21-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Malcolm-Jamal Warner, actor who rose to fame on ‘The Cosby Show,' dies at 54
Malcolm-Jamal Warner, an actor and musician who rose to fame as a child star on 'The Cosby Show,' has died at 54.
Warner died of an accidental drowning while on a family vacation in Costa Rica, according to the Associated Press. Representatives for the actor declined to provide a statement.
A New Jersey native, Warner started acting when he was 9 years old, and became a household name in the 1980s when he starred as the witty teenage son Theodore Huxtable in 'The Cosby Show.'
Created by and starring Bill Cosby, the show became one of the biggest and most culturally significant sitcoms in television history. Warner garnered critical acclaim for his performance, which earned him an Emmy nomination in 1986 when he was 16.
'When the show first came out, there were White people and Black people talking about (how) the Huxtables don't really exist, Black people don't really live like that,' Warner said in a 2013 interview. 'Meanwhile, we were getting tens of thousands of fan letters from people saying, 'Thank you so much for this show.''
Beyond his breakout role, Warner starred in the UPN sitcom 'Malcolm & Eddie' and made recurring appearances on shows including 'Suits,' 'Community' and 'The Resident.'
A trained musician, Warner also carved out a career in music, winning a Grammy award in 2015 for the song 'Jesus Children' alongside Robert Glasper Experiment and Lalah Hathaway.
