At the moment, Holly Robinson Peete is feeling very nostalgic. Besides carving out her space as a Hallmark Channel queen and fighting for those impacted by Parkinson’s disease and autism with her HollyRod Foundation, the mother of four has been busy sifting through more than 20 years’ worth of family photos.
“Every time, I put all these embarrassing photos of the kids through the years on our family [text] string,” the 58-year-old actress says of the project, which has involved transporting storage containers from the six different cities her family lived in while her husband, Rodney Peete, was a quarterback in the NFL. “It looked like Sanford and Son’s backyard,” Peete jokes, humming the iconic theme song. “We kept singing that in the backyard because [there] was so much junk.”
Peete got her start in Hollywood at the age of 4 on the long-running TV series Sesame Street opposite her father, Matthew Robinson, who played the original human resident, Gordon. She opted for a childhood off camera, earning her bachelor’s degree in French at Sarah Lawrence College, until the spotlight eventually beckoned. Peete ended up at another famous address: 21 Jump Street, where she played down-to-earth undercover police officer Judy Hoffs for five seasons. It’s been nearly 36 years since the groundbreaking series co-starring Johnny Depp and Dustin Nguyen premiered.
“Those first couple of seasons when we were shooting in Vancouver, British Columbia, I was a recent graduate from college, and I didn’t even know there was anything north of Seattle,” Peete reminisces. “We got up there, all of us so green and new. Of course, Johnny Depp was not the global superstar icon that he is now. He was just this kid with these funky boots and this ripped-up hat from Hollywood, Florida. It was just really a fun time [and] a lot of camaraderie.”
Peete later dazzled audiences in the sitcoms Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper and For Your Love. In recent years, she’s appeared in more than a dozen Hallmark Channel productions, including Morning Show Mysteries and Christmas in Evergreen. Last year, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Peete attributes her staying power to a simple manta: Be nice. “If you’re not nice to people, they remember,” Peete says, “and it really shortens your shelf life in this business.”
The resilience extends to Peete’s personal life. She’s been married to her husband for the past 27 years. Their secret to a long marriage, Peete says, is the 20-second hug. “It’s very simple,” she explains. “If [we’re] going at each other, either one of us has the right to demand a 20-second hug. No matter how mad you are, you have to stop and hug the other person for 20 whole seconds.” Peete acknowledges the first few seconds can be difficult. “By the time you get to 15, 16, 17, there’s something pheromonal that happens. You melt and forget why you were arguing. It just takes the drama out of it.”
In 1997, Peete and her husband founded the HollyRod Foundation to support families impacted by Parkinson’s disease, which her father was diagnosed with at the age of 46. Later, when the couple discovered their eldest son, RJ, had autism, they expanded the organization’s mission to include providing resources to and reducing stigmas surrounding people on the spectrum.
“We still have a ways to go for acceptance,” Peete says. “We need to really cherish our neurodiverse people and normalize their differences and embrace them.” When her son was 3 years old, doctors delivered a list of activities he would never do. “We call it the Never Day,” Peete explains. “They said he wouldn’t drive and get a job. Well, he drove to work this morning, and he has a World Series ring with his name on it because he works with the Dodgers.”
A large part of the foundation’s work is partnering with organizations to boost their inclusive hiring practices. “When your company hires someone with autism, that brings diversity of thought into your workplace, and it makes it better,” Peete says. She continues to share this mission and encourages families that their children can be anything by opening her life up to the world as the Peetes did with the OWN and Hallmark Channel reality shows For Peete’s Sake and Meet the Peetes. “There are so many good, important moments that you don’t get to see with autism,” she says. “That was what was so great about doing [the reality TV shows].”
Peete feels particularly inspired by people who stand up and advocate for issues important to them. “When you see someone speaking on something that’s plaguing someone else or really bothering someone else or their struggles, it gives you hope,” Peete says. She recalls how her dad didn’t feel hope until he saw Muhammad Ali talk about his own struggles with Parkinson’s. “Not everybody has to share their business,” she notes. “It’s not for everybody. But as my husband would say lovingly, ‘You have a big mouth — and you should use it for good.’”
Peete has never shied away from being vocal about what’s important. Now, she’s opening up about her experience with overactive bladder (OAB). As a user of the OAB-fighting drug Gemtesa and the face of its new health campaign, Time to Go, she’s hoping to bring awareness to OAB symptoms that impact approximately 33 million Americans on a daily basis.
“I didn’t know what was going on,” Peete reveals. “I just knew I had to go to the bathroom way too much, more frequently than I ever had to before.” On set, assistant directors slyly use the code name “10-1” for those moments an actor needs to slip out to the restroom. When they started nicknaming her "10-1," Peete thought: “‘You’re not going to make me the girl that got to go to the bathroom all the time!’”
At first, Peete chalked it up to being in her 50s and experiencing menopause. When she began shooting Christmas movies more frequently, bundled under layers of clothes and always worrying about the location of the nearest restroom, she knew it was time to seek professional help. “I finally went to a doctor,” she says. “If you open up to them, they will share with you what the options and possibilities are. It’s been a few months, and I’ve really noticed my symptoms have gotten so much better.”
Peete is back to happily traveling for fun (most recently to Japan, where her son is attending college) and acting without panicked bathroom breaks. As the mother to four kids, she knows that one is always bound to be struggling with something. Right now, she’s incredibly happy that everyone is in a good space, including her husband. “We’re starting to date again,” she says with a smile.
For those who are struggling with vulnerability or asking for help when it comes to their well-being, Peete has advice. “Advocate for yourself,” she says. “Self-care is important in many ways for so many things. All we have is our health. When you’re a busy mom or you’re working, especially Black women, we keep pushing through. We keep making things happen. We keep riding for everybody else and putting ourselves last in line. It’s important to put yourself in front.”
Mia Brabham is a staff writer at Shondaland. Follow her on Twitter at @hotmessmia.
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