Malcolm Jamal-Warner, who starred on The Cosby Show and Malcolm & Eddie, died on July 20 2025 at the age of 54. He drowned by accident off the coast of Costa Rica after having been caught in a strong current.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner was born on August 18 1970 in Jersey City. He was five years old when his family moved to Los Angeles. He was nine years old when he began showing an interest in entertainment. This led him to enroll in and graduate from the Professional Children's School in New York City.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner made his television debut on an episode of Matt Houston in 1982 when he was about 12 years old. He also made guest appearances on Fame and Call to Glory. It was in 1984 that he began playing Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show. He appeared on the show for the entirety of its run. He was nominated for the 1986 Emmy for Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. In the Eighties he also guest starred on the shows ABC Afternoon Specials, Matlock (as himself), A Different World (as Theo Huxtable), Tour of Duty, and Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.
In the Nineties. he continued to appear as Theo on The Cosby Show. It was in 1996 that he started playing Malcolm McGee opposite Eddie Griffin as Eddie Sherman on Malcolm & Eddie, on which he was also a producer. The show ran until 2000. He also starred on the show Here and Now and was the voice of The Producer on the animated series The Magic School Bus. He was the host of CBS Storybreak. He guest starred on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Touched by an Angel, Moloney, and Sliders. He appeared in the HBO movie The Tuskegee Airmen. He made his movie debut in Drop Zone in 1994. He also appeared in the movies Restaurant (1998) and A Fare to Remember (1999).
In the Naughts, Malcolm-Jamal Warner hosted Lyric Cafe. He starred on the shows Jeremiah, Listen Up, and Sherri. He was a guest voice on the animated series Static Shock and Stripperella. He guest starred on the shows Dexter, The Cleaner, and Hawthorne. He appeared in the movies The List (2007) and Fool's Gold (2008).
In the Teens Malcolm-Jamal Warner had recurring roles on Community, Sons of Anarchy, American Horror Story, American Crime Story, Suits, Sneaky Pete., and Girlfriends' Guide to Divorce. He was a regular on Read Between the Lines, Major Crimes, and Ten Days in the Valley. He appeared in the movies King of the Underground (2011), Megachurch Murder (2015), and Shot (2017). In the 2020s, Malcom-Jamal Warner was a regular on The Resident. He had recurring roles on 9-1-1 and Alert: Missing Persons Unit. He guest starred on Accused, The Wonder Years, The Irrational, and Grownish.
In addition to acting, Malcolm-Jamal Warner also directed episodes of The Cosby Show, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Kenan & Kel, Malcolm & Eddie, All That, Read Between the Lines, and The Resident. Malcolm-Jamal Warner was also a musician who released four albums the first of which was The Miles Long Mixtape in 2003. He was also a poet and was even nominated in 2023 for the Grammy for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album.
I believe it is safe to say that Malcolm-Jamal Warner will always be best remembered as Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show. While this will probably always be the case, he did play many other roles throughout his career. On Community he played Shirley's somewhat flawed, but at the same time supportive ex-husband Andre Bennett. On Suits he played Dr Julius Rowe, the psychologist at the Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut. On Major Crimes he played Lt. Chuck Cooper, who was in the Officer-in-Charge of the Special Investigation Section of the Los Angeles Police's Special Operations Bureau. One of his better known roles was Malcolm McGee on Malcolm & Eddie. Malcolm McGee was the level-headed, responsible roommate and business partner to the overly upbeat and down-to-earth Eddie Sherman (Eddie Griffin). Malcolm-Jamal Warner always gave good performances and played a number of memorable characters. He also appears to have been genuinely nice person who was supportive of others. I know my dearest Vanessa Marquez enjoyed her guest appearances on Malcolm & Eddie and appreciated both Malcolm-Jamal Warner and Eddie Griffin. Others have also commented on how mice Malcolm-Jamal Warner was, from Kate Hudson who described him as "...the kindest and the sweetest" to Morris Chestnut, who described him as "One of the nicest in the business." Malcolm-Jamal Warner was a true talent and a fine gentleman.
