According to Costa Rican authorities on Monday, US actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who portrayed the son in the popular sitcom “The Cosby Show,” drowned in Costa Rica. He was 54. Under the direction of disgraced comic actor Bill Cosby, Warner portrayed the endearing Theo Huxtable for all eight seasons of the program.
According to a statement from the investigating police, “We received a report of an adult male who died of drowning asphyxiation at Cocles Beach in Cahuita” on Sunday afternoon. It appears that a current dragged the victim out of the water when he joined it. “Red Cross lifeguards declared the man dead, but bystanders on the beach helped him.”
He was recognized as the actor by the local authorities, who also stated that his body had been taken to a morgue for additional investigation. Warner, whose performance on “The Cosby Show” earned him an Emmy nomination, also starred in the sitcoms “Malcolm & Eddie” and “Reed Between the Lines.”
One of the most popular television programs of its era, “The Cosby Show” followed the life of a middle-class Black family in New York from 1984 until 1992. Bill Cosby, who portrayed the family’s patriarch, a prosperous doctor, served as the inspiration for the show’s stand-up routines.
Due to its portrayal of a joyful, loving Black family, the show was a critical and financial success. However, in recent years, dozens of sexual assault complaints against Cosby—once referred to as “America’s Dad”—have eclipsed its legacy.
