Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who starred in The Cosby Show as Theo Huxtable, has died. According to multiple reports, including from CNN and People Monday, Warner died Sunday following an accidental drowning while swimming during a family vacation in Costa Rica. He was 54.
Costa Rica National Police told ABC News that the actor died of asphyxia after swimming near Cocles in Lion, Costa Rica. Police told the outlet he was caught by a high current in the water. His body was discovered and identified by his family Sunday afternoon.
Warner was most known for The Cosby Show. Warner’s role as the lovable Theodore Huxtable, the only son of Bill Cosby on the show, earned him a nod for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series at the 1986 Emmy Awards. After years on the NBC sitcom, Warner played Malcolm in Malcolm & Eddie, alongside Eddie Griffin, in the mid-Nineties.
Also that decade, he became an executive producer for the beloved PBS Kids show The Magic School Bus, adding his voice for the show. He also appeared in shows such as Here and Now, and hosted CBS Storybreak in 1993 and 1994.
Warner also played Alex Reed on the short-running Reed Between the Lines on BET and Centric in 2012 and 2015, in which he played the partner of Tracee Ellis Ross’ character Carla. In recent years, Warner had a recurring role on Suits in 2016 and 2017, played A.C. Cowlings on The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story in 2016, and appeared in American Horror Story: Freak Show in 2014.
Along with his acting, Warner had a Grammy-winning foray into music. While none of his own records earned nods, he won for Best Traditional R&B Performance after being featured on Robert Glasper’s “Jesus Children.”
On his own, Warner released four albums throughout his career, his latest of which dropped in 2022, Hiding in Plain Sight. Most recently, he was hosting his own podcast, Not All Hood, which dropped a new episode just three days ago.
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