn eventually pursued a doctorate at Temple University, focusing her PhD on educational psychology.

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