Malcolm-Jamal Warner, the Emmy-nominated actor who starred as Theo Huxtable for eight seasons on “The Cosby Show,” has died, The Times has confirmed. He was 54.
Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department told the Associated Press on Monday that Warner 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.
First responders from Costa Rica’s Red Cross found him without vital signs and he was taken to the morgue. Warner was on vacation with his family.
Representatives for Warner declined to comment immediately Monday, but Warner’s friends and colleagues poured out their thoughts on social media.
“I love you, Malcolm,” wrote Tracee Ellis Ross, who co-starred as Warner’s wife on 29 episodes of “Reed Between the Lines.” “First I met you as Theo with the rest of the world then you were my first TV husband. My heart is so so sad. What an actor and friend you were: warm, gentle, present, kind, thoughtful, deep, funny, elegant. You made the world a brighter place. Sending so much love to your family. I’m so sorry for this unimaginable loss.”
Morris Chestnut, who worked with Warner on “The Resident,” was “heartbroken” to hear the news.
“He brought so much depth, warmth, and wisdom to every scene and every conversation,” Chestnut wrote. “One of the nicest in the business. Rest easy, brother. Your legacy lives on.”
“The JOY in your voice as you spoke about your daughter the last time we talked is all I can think about in this moment … Thank You for being a beautiful light. A Masterclass on the phrase ‘a class act.’ Well done,” wrote singer-songwriter Ledisi, who worked with Warner in music and on TV.
“Luke Cage” actor Mike Colter posted an all-smiles photo of himself and Warner that was taken when the two ran into each other about a year ago. They first connected during the pandemic lockdown, he said.
“I was fascinated by his depth and concern for his fellow man. His compassion for his people. His musical gifts and expressions in spoken word,” Colter wrote. “Yes of course I had watched him as I grew up on the Cosby Show but he had grown into so much more as an [artist] and a man. A father.
“I took this photo as his mother sat across from us. I complimented her on what a great job she had done with her son in this industry. He [turned] out so well,” Colter continued. “My heart goes out to her. I never heard a harsh word [spoken] about him. His legacy will live on. I’m so sorry for this loss to his family and friends. i’m in shock to be honest.”
Holly Robinson Peete said she met Warner in the 1980s when her father was a writer-producer on “The Cosby Show.” The two stayed friends over the years.
“I’m struggling to process this,” she wrote. “Malcolm was so deeply loved, respected, and a true icon of television. … He was always gracious, kind, funny and gave the absolute best hugs. I am sending my deepest condolences to his mom, Pamela and his family… We aren’t ready to say goodbye, Malcolm — but you lived with purpose, character, presence, and grace. Rest well, my friend. Your light lives on.”
“I actually am speechless!!!!! No words!,” Oscar-winning actor Viola Davis wrote. “Theo was OUR son, OUR brother, OUR friend… He was absolutely so familiar, and we rejoiced at how TV got it right!! But… Malcolm got it right… and now… we reveled in your life and are gutted by this loss.”
Niecy Nash said she had just spoken to Warner. “You were giving me my flowers for my work in @grotesqueriefx and we talked about how happy we both were in our marriages,” she wrote. “ Damn friend … You were cornerstone of The Cosby Show. We all loved Theo! Never to be forgotten. You will be missed. Rest Easy.”
Questlove said he saw himself in Theo Huxtable: being bad at football, wanting clothes he couldn’t afford, hiding edgy things from the parents.
“If you looked like me coming of age in the 80s, Malcom-as-Theo was a gps/lighthouse of navigating safety to adulthood. For those of us that didnt have ‘examples’ or ‘safe environments’ — I would like to think for anyone of age we used this entire show —and its offspring as life blueprints,” the music producer and drummer wrote.
In addition to acting on “The Cosby Show,” Warner directed five episodes over the final three years of the show. He was behind the camera for a half-dozen installments of “All That” and also directed episodes of “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “The Resident,” “Kenan & Kel” and “Reed Between the Lines.”
“Part of the reason I even got into directing is because I realized as an actor you really only have so much creative control over whatever project you’re acting in,” Warner told The Times in 1991. “I felt that, as a director, I would at least have more of a voice.”
He continued, saying, “Directing, as is acting and writing, is an interpretation. And I feel that I have a pretty good sense of how to tell a story. And I think that my interpretation of things is pretty, pretty good.”
Born Aug. 18, 1970, in Jersey City, N.J., Warner was named after activist Malcolm X and jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal. He caught the performing bug by the time he was 9 and wound up attending Manhattan’s Professional Children’s School, which counts him among its “distinguished alumni.”
His parents divorced when he was 3 and he was raised primarily by his mother, Pamela, who served as his manager in the early days of his career.
“I think probably the biggest influence — and I talk about this all the time, and I will probably continue to talk about this until my dying day — my mother. I think she really made the most impact on me,” he said.
Working on “The Cosby Show” in New York instead of Hollywood was another formative experience for him when the sitcom was the most popular thing on TV.
“There weren’t really many other shows shooting in New York. We all had to grow up with friends who were not in the business,” Warner told People in 2024. “And when you grow up in New York, there’s a different exposure to reality than when you grow up on television in Hollywood.”
After getting an Emmy nomination for supporting actor in 1986, for his work on “Cosby,” Warner went on to amass dozens of TV credits. They include four seasons as the lead actor on “Malcolm & Eddie” — he directed 17 episodes on that UPN show — and six seasons as A.J. Austin on “The Resident.”
Other appearances included work on “Sons of Anarchy,” “Major Crimes,” “Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce” and “Suits.”
Warner also won a Grammy for traditional R&B performance in 2015 for the song “Jesus Children” and was nominated for spoken word poetry album in 2023.
His band Miles Long incorporated spoken word and funk. The band released “The Miles Long Mixtape” in 2004 and “Love & Other Social Issues” in 2007. “Selfless” dropped in 2015 and “Hiding in Plain View” came out in 2022.
“I’ve been writing all my life and playing bass came later on, when I was about 26,” Warner told Billboard in 2015. “What I recognized with poetry and music [is] that I had a different voice — there were things I wanted to express that I could not as an actor or even as a director. It was another avenue of expression that my soul needs.”
Of course, he was asked for his thoughts on co-star Bill Cosby when Cosby was accused of rape in 2015.
“He’s one of my mentors, and he’s been very influential and played a big role in my life as a friend and mentor,” Warner told Billboard. “Just as it’s painful to hear any woman talk about sexual assault, whether true or not, it’s just as painful to watch my friend and mentor go through this.”
Warner was very happy in his own marriage, though he kept his wife and daughter’s identities private.
“When people say, when you know, you know. That’s what this feeling is,” he said on the “Hot & Bothered” podcast in May. “We’ve been together almost 10 years. We’ve never had a fight, an argument, a raised voice or a harsh word. Not that we’ve always agreed. We’re just at a point where we have a way of communicating.”
After playing clean-cut Theodore Huxtable, Warner was looking for other paths when he talked to The Times in 1987.
“In my post-’Cosby’ life, as I call it, I don’t want to be known as just the kind of guy who can play a Theo Huxtable-type character,” Warner said. “I want to be known as being able to do more things, being able to stretch. For me that was the most important thing.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
