Malcolm-Jamal Warner, former 'Cosby Show' star, dead at 54

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, the actor perhaps best known for starring in the TV sitcom "The Cosby Show" as son Theodore "Theo" Huxtable, has died at 54.

Warner drowned off the coast of Costa Rica on Sunday, Costa Rican National Police told ABC News. Warner's official cause of death was asphyxia, police said.

Warner died near Cocles, a beach in Limon, Costa Rica, after getting caught by a rip current Sunday afternoon, police said. Bystanders rescued him and took him to shore, where he received treatment, though he was declared dead by the Costa Rican Red Cross, police said.

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Warner was formally identified by Costa Rica's national police, which described him as a tourist.

Celebrities, co-stars mourn Malcolm-Jamal Warner's death

Frazer Harrison/Getty Images - PHOTO: Malcolm-Jamal Warner speaks during the 65th GRAMMY Awards Premiere Ceremony at Microsoft Theater on Feb. 5, 2023 in Los Angeles.

Warner played Theo Huxtable for all eight seasons of "The Cosby Show," which ran from 1985-1992, receiving an Emmy nomination for the role.

Warner also starred with Eddie Griffin in the 1996-2000 sitcom "Malcolm & Eddie," and as Dr. Alex Reed in the BET sitcom "Reed Between the Lines." He also appeared in guest roles on dozens of television shows over the years.

Warner most recently starred in the Fox medical drama "The Resident" for five of the show's six seasons.

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Born Aug. 18, 1970, Warner caught the acting bug early in life and attended and graduated from The Professional Children's School in New York City.

He made his first television appearance in an episode of the TV series "Matt Houston" in 1982 and also appeared in the "Fame" television series the following year.

In 1984, he landed his role in "The Cosby Show" alongside Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, Lisa Bonet and more.

In 2023, Warner appeared on "Live with Kelly and Mark" and shared how he got the role.

"When my agent submitted me, they were looking for a 6-foot-2-inch 16-year-old," he said at the time. "Because it was a running joke -- Mr. Cosby's son at the time was 15 and was [6 feet, 2 inches tall]."

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He said that they weren't able to find someone with that criteria, so his agent resubmitted him for the role and he auditioned.

"I was literally the last person they saw," he said.

Frank Carroll/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images - PHOTO: The Cosby Show cast members, Tempestt Bledsoe, Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Lisa Bonet, Phylicia Rashad, Keshia Knight Pulliam and Bill Cosby.

The role earned Warner an Emmy nomination in 1986 for outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series.

Warner spoke to Bevy Smith about the legacy of "The Cosby Show" in 2023, saying, "There's a generation of us who went to college, they sought out higher education because of that show. There's a generation of us that went and got married and had loving relationships with each other and their children because of that show."

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He added, "That impact is irreversible."

Following "The Cosby Show," Warner continued to appear in several television series including "The Michael J. Fox Show," "Key & Peele," "American Horror Story" and "Sons of Anarchy" in 2014, as well as "Suits" and "American Crime Story" in 2016.

In 2011, he starred in the BET comedy series "Reed Between the Lines," alongside Tracee Ellis Ross.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner On The Legacy of 'The Cosby Show'

He also starred in several films, including "The List" in 2007, "Fool's Gold" in 2008 and "Shot" in 2017.

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In 2015, Warner earned a Grammy Award for best traditional R&B performance alongside Robert Glasper Experiment and Lalah Hathaway for their cover of Stevie Wonder's "Jesus Children of America."

He told Questlove in 2023 that he was 26 when he started playing the bass as a hobby while working on "Malcolm and Eddie."

He also spoke about playing the bass in a 2015 interview with ForBassPlayersOnly.com, saying, "I always say the bass chose me because as a kid, the bass was always thing thing that resonated with me."

"I got my first record player when I was 8 and the first record I stole from my mom's collection was Grand Central Station," he added. "So at 8 years old, that's what would hit me."

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Warner also earned a Grammy nomination in 2023 for best spoken word poetry album for "Hiding In Plain View."

In June 2024, Warner started the podcast "Not All Hood" with Candace Kelly, where they talked about mental health in the Black community and more.

He told People in May 2024 that the podcast was a space for him to "be as vulnerable as I allow myself to be."

"So many of our Black images and so much of our Black music shows one side of our Black culture," he said. "We want to make sure that we can balance that out with the many other aspects of Black culture out there."

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In 2013, Warner told the Archive of American Television that his "proudest achievement" in life was "being able to have a post-Cosby life and post-Cosby career and still have my head on as straight as possible."

"I've had such an awesome life," he said at the time. "I've got my ups and downs and all of that, but if I die tomorrow, I know I would go with a smile on my face."

He added, "I have peace of mind and for me, you can't put a price on that. And I can definitely say that I feel successful in my post-Cosby life and having a peace of mind."