Malcolm-Jamal Warner, ‘Cosby Show’ actor, dies at 54 in Costa Rica drowning

Malcolm-Jamal Warner. (Reuters)

SAN JOSE, Costa Rica: Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who as teenage son Theo Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” was central to a cultural phenomenon that helped define the 1980s, died at age 54 in an accidental drowning in Costa Rica, authorities there said Monday.

Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department said Warner drowned Sunday afternoon on a beach on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast. He was swimming at Playa Cocles in Limon province when a current pulled him deeper into the ocean.

“He was rescued by people on the beach,” the department’s initial report said, but first responders from Costa Rica’s Red Cross found him without vital signs and he was taken to the morgue.

Warner created many TV moments etched in the memories of Generation X children and their parents, including a pilot-episode argument with Bill Cosby’s Cliff Huxtable about money, and another episode where Theo tries to hide his ear piercing from his dad. His Theo was the only son among four daughters in the household of Cliff Huxtable and Phylicia Rashad’s Clair Huxtable on the NBC sitcom, and he would be one of the prime representations of American teenage boyhood on a show that was the most popular in America for much of its run from 1984 to 1992.

He played the role for eight seasons, appearing in each of the show’s 197 episodes and earning an Emmy nomination for supporting actor in a comedy in 1986. For many the lasting image of the character, and of Warner, is of him wearing a badly botched mock designer shirt sewed by his sister Denise, played by Lisa Bonet. The “Gordon Gartrell” shirt later became a memeable image: Anthony Mackie wore one on “The Tonight Show” with Jimmy Fallon and the profile picture on Warner’s Instagram shows a toddler sporting one.

NBA hall-of-famer Magic Johnson was among those giving tribute Monday. Johnson said on X that he and his wife are sad to hear of the death of their friend.

“We were both super fans of the hit ‘Cosby Show’ and continued to follow his career on shows like ‘Malcolm and Eddie’ and ‘The Resident,’” Johnson said. “Every time I ran into Malcolm, we would have deep and fun conversations about basketball, life, and business. He will truly be missed.”

Like the rest of the “Cosby Show” cast, Warner had to contend with the sexual assault allegations against its titular star, whose conviction in a Pennsylvania court was later overturned.

Warner told The Associated Press in 2015 that the show’s legacy was “tarnished.”

“My biggest concern is when it comes to images of people of color on television and film,” Warner said. “We’ve always had ‘The Cosby Show’ to hold up against that. And the fact that we no longer have that, that’s the thing that saddens me the most because in a few generations the Huxtables will have been just a fairy tale.”

Representatives for Cosby declined immediate comment.

Warner worked steadily as an actor for more than 40 years. His first major post-“Cosby” role came on the sitcom “Malcolm & Eddie,” co-starring with comedian Eddie Griffin in the popular series on the defunct UPN network from 1996 to 2000.

“My heart is heavy right now,” Griffin said on Instagram Monday. “Rest easy my brother for you have Won in life and now you have won forever eternal bliss..”

In the 2010s, he starred opposite Tracee Ellis Ross as a family-blending couple for two seasons on the BET sitcom “Read Between The Lines.” He also had a role as O.J. Simpson’s friend Al Cowlings on “American Crime Story” and was a series regular on Fox’s “The Resident.”

“First I met you as Theo with the rest of the world then you were my first TV husband,” Ross said on Instagram. “My heart is so so sad. What an actor and friend you were: warm, gentle, present, kind, thoughtful, deep, funny, elegant.”

Warner’s film roles included the 2008 rom-com “Fool’s Gold” with Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson. A poet and a musician, Warner was a Grammy winner, for best traditional R&B performance, and was nominated for best spoken word poetry album for “Hiding in Plain View.”

Warner also worked as a director, helming episodes of “Malcolm & Eddie,” “Read Between the Lines,” “Kenan & Kel,” and “All That.”

Warner was born in 1970 in Jersey City, New Jersey. His mother, Pamela Warner, reportedly named him after Malcolm X and jazz pianist Jamal. She served as his manager when he began pursuing acting at age 9.

In the early 1980s, he made guest appearances on the TV shows “Matt Houston” — his first credit — and “Fame.”

Warner was 13 when he landed the role of Theo in an audition after a broad search for the right child actor.

Cosby was a major star at the time, and the show was certain to be widely seen, but few could’ve predicted the huge, yearslong phenomenon it would become.

He had been married for about 10 years with a daughter about 5 years old, but chose to not publicly disclose their names. Warner’s representatives declined immediate comment on his death.

His final credits came in TV guest roles, including appearances on “The Wonder Years,” “Grown-ish,” and “9-1-1,” where he had a four-episode arc last year.

“I grew up with a maniacal obsession with not wanting to be one of those ‘where are they now kids,’” Warner told the AP in 2015. “I feel very blessed to be able to have all of these avenues of expression ... to be where I am now and finally at a place where I can let go of that worry about having a life after ‘Cosby.’”