‘The Cosby Show' star Malcolm-Jamal Warner dead at 54 from accidental drowning in Costa Rica
Warner was in Costa Rica on a family vacation and drowned while swimming near Cocles after allegedly being caught by a high current on Sunday afternoon. The incident occurred between 2 and 2:30 p.m. local time.
Costa Rican National Police told The Post that Warner was pulled from the water by people in the area and taken to shore, where the Costa Rica Red Cross tried to revive him but were unsuccessful in their efforts.
His body was taken to the morgue at San Joaquin de Flores for an autopsy. The cause of death is listed as asphyxiation by 'submersion.'
The Post has reached out to Warner's rep for comment.
Warner played Theodore 'Theo' Huxtable, son of Bill Cosby's Cliff Huxtable, on the NBC sitcom from 1984 to 1992.
In 2021, Warner exclusively spoke to The Post about the legacy of 'The Cosby Show' following Cosby's sex assault conviction that was later overturned.
'I can understand why some people can't watch the show and enjoy it because of everything that's going on now,' Warner told The Post. 'But I think … there's a generation of young people who have pursued higher education or have started loving families because of the influence of that show.'
'So it's kind of like, you can't discount its impact on television culture and American culture,' he added.
Warner was born in Jersey City, N.J., Aug. 18, 1970. He was named after Malcolm X and jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal. His career began as a child performer, and he attended the Professional Children's School in New York City.
Warner auditioned for the role of Theo on the last day of the show's nationwide search and was selected by Cosby, per Variety.
He starred alongside Cosby, Phylicia Rashad as Clair Huxtable, Sabrina Le Beauf as Sondra Huxtable, Lisa Bonet as Denise Huxtable, Tempestt Bledsoe as Vanessa Huxtable and Keshia Knight Pulliam as Rudy Huxtable.
He was nominated for an Emmy Award in 1986, the same year he hosted an episode of 'Saturday Night Live.'
After 'The Cosby Show,' Warner starred in the UPN sitcom 'Malcolm & Eddie' alongside Eddie Griffin from 1996 to 2000, followed by the BET sitcom 'Reed Between the Lines' from 2011 to 2015.
Warner's other notable acting credits included 'Here and Now,' 'The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,' 'Jeremiah,' 'Listen Up,' 'Community,' 'Sons of Anarchy,' 'American Horror Story: Freak Show,' 'American Crime Story,' 'Suits' and '9-1-1.'
From 2018 to 2023, Warner played Dr. AJ Austin on 'The Resident.' He also directed an episode of the Fox medical show.
Warner was also the voice of the Producer character on 'The Magic School Bus.'
Most recently, Warner appeared in three episodes of Fox's 'Alert: Missing Persons Unit' that aired earlier this year.
Outside of acting, Warner won a Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance for his song 'Jesus Children' with Robert Glasper featuring Lalah Hathaway in 2015.
In January, he started the podcast 'Not All Hood' with Weusi Baraka and Candace Kelley that 'takes a provocative look at the vastly different lived experiences and identities of blacks in America.'
Warner dated Michelle Thomas, who played his girlfriend on 'The Cosby Show.' Thomas died in 1998 of a desmoplastic tumor at 30.
He was also in relationships with actresses Karen Malina White from 2000 to 2007 and Regina King from 2011 to 2013.
Warner is survived by his wife and daughter, whom he chose to keep private.
