THE COSBY SHOW, (top row, from left): Malcolm-Jamal Warner, Phylicia Rashad, Sabrina Le Beauf, Geoffrey Owens, Tempestt Bledsoe, (bottom): Bill Cosby, Keshia Knight Pulliam
Everett Collection
Following the tragic death of actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner, tributes have poured in from all over Hollywood and beyond, as his loved ones and those he touched with one of his performances remember the man.
Warner’s breakout role was playing Theo Huxtable on NBC’s The Cosby Show, which ran for 8 seasons from 1984 to 1992. The series followed the upper-middle-class Cosby family, with Warner starring as the only son of a doctor, Heathcliffe (Bill Cosby), and lawyer Claire (Phylicia Rashad), who also had four daughters: Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf), Denise (Lisa Bonet), Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), and the youngest, Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam).
In the show’s second season, Geoffrey Owens joined the cast as Elvin Tibideaux, love interest of the eldest Cosby daughter, Sondra, whom he would later marry.
Following Warner’s death in a drowning accident on July 20, Owens remembers his friend and longtime co-star.
“This tragedy has almost left me speechless,” Owens shared in a statement to MyRumors. “Malcolm was a lovely man; a sweet and sensitive soul. I respected him for many reasons, including the fact that he genuinely loved the act of creation. He had the mind of an actor and the heart of a musician. He was generous, too. I did a theater project long ago and asked him to participate; and he was there for me. My heart goes out to his family,” he added.