First appearing alongside her family in the pilot episode "Theo's Economic Lesson", which premiered on September 20, 1984, Rudy matures from a precocious five-year-old girl into a teenager longing for independence throughout the course of the series' eight year-long run.

Created by comedian Bill Cosby, Rudy was intended to be a boy; actor Jaleel White had been considered the first choice for the role until Knight Pulliam impressed the show's producers once auditions had finally been opened to girls.

However, he was ultimately impressed by both her maturity and ability to memorize lines, subsequently re-writing the character into a younger, female role but refused to change her name from the more masculine-sounding "Rudy".

However, critics have observed that Knight Pulliam's once-reliable "cuteness" began to falter and grow less funny towards the show's latter seasons as both the actress and her character aged.

[4] She is the youngest sister of Sondra (Sabrina Le Beuf), Denise (Lisa Bonet), Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) and Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe).

[8] In early episodes, Rudy attends an unidentified grammar school and owns a teddy bear she calls "Bobo" and a pet goldfish named Lamont.

[18] By the end of the series, a 13 year-old Rudy is the only Huxtable child still living in her parents' home full-time in the absence of her four older siblings, all of whom have successfully moved out having either gotten married or pursued higher education.

[22][23] Cosby envisioned the youngest Huxtable child as a young boy who idolizes his older brother Theo,[11] giving him the typically masculine name "Rudy" and intending to base the character on his own sons.

[20][24][25] When casting his television children, Cosby insisted that none of the candidates be younger than 10 years-old due to challenges he had experienced working alongside child actors prior.

"[24] However, Carsey and Werner believed that Cosby had proven too gifted at working with children to avoid featuring them on the show altogether, and eventually convinced the comedian to audition a few six-year-old actors for the then-male role of Rudy.

[25] However, the producers still wanted to audition a few more children for the role at the last minute, one of whom was four-year-old actress Keshia Knight Pulliam,[11] who Werner had discovered in a then-recent television commercial for Del Monte canned corn.

[20] During one of her first screen tests, director Jay Sandrich recalled that Knight Pulliam struggled to maintain eye contact with him and appeared to be constantly distracted by one of the television monitors.

"[25] In addition to changing the character from male to female by impressing the producers,[34] Knight Pulliam's casting as Rudy also affected Theo's role, who ultimately became the only son among four sisters,[11] resulting in the Huxtables mirroring Cosby's own family.

[23] The Huxtable household eventually grew once eldest sister Sondra was introduced in later episodes on, making Rudy the youngest of five children instead.

[5] By the second season, Rudy's role was expanded beyond that of solely "the baby of the family",[5] and Cosby began giving the actress more mature material because she had "earned the reputation ... for rarely flubbing her lines.

[22][40][41] The Root contributor Erin E. Evans agreed that "With Rudy in her early teens, Olivia provided all the 'aww-ain't-she-cute' moments in the series' final seasons.

[23][58][59] Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television author Bob McCann hailed Rudy as "the cutest, most personable kid on TV".

[15] HuffPost contributor Julee Wilson said Knight Pulliam "stole our hearts the second she hit the screen", while calling Rudy "our pretend best friend with the best one-liners ... dance moves/karaoke skills ... and sensational style".

[61] Turner Classic Movies believes Knight Pulliam's wit was rivaled only by Cosby's, commending her for "h[olding] her own against ... her more experienced cast members".

[14] The Daily Edge compiled a list of "7 reasons Rudy Huxtable was the best TV kid ever", citing her attitude, sense of empowerment and talent among several factors.

[66] CNN's Lisa Respers France agreed that Pulliam "stole our hearts ",[67] a sentiment echoed by Smokey Fontaine of News One (Pakistani TV channel).

[68] The New York Times journalist Wesley Morris observed that audiences mostly remember Rudy for mimicking back up singer Margie Hendrix.

"[69] Morris concluded that the scene established Rudy as the sitcom's "secret ingredient",[69] while Joshua Alston of The A. V. Club declared that the episode "made a star out of Keshia Knight Pulliam".

[71] Calling her a character who "offered more wisdom in her youth than any us ever realized", VH1 dubbed Rudy "the ultimate feminist icon", with contributor Elizabeth Black writing, "she knew what she was talking about when it came to life and love, and we could all take a lesson from her these days.

"[40] Agreeing that the character's "cutesy" storylines were then bestowed upon Olivia, the website dismissed Rudy as "an embittered afterthought be-souring any episode in which she appeared.

[75] In his biography of the actress, Nathan Southern of AllMovie wrote that the role "rocketed [Pulliam] into the national spotlight -- and won the hearts of many a devoted '80s television viewer".

[52] According to Donald Bogle, author of Primetime Blues: African Americans on Network Television, Knight Pulliam eventually became "the only Black child star of the late 1980s who appeared in movies clearly developed around her.

"[37] Knight Pulliam's visit to Spelman College at nine-years-old, where an episode of The Cosby Show was filmed, inspired the actress to attend the school after the sitcom concluded, from where she ultimately earned a bachelor's degree in sociology.