<P> Sondra Tibideaux (née Huxtable), the eldest daughter of Cliff and Clair, did not appear on screen until mid-way through season one . She did not exist in the pilot episode (Clair: "Why do we have four children?" Cliff: "Because we did not want five .") In her first appearance, she is a sophomore in college, and Cliff notes her to be 20 years old (episode 10), making her birth year 1964 . She earned a degree from Princeton University and had intentions of pursuing a career as a lawyer, like her mother . She married her boyfriend, Elvin Tibideaux, in season four, and later gave birth to twins--a boy and a girl--named after Nelson and Winnie Mandela . More serious, earnest and responsible than the other children, Sondra fits many of the characteristics of the first born from a large family . Though she had her moments of bizarre thinking (e.g. dropping out of law school to open up a wilderness store with Elvin), she'd usually snap out of them relatively quickly . Because of her intelligence level and overachieving nature, she is looked upon by her parents proudly, but also is held to a higher standard than the rest of the children . Sondra appeared sporadically in early seasons of the series due to the character being off at college at the time . </P> <P> Sondra was created when Bill Cosby wanted the show to express the accomplishment of successfully raising a child (e.g. a college graduate). Whitney Houston was considered for the role of Sondra Huxtable . Sabrina LeBeauf almost missed out on the role because she is only 10 years younger (b . 1958) than Phylicia Rashad (b . 1948). </P> <P> The character is loosely based upon Cosby's eldest daughter, Erika, who was approximately the same age as Sondra . </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Portrayed by </Th> <Th> Seasons </Th> <Th> No. of episodes </Th> <Th> Final appearance </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Lisa Bonet </Td> <Td> 1--3, 6--7; recurring in 4&5 </Td> <Td> 119 </Td> <Td> "Cliff and Jake" </Td> </Tr> </Table>

Who played elvin's parents on the cosby show