Phylicia Rashad paid memorial at Sunday’s 77th Primetime Emmy Awards to her late costar Malcolm-Jamal Warner following to his tragic death via drowning at 54 on July 20 in Costa Rica.
‘He was a beloved teenager in an iconic television series with the world watched grow into man,’ Rashad said from the Peacock Theatre at LA Live in Los Angeles.
Rashad, 77, added, ‘And like all our friends and colleagues who transitioned this past year, Malcolm-Jamal Warner remains in our hearts.’
‘Tonight, as is tradition at the Emmys, we remember them not just with their immense talent, but also for the way they’ve made us believe in something bigger – the best that is within us.’
Warner and his eight-year-old daughter had been ensnared in a rip current at Playa Cocles in the Limon province, officials said.
Officials with the Judicial Investigation Department in Costa Rica said that the actor died after he drowned while on a Caribbean beach.
Phylicia Rashad paid memorial to her late costar Malcolm-Jamal Warner following to his tragic death via drowning at 54 on July 20 in Costa Rica.
Officials with the Judicial Investigation Department in Costa Rica said that the actor died on July 20 after he drowned while on a Caribbean beach
Warner’s death was ruled as ‘asphyxia due to submersion,’ and accidental, Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency confirmed.
A first report from the department said that the actor had been ‘rescued by people on the beach.’
Red Cross officials said that first responders who located Warner could not detect vital signs; and subsequently transferred him to a nearby morgue.
Warner’s career in entertainment spanned more than four decades, as he also had featured roles on sitcoms such as Malcolm & Eddie, Listen Up and Read Between the Lines and drama shows such as The Resident and Jeremiah.
Warner spoke with the AP in 2015 about his drive in maintaining his career after The Cosby Show went off the air nearly a quarter-century ago.
Said the actor, ‘I grew up with a maniacal obsession with not wanting to be one of those “Where are they now kids.”‘
Warner played the role of Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show opposite Bill Cosby’s Dr. Heathcliff ‘Cliff’ Huxtable
Warner’s career in entertainment spanned more than four decades, as he also had featured roles on sitcoms such as Malcolm & Eddie, Listen Up and Read Between the Lines and drama shows such as The Resident and Jeremiah. Pictured in 2017
He continued, ‘I feel very blessed to be able to have all of these avenues of expression … to be where I am now and finally at a place where I can let go of that worry about having a life after Cosby.’
Warner, who received a nomination for an Emmy in 1986 for supporting actor in a comedy, told the AP in 2015 that the sex assault accusations against Cosby had ‘tarnished’ the legacy of the series, which virtually disappeared from heavy play in syndication amid Cosby’s legal issues.
‘My biggest concern is when it comes to images of people of color on television and film,’ Warner said. ‘We’ve always had The Cosby Show to hold up against that.
‘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.’