Originally published as 'The Cosby Show' star Malcolm-Jamal Warner dead at 54 from accidental drowning in Costa Rica
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Sky News AU
an hour ago
- Sky News AU
‘Embarrassing': U.S. restaurant co-owner loses job after humiliating influencer and refusing to give her free meal
An American chef has been fired from a recently opened San Francisco restaurant after refusing to give an influencer a free meal and 'embarrassing' her. Karla, known online as @itskarlabb, had organized a collaboration with Kis Café in which she would make a video and the restaurant would give her a free dinner. Karla said she was left in tears following the exchange with co-owner Luke Sung. Picture: supplied. However, the evening took a sudden turn when co-owner Luke Sung demanded the restaurant host show him Karla's TikTok account, according to a video posted to the site by the influencer. Karla, who had 15k followers at the time, said the man was questioning why Karla was chosen for a collaboration. '[Sung] was saying that I have too little followers and that this was a mistake,' she said. 'This is all happening in front of me, and they know that I can hear them. 'At this point I am turning red because I am so embarrassed and I feel really disrespected.' @itskarlabb its a long video and not something i would normally upload but i feel like i had to talk about this experience. i basically ran out of there but i wish i would've stood up for myself. if you are a micro influencer i know it's easy to feel discouraged at times but don't let anyone make you feel small or unimportant!! ♬ original sound - itskarlabb Karla said Sung approached her soon after, and she was left 'shaking' and in tears following the exchange. 'He says to me that he doesn't think my videos are at the level at which he wants his restaurant to be represented,' she said. 'He goes on to say that my audience and my followers are not the kind of people that are going to be at his restaurant.' Karla left the restaurant crying and didn't wish to continue the collaboration, saying she felt 'disrespected.' Her video has been viewed more than 20 million times, and in a statement to social media, the restaurant announced Sung would not be continuing at the company. The restaurant announced in a social media statement Luke Sung had been let go from the position. Picture: supplied 'He is no longer part of the team as a co-owner, a chef or in any other way,' it read. 'That behaviour does not reflect the remainder of our team. We want to create a space that's welcoming and respectful to everyone. 'In this instance, we failed to do so.' Another co-owner of Sung's, who chose to remain anonymous, said the restaurant is figuring out its next steps. 'When we're ready, we will restart differently, separate from chef,' they told NBC Bay Area. Karla has gained more than 100k followers since her video went viral. Picture: TikTok 'This way my staff can also continue their livelihoods.' Since Karla's video was posted, she has amassed more than 373k followers on TikTok - and said she will continue to be a voice for 'micro' influencers. 'You don't need to have a million followers to be respected or feel like you're making a difference,' she said. 'I love spotlighting small businesses and I want to continue to do that and have fun.'


The Advertiser
6 hours ago
- The Advertiser
US musical satirist Tom Lehrer dies at 97
Tom Lehrer, the math prodigy who became an influential musical satirist with his barbed views of American social and political life in the 1950s and 1960s, has died at the age of 97, according to news reports. Lehrer died at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday, his longtime friend David Herder told the New York Times. No cause of death was specified. Lehrer's career as a musician and revered social commentator was little more than a happy accident that began with composing ditties to amuse classmates at Harvard University. His heyday lasted about seven years and, by his own count, produced only 37 songs before the reluctant performer returned to teaching at Harvard and other universities. "There's never been anyone like him," Cameron Mackintosh, the Broadway producer who created Tom Foolery, a revue of Lehrer songs, told BuzzFeed in 2014. "Of all famous songwriters, he's probably the only one that ... is an amateur in that he never wanted to be professional. And yet the work he did is of the highest quality of any great songwriter." As the US nestled into the post-war complacency of the 1950s, the liberal-leaning Lehrer was poking holes in the culture with his songs while maintaining an urbane, witty air. Some of his works reflected his mathematical interests - New Math about subtracting 173 from 342 and Lobachevsky about a 19th-century Russian mathematician - but his meatier songs were deemed by some to be too irreverent and shocking. In 1959 Time magazine lumped him in with groundbreaking comics Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl as "sicknicks" who had "a personal and highly disturbing hostility toward all the