Soleil Moon Frye is an American actress, director, producer, and screenwriter. She began her career as a child actor at the age of two. When she was seven, Frye won the role of Penelope "Punky" Brewster in the NBC sitcom Punky Brewster. The series debuted in September 1984, and earned consistently low ratings, but the Punky character was a hit with young children. After NBC cancelled the series, it was picked up for the syndication market, where it aired for an additional two seasons before ending in 1988. Frye reprised the role in a 2021 reboot of the series.