Malcolm-Jamal Warner, actor best known for playing sparky teenager Theo Huxtable in The Cosby Show

Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Theo Huxtable - Alan Singer/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, the actor, who has died aged 54, was cast as Theo Huxtable in the sitcom The Cosby Show at the age of 13, and over the course of some 200 episodes became one of US television’s best-known teenagers.

Starring the popular comedian Bill Cosby as the affable, garish-sweater-clad Cliff Huxtable, The Cosby Show ran for eight years on NBC from 1984 and was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK. The programme’s gentle humour stemmed from the day-to-day bewilderments of family life, as Cliff navigated his role as father of five children – Theo, the middle child, being the only boy.

It repeatedly topped the US television ratings, with much of its appeal due to its focus on an affluent black family, Cliff being an obstetrician and his wife Clair (Phylicia Rashad) a lawyer. “The Cosby Show… finally legitimized the black middle class, which has always been around since the inception of this country but, as with everything, is not legitimate till it’s on television,” Malcolm-Jamal Warner observed.

For many black teenage boys, Theo Huxtable – sparky and wilful but far from a delinquent – was about the only character on television whose life bore any similarity to their own.

Warner soon found himself besieged with fan mail and took his role model status seriously: in 1988 he published Theo and Me: Growing Up Okay, a frank book about coping with adolescent dilemmas.

Warner, back row, second left, as Theo Huxtable with Bill Cosby, centre, as the patriarch Dr Huxtable: ‘The thing that saddens me the most...,’ Warner reflected, was that ‘in a few generations the Huxtables will have been just a fairy tale’ - Alan Singer/NBCUniversal via Getty Images

As the series progressed, the storyline saw Cliff Huxtable berating Theo for his poor performance at school, only for the boy to eventually be diagnosed with dyslexia. This reflected Bill Cosby’s real-life experiences with his son Ennis, and the programme was praised for throwing light on what was then a little-discussed condition.

Warner was much admired for his comic timing, and at 16 was nominated for an Emmy. By the time The Cosby Show finished in 1992 he had also won approval for avoiding the pitfalls that have ensnared so many people who become rich and famous while still in their teens.

“The temptations were there, but there was also the understanding that when I’m out, I’m not only a reflection of my mother and my father, I’m also representing Mr Cosby and his work,” he recalled. “So I definitely knew what my boundaries were.”

Warner enjoyed a successful, if less high-profile, acting career as an adult, but remained principally associated with The Cosby Show, and his pride in his work on that show was shattered when latterly the avuncular Bill Cosby was disgraced over multiple sex-abuse accusations.

“We’ve always had The Cosby Show to hold up against… negative stereotypes of people of colour,” he said in 2015. “And the fact that we no longer have that, that’s the thing that saddens me the most because in a few generations the Huxtables will have been just a fairy tale.”

Malcolm-Jamal Warner was born in New Jersey on August 18 1970, being named in honour of Malcolm X and the jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal. His parents, Robert and Pamela, divorced when he was six.

Warner with Will Smith in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air - Joseph Del Valle/NBCU Photo Bank

His mother encouraged him to take part in community theatre productions, but she resisted overtures from an agent who told her that her son was good enough to go professional; eventually a local drama teacher insisted that his talent should not be wasted and volunteered to take him to auditions.

In 1984 he auditioned for The Cosby Show, and although Bill Cosby objected to his “playing Theo like kids on TV – precocious, and rolling my eyes, and hitting all the beats”, he told the boy to work on making his performance more truthful and had him back for a second, successful audition.

After The Cosby Show he had further sitcom success alongside Eddie Griffin in Malcolm and Eddie (1996-2000). His many other television appearances included roles in The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Sliders, Dexter and American Horror Story, and he was a regular as prison counsellor Julius Rowe opposite Meghan Markle in Suits.

In 2013 he played Dr John Prentice in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner at the Arena Stage Theater in Washington, and in 2015 he received a Grammy Award for his spoken-word contribution to a recording by Robert Glasper Experiment. He also played bass with his own band, releasing a number of albums. Since last year he had been co-host of a podcast, Not All Hood, about the experiences of ordinary black Americans.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner drowned while swimming at a beach in Costa Rica, where he was on a family holiday. He is survived by his wife and daughter.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner, born August 18 1970, died July 20 2025

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