PLAYA COCLES, Costa Rica (CelebrityAccess) — Malcolm-Jamal Warner, an award-winning actor who first rose to fame as Theodore Huxtable on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, died on July 20 while on vacation in Costa Rica. He was 54.
According to the Associated Press, officials in Costa Rica said Warner drowned Sunday afternoon at Playa Cocles in the country’s Limón province after he was caught in a current and pulled away from shore.
A report on the incident said he was rescued by others on the beach, but first responders from Costa Rica’s Red Cross said he showed no vital signs when they arrived on the scene, the AP reported.
An actor of stage and screen, Warner was best known for his portrayal of Theodore Huxtable across the eight-season run of The Cosby Show from 1984 to 1991.
He was also part of the main cast of series such as Malcolm & Eddie, Here and Now, and Jeremiah, as well as films including Drop Zone (1994), Fool’s Gold (2008), and King of the Underground (2011), among others.
In 2024, he teamed up with Weusi Baraka and Candace Kelley to launch the podcast Not All Hood (NAH), exploring the lived experiences of Black Americans.
Warner was also a Grammy-winning poet and bass guitarist, performing with the National Black Theatre Festival and hosting its annual poetry jam.
In 2015, he won the Grammy Award for Best Traditional R&B Performance for “Jesus Children,” with Robert Glasper Experiment featuring Lalah Hathaway, and was later nominated for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album for his release Hiding in Plain View.
