Malcolm-Jamal Warner of 'The Cosby Show' reportedly died in drowning

Longtime Atlanta resident Malcolm-Jamal Warner, best known as Theo Huxtable in the 1980s sitcom “The Cosby Show,” died in an accidental drowning while vacationing in Costa Rica, according to Costa Rican officials Monday.

Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department said Warner was swimming at Playa Cocles in Limon province when a current pulled him deeper into the ocean.

“He was rescued by people on the beach,” the department’s initial report said, but first responders from Costa Rica’s Red Cross found him without vital signs and he was taken to the morgue.

A rep for Warner told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution in an email that “we are not confirming any statements at this time or confirming details.”

Warner, 54, had lived in Atlanta for several years. He starred as surgeon AJ “The Raptor” Austin on the Fox medical drama “The Resident,” which ran for six seasons from 2018 to 2023.

Credit: (Courtesy of Dwayne Goins)

Credit: (Courtesy of Dwayne Goins)

In recent years, he’d been part of a band called Biological Misfits, which was recently featured in the AJC. He has been an active musician for nearly three decades.

“I started playing bass in ‘96. It was the first season of ‘Malcolm and Eddie,’” Warner told AJC freelancer Jeannine Etter. “I felt like, (with) the stress of that show, I needed a hobby. I needed to pick up something that would not become a career. So, acting started out as a hobby, became a career. Directing started out as a hobby, became a career. And I figured if I picked up an instrument, I would never record a CD. I would never start a band. It could be something that would just stay as a hobby. And, clearly, I don’t know how to do hobbies because it became another career ultimately.”

When Warner, a 2015 Grammy winner for Best Traditional R&B Performance, found out about the A Tribe Called Quest tribute, he asked to jam with the band. He was soon invited to become an official group member.

“I think the camaraderie, the vibe, the energy, the connection that we have, it’s almost palpable,” Warner said. “And the vibe that we have is based on not just the music but how we interact with each other, how we respect each other, how much fun we have together.”

Warner was an active voice during the 2023 SAG-AFTRA actors strike, speaking at local rallies to buck up the troops.

“We feel unseen, unheard, undervalued,” he told the AJC in 2023. “I have to address what is for many of us is the elephant in the room. Welcome to what it feels like being Black.”

Credit: TOM GRISCOM

Last year, he launched the podcast “Not All Hood” with co-hosts Weusi Baraka and Candace Kelley about the different experiences and identities of Blacks in America. He was also active for many years with V-103 broadcaster Joyce Littel’s annual “Passion & Poetry” events.

“This hurts a lot,” Littel said in an interview with the AJC. “I never experienced the Hollywood part of him. Though I respect what he meant to the industry, I never felt that. He was just a cool, regular guy who loves to perform poetry and music on stage.”