This story was updated on Monday, July 21 at 3:08 p.m.
Actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner, best known for his role as Theo Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” has died. He was 54 years old.
Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department said Monday that Warner, a New York native and Atlanta resident, 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.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s four-decade career in television
Warner began his professional acting career in 1982 at the age of 12. He skyrocketed to national attention two years later as the only son of comedian Bill Cosby’s character on his hit self-titled sitcom, which ran from 1984-1992.
The role earned Warner a 1985 Emmy Award nomination for his role, making him the youngest-ever nominee for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
“NBC initially saw it as a show about an upper-middle-class Black family. Mr. [Bill] Cosby diligently impressed upon them that the show was about an upper-middle-class family that happened to be Black,” Warner told People Magazine in 2023.
“We share a unique experience that keeps us lovingly bonded no matter how much time goes between seeing or hearing from each other,” he added.
He would stay in the situation comedy genre for the remainder of the 1990s, headlining the NBC series “Here and Now” from 1992-1993, followed by the UPN series “Malcolm and Eddie” from 1996-1999, the latter co-starring comedian Eddie Griffin.
Other notable television appearances in the following years included dramatic roles in the HBO miniseries “The Tuskegee Airmen” and the cable dramas “Jeremiah,” “Major Crimes” and “Suits.”
Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s Atlanta ties
His most recent role as a series regular came on FOX’s medical drama “The Resident” from 2018-2023. The Atlanta-filmed series made Warner a resident of the Peach State.
During the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strikes, Warner was a vocal advocate for Atlanta’s acting community, appearing at various rallies throughout the city, which he said allowed him to work with accomplished local talent.
Warner told WABE it was the first time in his 40-plus-year career that he had seen the two unions strike simultaneously.
“I think that makes this whole experience even more profound. I think where we are now, the stakes are greater than what affects us as artists … we’re almost the last frontier, especially in terms of this fight against A.I. and automation,” he said.
Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens called Warner “a gifted musician, an inspiring speaker, and a cultural force who left a lasting mark on Atlanta” in a statement on Monday.
“We were honored to welcome Malcolm to our city many times over the years and he even had a residence in Metro Atlanta,” Dickens said. “From his soulful set at the Mayor’s After the Masked Ball to his powerful presence during a creative workshop at this year’s Atlanta Jazz Festival, Malcolm brought authenticity, artistry, and heart to everything he touched. His impact was also felt on the screen as a star of The Resident, which filmed in Atlanta for six seasons.”
“Our prayers are with his family, friends, and fans around the world,” he added.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner achieved success beyond TV
Outside of acting, Warner also had a successful career as a musician and spoken word artist, winning a Grammy in 2015 for his performance of “Jesus Children” with pianist Robert Glasper Experiment and Lalah Hathaway.
Warner also released four critically-acclaimed spoken word albums: “Miles Long Mix Tape” (in 2003), “Love and Other Social Issues” (in 2007), “Selfless” (in 2015), and his most recent Grammy-nominated album “Hiding in Plain View,” released in 2022.
“The acting is what pays the bills, but the poetry and music … it’s a lane that I can express myself in ways that I can’t as an actor,” Warner told WABE’s “City Lights” in 2023.
Warner was married with a daughter, but chose to not publicly disclose their names. Warner’s representatives declined immediate comment.
WABE’s Patrick Saunders and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
