Actor Deon Richmond made his debut on The Cosby Show in 1986 as Kenny, Rudy Huxtable’s friend, and later boyfriend whom she affectionately called ‘Bud’. He is now 44 years old and a survivor of colon cancer.

Born and raised in New York City, Deon made his first appearance on The Cosby Show in the episode “Theo’s Flight” and went on to appear in 32 more episodes until the show ended in 1992.

In 1995, he played the role of Lewis on Hangin’ With Mr. Cooper, and in 1997, he became a regular on Sister, Sister playing the role of Tamera Campbell’s boyfriend, Jordan Bennett. Sadly, in 2001, he was diagnosed with colon cancer which caused him to take a leave of absence from acting to undergo and recover from surgery and chemotherapy. He reportedly returned to acting just a month later. However, he has been in and out of surgery quite a few times.

During his career as a young actor, he also played the role of Young Eddie Murphy in the beginning scenes of the 1987 film Eddie Murphy Raw. His earliest appearance, though, was in a music video for the song “Cherish” by Kool & the Gang in 1985.

Deon is a graduate of Texas Christian University (TCU) and went into professional broadcasting as a DJ and talk show host on KLIF and KNUS-FM in Dallas, Texas. He has also done voiceovers for several national television commercials including those for Pennzoil and Public Storage.