ADVERTISEMENT Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who became widely known in the 1980s as Theo Huxtable on ‘The Cosby Show’, has died aged 54. Costa Rican authorities said the actor drowned on Sunday while swimming off Playa Cocles, on the country’s Caribbean coast.
He was pulled deeper into the ocean by a current and rescued by beachgoers, according to Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department, but showed no vital signs when Red Cross responders arrived.
Warner was 13 when he landed the role of Theo – the Huxtables’ only son – on what would become one of the most-watched American sitcoms of its time. The series, which ran from 1984 to 1992, became a cultural reference point for many, and Warner’s performances were central to some of its most memorable moments, including an early debate about school grades and a later scene where Theo awkwardly tries to conceal an ear piercing.
The role earned him an Emmy nomination and a kind of recognition that stayed with him for the rest of his career – not always comfortably. “Theo was very good to me. And I think that show and that role is timeless,” Warner said in a recent interview with Melyssa Ford on her ‘Hot & Bothered’ podcast. But he also spoke of wanting to distance himself from the character: “Somebody called me America’s favourite white Black boy. And I was 15. … It hurt me. … That’s cultural trauma.”
After ‘The Cosby Show’, Warner continued working steadily across television, film and music. He starred in ‘Malcolm & Eddie’ with Eddie Griffin, played Tracee Ellis Ross’s husband in ‘Reed Between the Lines’, and appeared in more recent dramas such as ‘The Resident’ and ‘American Crime Story’.
Tributes on Monday reflected both affection for the man and his long presence on screen. “Theo was OUR son, OUR brother, OUR friend,” wrote Viola Davis on Instagram. “He was absolutely so familiar, and we rejoiced at how TV got it right!! But Malcolm got it right … we reveled in your life and are gutted by this loss.”
Also on Instagram, Ross said: “I love you, Malcolm… What an actor and friend you were: warm, gentle, present, kind, thoughtful, deep, funny, elegant.” Griffin, meanwhile, wrote simply, “My heart is heavy right now… Rest easy my Brother.”
Warner was also known for his music and poetry, earning a Grammy for traditional R&B performance and a nomination for best spoken word poetry album. Behind the camera, he directed episodes of several of the shows he acted in.
Like the rest of the ‘Cosby Show’ cast, Warner had to navigate the fallout from the sexual assault allegations against Bill Cosby. In 2015, Warner told the Associated Press that the show’s legacy had been “tarnished,” particularly in terms of how it had once stood as a positive example of Black representation on television. “The fact that we no longer have that, that’s the thing that saddens me the most,” he said. “Because in a few generations the Huxtables will have been just a fairy tale.”
Warner largely kept his private life out of the spotlight. He was married and had a young daughter, though their names were never publicly shared. His representatives have not issued a statement regarding his death.
He continued acting into his 50s, recently playing a burn survivor in a guest role on ‘9-1-1’. Jennifer Love Hewitt, a castmate from that show, wrote: “This hurts my heart. A gentleman, an incredible talent… Heartbroken and sending love to his family.”
Others shared similar sentiments. Magic Johnson said he’d had “deep and fun conversations about basketball, life and business” with Warner. Taraji P. Henson thanked him for “the art, the wisdom, the grace,” and Questlove recalled someone “who always took the time out to school me and talk about his experiences… he expressed ZERO cynicism or bitterness.”
Warner began acting at age nine, with early credits on ‘Matt Houston’ and Fame. By the time ‘The Cosby Show’ premiered, he was part of a cast led by one of the biggest names in American television – but no one could have predicted the scale of the show’s impact, or the weight of the legacy that followed.
