Malcolm-Jamal Warner, best known for playing Bill Cosby’s son on the hit NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, has died at the age of 54, according to multiple U.S. media reports Monday.
TMZ and People first reported his death, citing unnamed sources saying Warner died in an accidental drowning.
According to People, Warner was on a family vacation in Costa Rica at the time.
The Associated Press reported Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department said Warner drowned Sunday while he was swimming at Playa Grande de Cocles in Limon province, on the Caribbean coast, 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.
CBC News reached out to a representative for confirmation. Persona PR, an international media and communications firm, said it would not be providing any statements at this time.
Warner played Theodore (Theo) Huxtable, the only son of Cliff and Claire Huxtable (played by Cosby and Phylicia Rashad), on The Cosby Show throughout its run between 1984 and 1992.
The role earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series in 1986.
In the years that followed, Warner appeared as a guest actor on several television series.
His most recent work included a three-episode stint this year on Fox’s Alert: Missing Persons Unit and a four-episode run on ABC’s 9-1-1 in 2024.
More to come
