Malcolm-Jamal Warner at the Deadline Contenders Television event at Directors Guild Of America on April 16, 2023 in Los Angeles. Credit :
Randy Shropshire/Deadline via Getty
- Malcolm-Jamal Warner spoke about what he hoped his legacy would be in his final interview before his death
- During the May 21 episode of the Hot & Bothered with Melyssa Ford podcast, the Cosby Show alum said he “will be able to leave this earth knowing — and people knowing — that I was a good person”
- Warner died after drowning at the age of 54 on a family trip to Costa Rica
Malcolm-Jamal Warner reflected on his legacy in his final interview released two months prior to his tragic death.
Appearing on the May 21 episode of the Hot & Bothered with Melyssa Ford podcast, Warner — who died July 20 at the age of 54 — admitted that he thought about his legacy “a lot.”
Warner died while on a family trip to Costa Rica. A source told PEOPLE he drowned while swimming, with authorities confirming that he “apparently died as a result of asphyxiation by submersion.”
In a statement obtained by PEOPLE, the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) said Warner was “rescued by bystanders” from the ocean but “was declared lifeless at the scene.”
“I remember my mother said to me one time that ‘Mr. [Bill] Cosby gave you immortality,'” Warner recalled. “So I know on one lane there’s legacy there.”
Malcolm-Jamal Warner in 2024 (L); Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Theodore ‘Theo’ Huxtable on ‘The Cosby Show’ season 7. Santiago Felipe/Getty; Alan Singer/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal/Getty
The actor rose to fame playing Theo Huxtable, the only son of Heathcliff and Clair Huxtable (Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashad, respectively), on The Cosby Show for all eight seasons from 1984 to 1992.
“I feel like, okay, there’s that legacy there, but then, because I’ve had this full life after that show, there’s another lane of legacy that I get to leave,” he explained. “And I’m still working through that.”
“There’s part of me that I will be able to leave this earth knowing — and people knowing — that I was a good person,” he remarked.
Warner said his father once told him that people love him because of his career and success. However, his dad was most proud was that his son was a good person.
“I’m a good person because my dad’s a good person,” Warner gushed. “It is possible to walk through this world and, with all of the darkness in the world, it is possible to maintain your soul and be a good person.”
The actor recalled how, at age 15, he watched his grandfather take his last breath in a hospital room.
“I literally watched him take his last breath,” he remembered. “And if you’ve ever seen someone take their final breath, there’s this peace that comes over them, just washes over them.”
While he said “it was emotional” and he “was sad and all of that,” the moment also helped him understand something else.
Malcolm-Jamal Warner attends the 65th GRAMMY Awards at Crypto.com Arena on Feb. 05, 2023 in Los Angeles. Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic
“I realized that when we grieve for people who have passed on, we’re grieving for ourselves, right? Because we miss them. And when I think about people in my life who have gone on and transitioned, I think about the lives that they’ve led. They were really good people,” he said.
“And when we talk about, why are the good people taken away from us, I go, ‘Maybe they’re being rewarded or something,'” he added.
“I am devastated. Words cannot convey my shock and sadness at the loss of such an incredible HUMAN,” she wrote, adding that he “didn’t feel comfortable with the designation of the label of ICON but that’s what he was to so many of us.”
“Besides being an accomplished actor, poet, musician, his most cherished role was Father and Husband,” she continued. “I am so heartbroken for his family that he worked so hard to protect from the glaring lights of fame. May they find comfort in the knowledge that his faith was strong but his love for them defined him.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Warner is survived by his wife and daughter.
