‘Family Matters' star Jaleel White reacts to Malcolm-Jamal Warner ‘s ‘disturbing' death
The 'Family Matters' alum, 48, spoke about the bond he shared with Warner after 'The Cosby Show' actor accidentally drowned at age 54 in Costa Rica on Sunday Sunday.
'Malcolm and I were industry peers,' White recalled to 'Extra' at the 'Happy Gilmore 2' premiere on Monday. 'I mean, really, I can't even say that. Like, I grew up looking up to him. He was ahead of me in the game.'
9 Jaleel White at Netflix's 'Happy Gilmore 2' premiere in New York City on July 21.
Getty Images
9 Malcolm-Jamal Warner at a pre-Emmys party in Los Angeles in 2016.
MediaPunch/INSTARimages
'I'm kind of waiting for more details to come out because it was just a very disturbing report, just accidentally this,' White continued. 'You kind of caught me at a loss for words and kind of reflecting on my own memories.'
White and Warner starred in their respective sitcoms around the same time. 'Family Matters,' in which White played Steve Urkel, aired from 1989 to 1997, while Warner played Theo Huxtable on 'The Cosby Show' from 1984 to 1992.
9 Jaleel White as Steve Urkel in 'Family Matters.'
©ABC/Courtesy Everett Collection
The pair also each worked with late actress Michelle Thomas, who appeared on both shows, and dated Warner, before she died of cancer in 1998.
'Malcolm was the first former child actor that my mother even let me go out with late at night past 11 p.m., and I had a very close relationship with both him and Michelle Thomas,' White said at the premiere. 'May they both rest in peace.'
9 Bill Cosby, Malcolm-Jamal Warner in 'The Cosby Show.'
NBCUniversal via Getty Images
White added of Warner: 'So, please remember him as a poet, a Grammy award-winning musician, and an actor who did a lot more than just star on a sitcom when he was a kid.'
In his 2024 memoir 'Growing Up Urkel,' White recalled getting to know Warner at the time that Thomas joined 'Family Matters.'
9 The cast of 'Family Matters.'
Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty Images
'Malcolm would visit the set from time to time, and on one given night after a live audience taping, Malcolm and Michelle invited me to join them at a music-industry party that went late into the evening,' White wrote. 'Off I went into the back seat of Malcolm's Mercedes as a happy third wheel. It never dawned on me to drink a drop of liquor that evening, as my mother would be waiting up for me the moment I walked in the door. Just being out late at night, feeling grown and independent was memory enough.'
9 Malcolm-Jamal Warner at the 12th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2009.
Getty Images
9 Jaleel White visits SiriusXM Studios in NYC in 2024.
Getty Images
Warner died over the weekend while vacationing in Costa Rica with his family.
Costa Rican National Police told The Post that the actor was pulled from the water by people in the area and taken to shore, where they desperately attempted to save his life.
Warner's body was taken to the morgue at San Joaquin de Flores for an autopsy, with his cause of death listed as asphyxiation by 'submersion,' police shared.
9 Malcolm-Jamal Warner at the 2023 Grammy Awards.
Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP
The late star shot to fame playing Bill Cosby's on-screen son in 'The Cosby Show.'
In 2021, Warner spoke to The Post about the NBC sitcom's legacy after Cosby's sexual assault conviction was overturned.
'I can understand why some people can't watch the show and enjoy it because of everything that's going on now,' Warner shard at the time.
9 The cast of 'The Cosby Show.'
NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images
'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.'
After Warner's death, Cosby's rep told The Post that Cosby had recently spoke to the late actor after a concert in Minnesota.
Cosby also compared Warner's passing to losing his own son, Ennis Cosby, who was murdered in 1997.
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