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RELATED LINKS

• Ms. Peete on Lifetime's Intimate Portrait
• HollyRod Foundation
• American Parkinson Disease Association, Inc.

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Tavis: I'm delighted to welcome the beautiful and talented Holly Robinson Peete to the show tonight, the star of shows like "For Your Love," "Hangin' With Mr. Cooper," and "21 Jump Street." I went back on that one, didn't I?

Holly Robinson Peete: Yeah, you took me way back.

Tavis: Way back. The founder of HollyRod foundation, dedicated to those suffering from Parkinson's disease is she. She founded the organization along with her husband, NFL star Rodney Peete. Holly, nice to see you.

Peete: It's nice to see you, too, Tav.

Tavis: We were just talking. So, Rodney's going back for another season?

Peete: Yeah, man.

Tavis: How many years Rodney's been in the NFL now?

Peete: 16.

Tavis: Why doesn't he want to just go sit out somewhere?

Peete: I don't know. All I know is from other wives of retired players, I'm not supposed to say anything, 'cause if he retires too early, wasn't ready, I don't want it to be my fault.

Tavis: OK. We ain't gonna say nothing, then. Rodney, you go on back for 16...17...18...

Peete: I'll handle all these kids at home by myself.

Tavis: There you go. All 3 of 'em.

Peete: Right.

Tavis: Set of twins. How old are the twins now?

Peete: Twins are 6, and we have a one-year-old going on about 15.

Tavis: How did you manage that? I suspect having twins for anybody is not easy, but you, like, never stopped working, did you?

Peete: I didn't. I started "For Your Love" when the twins were 3 months. So I was fortunate to have Yvette Lee Bowser, who's my good friend and had had a baby as well, so she set it up so we could do things like nurse and all that stuff. It was the perfect environment to be working in and have those babies.

Tavis: Now, last time I saw you, this is very different from being a mama. 'Cause last time I saw you, you weren't acting very mommyish.

Peete: Oh, I was acting like a hot mama.

Tavis: Hot mama, yeah. I'm at the Prince concert...Neal Kendall, my E.P., and I, were at the Prince concert in Vegas, and you know, part in the show where all these fine honeys--they go in the audience and pick out the finest honeys and they come up on the stage, and I'm, like, whoo. Look at all these honeys on the stage. I'm, like, hey, that's a married woman right there. That ain't no honey. That's Holly Robinson Peete. You were on the stage. You got your groove on with Prince.

Peete: My 15 minutes of fame. I could die at that moment. We were all up there for Tiger Woods' event, for his charity, and, um, you know, they just happened to come through my little section and said, you know, which girls wanna go up there. But then they started listing these rules--you can't do this, you can't touch Prince, you can't talk to him. No dirty dancing, they said. And they said, you have to know the words. I know all the words to all the songs. You saw me when I had the mike for a second.

Tavis: You killed it.

Peete: Yeah. I took my advantage of my little 5 minutes. It was great. It was so much fun.

Tavis: And you could watch his face. He was very impressed. 'Cause you can see when he go over and he passes the mike to somebody that don't know the words, that makes him upset. But you killed that thing.

Peete: I was not going--one of the girls didn't even know the words to "Kiss." Why you at the Prince concert if you don't know all the words to "Kiss?" That's just sad.

Tavis: And the words are pretty simple--I just want you. That's pretty easy.

Peete: Yeah. And even like after doing a verse, he just, you know, I just want your extra time, and your... she was like, uh...

Tavis: Uh, how about "Kiss?"

Peete: Right. That was a lot of fun. I laughed so hard, when I turned around and saw you sitting there. I thought, I'm not gonna live this down anytime soon.

Tavis: I saw you...hi. But you looked good.

Peete: Thanks.

Tavis: You held it down. You represented.

Peete: I try.

Tavis: There you go. You represented.

Peete: I can't dance that well, but that was my little moment.

Tavis: You did all right by me. All right, we talked about Tiger's foundation and why...why we were in Las Vegas that weekend. Uh, but your foundation, dedicated to the memory of your father, and your work is around the issue of Parkinson's. For those who have not heard your story, don't know what happened to your father and what a wonderful career he had, tell me about your dad.

Peete: Well, my dad, Matt Robinson, was the original Gordon on "Sesame Street." For those of you who are somewhere near my age, you won't go there. But, um, remember that in the late Sixties, "Sesame Street" began, and that was obviously the beginning of the best, arguably, the best show for kids on television.

Tavis: PBS.

Peete: Yeah. Just so happens to be right here. But, um...so, my dad started this. I remember watching the TV and the number one, you know, all the shows are numbered, the episodes are numbered. Number one came up, and it was, like, oh, my gosh. You know, it was amazing. So he did that for about 5 years, and he went on to write and produce movies and TV shows. He worked on the "Waltons." He worked on "Eight is Enough." He was a staff writer on many sitcoms--"Sanford and Son," et cetera. And then we went on to become the producer and writer of "The Cosby Show." Bill and him went way back to the old Philadelphia days, and he was an amazing guy. I mean, like, I was a freshman in college at Sarah Lawrence College. I remember, my dad had dropped me off, and he was walking away, and he had this funny limp. I remember saying to him, "Hey, dad, why are you walking like that? Why are you walking like Fred Sanford?" You know, joker man. And he's a jokester, too. He's talking about, just make sure you go to all your classes, or you're gonna be running a junkyard, too. You know, he was just trying to play it off.

Tavis: That writer's wit, yeah.