world." The song I Wanna Go Back to Dixie looked at racism in the South ("The land of the boll weevil where the laws are medieval") while National Brotherhood Week took on hypocrites ("It's only for a week so have no fear/ Be nice to people who are inferior to you"). Be Prepared exposed the dark side of a Boy Scout's life, I Got It from Agnes was about venereal disease, and We Will All Go Together When We Go addressed nuclear Armageddon. "If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while," Lehrer wrote on the notes that accompanied one of his albums. Thomas Andrew Lehrer was born on April 9, 1928, in New York. He grew up in the Big Apple listening to musical theatre and one of his first works was The Elements, a recitation of the periodic table set to a Gilbert and Sullivan tune. He enrolled at Harvard at age 15 and his Fight Fiercely, Harvard with the line "Won't it be peachy if we win the game?" became a popular spoof of the school's sports fight song. After serving in the US Army from 1955 to 1957, Lehrer began performing and recorded more albums but was losing his zest for music. By the early 1960s, working on his doctorate - which he never finished - and teaching became greater concerns, although he did contribute songs to the TV news satire show That Was the Week That Was in 1963 and 1964. Tom Lehrer, the math prodigy who became an influential musical satirist with his barbed views of American social and political life in the 1950s and 1960s, has died at the age of 97, according to news reports. Lehrer died at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday, his longtime friend David Herder told the New York Times. No cause of death was specified. Lehrer's career as a musician and revered social commentator was little more than a happy accident that began with composing ditties to amuse classmates at Harvard University. His heyday lasted about seven years and, by his own count, produced only 37 songs before the reluctant performer returned to teaching at Harvard and other universities. "There's never been anyone like him," Cameron Mackintosh, the Broadway producer who created Tom Foolery, a revue of Lehrer songs, told BuzzFeed in 2014. "Of all famous songwriters, he's probably the only one that ... is an amateur in that he never wanted to be professional. And yet the work he did is of the highest quality of any great songwriter." As the US nestled into the post-war complacency of the 1950s, the liberal-leaning Lehrer was poking holes in the culture with his songs while maintaining an urbane, witty air. Some of his works reflected his mathematical interests - New Math about subtracting 173 from 342 and Lobachevsky about a 19th-century Russian mathematician - but his meatier songs were deemed by some to be too irreverent and shocking. In 1959 Time magazine lumped him in with groundbreaking comics Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl as "sicknicks" who had "a personal and highly disturbing hostility toward all the world." The song I Wanna Go Back to Dixie looked at racism in the South ("The land of the boll weevil where the laws are medieval") while National Brotherhood Week took on hypocrites ("It's only for a week so have no fear/ Be nice to people who are inferior to you"). Be Prepared exposed the dark side of a Boy Scout's life, I Got It from Agnes was about venereal disease, and We Will All Go Together When We Go addressed nuclear Armageddon. "If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while," Lehrer wrote on the notes that accompanied one of his albums. Thomas Andrew Lehrer was born on April 9, 1928, in New York. He grew up in the Big Apple listening to musical theatre and one of his first works was The Elements, a recitation of the periodic table set to a Gilbert and Sullivan tune. He enrolled at Harvard at age 15 and his Fight Fiercely, Harvard with the line "Won't it be peachy if we win the game?" became a popular spoof of the school's sports fight song. After serving in the US Army from 1955 to 1957, Lehrer began performing and recorded more albums but was losing his zest for music. By the early 1960s, working on his doctorate - which he never finished - and teaching became greater concerns, although he did contribute songs to the TV news satire show That Was the Week That Was in 1963 and 1964. Tom Lehrer, the math prodigy who became an influential musical satirist with his barbed views of American social and political life in the 1950s and 1960s, has died at the age of 97, according to news reports. Lehrer died at his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on Saturday, his longtime friend David Herder told the New York Times. No cause of death was specified. Lehrer's career as a musician and revered social commentator was little more than a happy accident that began with composing ditties to amuse classmates at Harvard University. His heyday lasted about seven years and, by his own count, produced only 37 songs before the reluctant performer returned to teaching at Harvard and other universities. "There's never been anyone like him," Cameron