Learning that Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who we all watched grow up on “The Cosby Show” as Theo Huxtable, drowned in a tragic incident with his family while on vacation in Costa Rica left me stunned. 

In the Theo Huxtable role, Warner had a sweetness, a charm, an innocence that you don’t normally see attributed to young Black men. It is so sad to know that at 54 years old; he has abruptly been taken away from the world.

Woodie King Jr., founder of New Federal Theatre shared, “That’s sad, I’m shocked. I think Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad did so much and gave a new image for Black people and Malcolm-Jamal Warner was integral to that.”

Ralph Carter, child star of “Good Times” who played Michael Evans and knew Warner well, shared, “I’ve known Malcolm-Jamal Warner for 30 years. His mother was his rock, she looked out for him and helped him make wise choices. I remember when they used to tape ‘The Cosby Show’ on set and I went to see it when Stevie Wonder was on the set. Malcolm and I had a ton of mad respect for each other. I liked his evolution as an actor. He went from the wonders of comedy and fun, but he turned into a really serious actor. His dramatic acting for me was excellent. I really loved the way his mother protected him from this type of industry. It hasn’t been an hour since I heard the news, but I’m still in shock. In ‘The Cosby Show’ he was an excellent inspiration for young Black men, middle class, upper class, you name it. ‘The Cosby Show’ was well received in this country. I always felt that Malcolm-Jamal was a very grounded young man.”

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Jackie Jeffries, president of AUDELCO, was shaken as she responded, “I just heard it seconds ago, I’m stunned. Two weeks ago they had a feed on yahoo.com news about people who died that worked on ‘The Cosby Show.’ It’s horrific. It’s so bad I can’t believe it. I was binging ‘The Resident’ recently. His politics were all correct, the way he did so many things for our people. To think of him as an ancestor, I’m stunned. It meant so much to have a young Black man on ‘The Cosby Show’, who grew up and went to college. 

“It was great to have a young Black male [that wasn’t] villainized. Shows like ‘The Cosby Show’ lead to a lot more Black people seeing college in their future. In ‘The Resident’ he went on to play a doctor,” Jeffries continued. “When you think about it, you only saw him playing in positive, male roles, he was a role model. I have a lot of respect for him for that. He always showed up positive on TV, something that our young men and women can look up to. I’m so sorry he’s gone, this is really a sad moment. Good bless his family. Malcolm-Jamal used to host the Midnight Poetry Slam at the National Black Theatre Festival and people were lined up to get in and he did it for years staying connected to his culture. He always had a moral standard that honored us as a people.”

 

Additional reporting by Flo Anthony

Malcolm-Jamal Warner: Why he meant so much to us