Peete: Right on the spot like that, but then, you know, time went on. I went back to visit him at home, and he had something called Bell's Palsy, which is when the side of your face just slouched down, you can't move it. And that was the beginning of the diagnosis of Parkinson's disease, which, at that time in the Eighties, nobody knew about. There was no Muhammad Ali. There was no Michael J. Fox, and there was really very little information highway at that point. So, it was a really bleak time for us, and we sort of--we, my brother and I, sort of went into denial about it. All we saw was neurological and incurable. Well, you know, fast-forward to 2004, we've got all kind of great things that, you know, Parkinson's disease is not the worst disease you could be diagnosed with, 'cause there's some really great things on the horizon. But what we've found, that it will devastate you financially--

Tavis: It's a very expensive...

Peete: Oh, yeah. You don't have the drugs to get yourself going every day, you don't function. So, fortunately, my dad had Rodney and I with good jobs, and we could afford to help him, but he--otherwise, he would never have been able to make it without us. So, we started our foundation--

Tavis: So what happens to folk--

Peete: To help people.

Tavis: Yeah. About to ask you. That's where the foundation comes in, 'cause of what happens to people who can't afford this kind of treatment?

Peete: We started getting letters from people who said that her uncle would just sit on his couch and frozen up in a ball. This little girl from Harlem. She's just like, help me. "I don't know what to do. I heard your dad has this disease." And so that's when we realized we wanted to help people and we wanted to have--give people an opportunity to learn how to manage it and live with it. Otherwise it's a really bleak situation.

Tavis: In the aftermath of the death of former President Ronald Reagan, a lot of conversation about stem cell research. Tell me what your take on that is and how it would affect, um, the research being done now on Parkinson's specifically.

Peete: Well, I'll tell you, you know. I never was one for Ronald Reagan's policies and Mrs. Reagan, for that matter, but when she stood up there and took that stand, across party lines, and basically, you know, put George Bush on the spot, said, "Listen, enough with this crap about we can't do stem cell research because of all the issues that the Republican party stands for." We would've cured many, many of these diseases by now had we had a different President all this time. So I was just so glad to hear her put her politics aside and say, "You know what? My husband and so many people need help," and enough of this, because stem cells are the key, so...

Tavis: Well, you mentioned Ali and Michael J. Fox, 2 of the most famous people who are now living with and dealing with Parkinson's. What has Muhammad Ali's openness about it and Michael J. Fox's openness about it--what's that done for Parkinson's research?

Peete: Well, they both tremendously brought awareness to a disease that no one really knew about. But on a personal note, Muhammad Ali has really embraced Rodney and I. Him and his wife Lani have been sort of our mentors. We are in awe of them. We go to their events. They've come to ours. Muhammad Ali took the award in my dad's honor, the Matthew T. Robinson award of courage. I mean, they have been so supportive of us, and they know how important the day-to-day issues are with Parkinson's disease and they know, they're blessed to have financial means to help him have the best medical care possible, but most people don't have that. So I consider them 2 of the bravest and strongest people in the world, so love them.

Tavis: You got a big event coming up this weekend. You do a couple of events every year, but you got one coming up this weekend, I think.

Peete: I do. Stevie Wonder's gonna perform, which is, you know--

Tavis: Who's that?

Peete: He's just some guy. Yeah, he's had a hit or two. And, um, yeah. I'm just giving him a shot. I'm just giving him some exposure. He does have a new CD. When his daughter Aisha was singing on it, that made me feel really old. Remember, she was just crying in the bathtub--

Tavis: Bathtub. "Isn't She Lovely."

Peete: Right. That's how old I am. So he's coming, and Roberto Cavali, who is this fantastic designer, is also gonna be there.

Tavis: I think I have a couple of his suits in my closet.

Peete: I bet you do. He's great. And, you know, we have some great sponsors--Mercedes-Benz, Outback Steakhouse--people have really been wonderful in helping us. And I gotta get you there.

Tavis: I'm gonna come.

Peete: I gotta get you there.

Tavis: You've invited me for a couple of years, and every date you guys have it, I'm always on the road somewhere--

Peete: It's 'cause you're a busy man.

Tavis: I'll make it a point to get there.

Peete: Going to Prince concerts.

Tavis: Yeah. Ha ha ha ha! I got busted on that one, didn't I? I ain't that busy, hanging out at a Prince concert. What's your hope, short-term, long-term, for what will happen on this disease front?

Peete: Oh, well, short-term is I hope to make a half-million dollars this weekend and give it to the HollyRod compassionate care program down at USC's Keck School of Medicine. Um, that's the short term, and help a whole lot of people--for every $100,000 we make, we can help 65 people with Parkinson's that otherwise wouldn't get any help. Um, but long-term, it's back to the stem cell thing. I just really would like to get on board of that movement to make sure that we can eradicate this, because I really don't think we have to have this disease, and Juvenile Diabetes and Alzheimer's, M.S., so we have some work to do.

Tavis: Yep. Well, you're doing great work, and I'm always proud to see you and to congratulate you on what you are doing. Uh, lot of celebrities in the city, but not a lot of people who really put their heart into an effort like this all the time.

Peete: Well, thank you. It means a lot to me and, you know, it's in honor my dad. He would have been proud of the stuff we're doing.

Tavis: Give my best to Rodney.

Peete: I will.

Tavis: And the babies. See you at the next Prince concert. Hey! That's our show for tonight. As always, you can catch me on the radio on NPR. See you back here next time on PBS. Until then, thanks for watching. Good night from L.A., and as always, keep the faith.