Mackintosh, the Broadway producer who created Tom Foolery, a revue of Lehrer songs, told BuzzFeed in 2014. "Of all famous songwriters, he's probably the only one that ... is an amateur in that he never wanted to be professional. And yet the work he did is of the highest quality of any great songwriter." As the US nestled into the post-war complacency of the 1950s, the liberal-leaning Lehrer was poking holes in the culture with his songs while maintaining an urbane, witty air. Some of his works reflected his mathematical interests - New Math about subtracting 173 from 342 and Lobachevsky about a 19th-century Russian mathematician - but his meatier songs were deemed by some to be too irreverent and shocking. In 1959 Time magazine lumped him in with groundbreaking comics Lenny Bruce and Mort Sahl as "sicknicks" who had "a personal and highly disturbing hostility toward all the world." The song I Wanna Go Back to Dixie looked at racism in the South ("The land of the boll weevil where the laws are medieval") while National Brotherhood Week took on hypocrites ("It's only for a week so have no fear/ Be nice to people who are inferior to you"). Be Prepared exposed the dark side of a Boy Scout's life, I Got It from Agnes was about venereal disease, and We Will All Go Together When We Go addressed nuclear Armageddon. "If, after hearing my songs, just one human being is inspired to say something nasty to a friend, or perhaps to strike a loved one, it will all have been worth the while," Lehrer wrote on the notes that accompanied one of his albums. Thomas Andrew Lehrer was born on April 9, 1928, in New York. He grew up in the Big Apple listening to musical theatre and one of his first works was The Elements, a recitation of the periodic table set to a Gilbert and Sullivan tune. He enrolled at Harvard at age 15 and his Fight Fiercely, Harvard with the line "Won't it be peachy if we win the game?" became a popular spoof of the school's sports fight song. After serving in the US Army from 1955 to 1957, Lehrer began performing and recorded more albums but was losing his zest for music. By the early 1960s, working on his doctorate - which he never finished - and teaching became greater concerns, although he did contribute songs to the TV news satire show That Was the Week That Was in 1963 and 1964.

Sky News AU
6 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Shocking new twist in Malcolm-Jamal Warner's final moments revealed by officials
Officials have revealed a shocking new twist in Malcolm-Jamal Warner's death by drowning on Sunday while he was vacationing in Costa Rica. Initially, Elberth León, the head of the Tourist Police for the country's Atlantic region, claimed the actor's 8-year-old daughter was in the ocean with him and was successfully rescued. However, Costa Rica's Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) has since clarified that the girl was on the beach's shore when her dad entered the water with a friend, got 'caught by a high current' and drowned. 'Mr. Warner was playing with his daughter at the seashore at one point. He then left her out of the water, and he and a friend of his entered the sea,' a rep for the OIJ told People in a statement, which was translated from Spanish, on Thursday. 'It was at that moment that they were swept away by the current, and the friend managed to get out,' the statement continued. 'However, Mr. Warner was unable to get out and was pulled out by several people on the beach. He received care from Red Cross officials but was pronounced dead at the scene.' The man who pulled Warner out of the water, a doctor, recounted the harrowing scene to Us Weekly. Like Warner, he was on vacation, enjoying the day in the town of Playa Grande. According to the doctor, there were 'very few people on the beach' that day, which could have been because the 'sea was rough.' When he heard a group of people screaming and calling for help, he quickly 'ran to the area and entered the sea with [his] surfboard, heading into the rip current toward the person being pointed at by some beachgoers.' After a few minutes, the doctor said he 'saw a shadow' and immediately 'dove down and pulled the person out.' When the doctor finally reached the beach with Warner, he saw another man lying on the sand, struggling to breathe. '[He was] just someone who tried to help during the emergency without any rescue equipment,' the doctor explained, adding that 'immediately, [first responders] began providing first aid to Malcolm, but he had no vital signs.' The medical professional said two tourists who identified themselves as doctors 'ran over to help.' A few minutes later, Costa Rican Red Cross personnel arrived. They used specialized equipment on the 'Cosby Show' star, including a defibrillator, but he did not respond. Warner was pronounced dead at the scene at the age of 54 due to 'asphyxiation by submersion.' The other man was transported to the local medical clinic in critical condition but has since been released. Originally published as Shocking new twist in Malcolm-Jamal Warner's final moments revealed by officials