Malcolm-Jamal Warner Dies at 54 in Drowning Accident in Costa Rica

• Jul 22, 2025

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, best known for playing Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show, has died at the age of 54.

Warner drowned on Sunday afternoon while swimming at a beach in Cocles de Limón, located on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast. According to the country’s Judicial Investigation Department, he was pulled out to sea by a strong current. Although bystanders tried to help, Red Cross staff pronounced him dead at the scene.

Warner became a household name in the 1980s for his role as the only son on The Cosby Show, a performance that earned him an Emmy nomination in 1986. The sitcom was widely praised for its cultural impact, particularly for its portrayal of a successful Black American family. In a 2023 interview, Warner described the experience as “awesome” and said he was proud of the show’s influence both in America and globally.

However, in later years, Warner acknowledged that the legacy of the show had been overshadowed by the sexual assault allegations against its lead, Bill Cosby. Cosby was convicted in one case, though that conviction was later overturned.

Beyond The Cosby Show, Warner enjoyed a varied career in television. He starred in Malcolm & Eddie, Reed Between the Lines, and more recently The Resident. He also voiced The Producer on The Magic School Bus and made his film debut in Drop Zone. As a director, he worked on several TV shows, including Keenan & Kel, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and even episodes of The Cosby Show itself.

At the time of his death, Warner had recently appeared in Alert: Missing Persons Unit and was hosting a podcast titled Not All Hood, which focused on the diversity of Black experiences in America. He was also a Grammy-winning musician and a passionate poet.

Author and poet Kevin Powell, a close friend, remembered Warner as a devoted husband and father who remained grounded despite fame. “He was never someone who was into the celebrity of it,” Powell said. “He literally was America’s son.”

A spokesperson for Bill Cosby said news of Warner’s death was “devastating,” comparing it to Cosby’s own loss of his son Ennis in 1997.