Malcolm-Jamal Warner, the actor who famously played Theodore Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” has died at 54, Costa Rican police told ABC News on Monday.
The star’s death was first reported by TMZ and confirmed by People, both of which said Warner died from accidental drowning. The Costa Rica Judicial Investigation Department found the actor’s body Sunday afternoon near Limon, Costa Rica, after he was caught by a high current in the ocean.
A representative for Warner declined HuffPost’s request for verification, saying the team for now is not providing any statements or confirming details.
Warner was best known for playing the son of Bill Cosby’s character in “The Cosby Show” sitcom between 1984 and 1992, launching him into stardom and getting him an Emmy nod.
“What made it so groundbreaking was its universality,” the actor told People in 2023. “NBC initially saw it as a show about an upper-middle-class Black family. Mr. Cosby diligently impressed upon them that the show was about an upper-middle-class family that happened to be Black.”
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Many fans’ relationship with the show began to sour after dozens of women came forward to accuse Cosby, now 88, of drugging and sexually assaulting them over a span of decades. The comedian was sentenced to prison in 2018 for those charges before his conviction was overturned three years later. Since then, at least nine more women have sued him over alleged sexual misconduct.
Warner has publicly spoken about how the allegations have changed the show’s reputation, and in 2016 pointed out what he believed was the media’s double standard when it came to other similarly accused filmmakers like Woody Allen, Roman Polanski and Stephen Collins.
“It’s very clear the crimes they’ve committed, but there’s no one who’s calling for Woody’s movies to be pulled off the air,” Warner said on BET’s “The Real.” “I am in no position to defend [Cosby], because I can’t. Nor will I throw him under the bus.”
Despite Cosby’s allegations, Warner maintained that he and many others in the case were still “proud of the legacy” they built on the show.
The actor went on to star in other shows and movies like the “Malcolm & Eddie” sitcom and the show “Reed Between the Lines.” He recently also appeared in “Major Crimes,” “Suits” and “The Resident.”
Last year, he launched a podcast titled “Not All Hood” in an effort to discuss the spectrum of experiences and identities that Black Americans have, as well as breaking down barriers to Black mental health.
Warner is survived by a wife and daughter.
Carly Koltes contributed to this report.
