Kemberly Richardson reports from the Upper West Side.
UPPER WEST SIDE, Manhattan (WABC) — A tight-knit community in New York City has been shaken by the sudden death of Malcolm-Jamal Warner, the actor best known starring in the TV sitcom “The Cosby Show” as son Theodore “Theo” Huxtable.
Warner was not just an accomplished actor, he was a Grammy Award-winning musician, a poet and a proud father, who went to high school at Professional Children’s School in Manhattan’s the Upper West Side.
His name appears in the class of 1988 year book, along with fellow award-winning actor Uma Thurman.
Word of Warner’s sudden death while on vacation with his family in Costa Rica has rattled this tight-knit community.
“Malcolm touched so many lives and think that many people are going to be deeply impacted,” said James Dawson, the head of Professional Children’s School. “He was well-grounded. I think he’s thoughtful. He was welcoming and engaging.”
He’s most known for his work as Theo Huxtable in the hit sitcom “The Cosby Show,” playing the role of the underachieving, troublemaker from 1984 to1992.
Born in Jersey City, Warner made his acting debut at the age of 9.
He would go on to appear in many other major TV shows and dabble in other parts of the industry.
His latest project was the podcast “Not All Hood.”
Even following the scandal that centered around Bill Cosby in later years, Warner said he was still proud of the work he did on a show he said that had a profound impact on not only Black culture, but American culture.
In 2013, he said his proudest achievement was “being able to have a post-Cosby life, and a post-Cosby career, and still have my head on as straight as possible.”
Dawson told Eyewitness News that Warner would often come back to school reunions and guide some of the younger students. He says Warner was scheduled to attend one in October.
Warner would have been 55 years old next month.
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