The cause of death of Cosby Show star Malcolm-Jamal Warner has been revealed.
Warner drowned off the coast of Costa Rica on Sunday, July 20, Costa Rican National Police told ABC News. His official cause of death was ruled as asphyxia.
The actor died near Cocles, a beach in Limon, Costa Rica, according to authorities.
Warner was caught by a high current in the water and formally identified by Costa Rica’s national police.
He was 54 years old.
Warner was best known for playing Theo Huxtable for all eight seasons of The Cosby Show.
He is survived by his wife and children, though he never revealed their names or identities for privacy reasons.
Us Weekly has reached out to Warner’s team for comment.
More recently, Warner had television roles on the Fox dramas The Resident and The Accused. He also played A.C. Cowlings on FX’s American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson.
Warner’s other credits included FX’s Sons of Anarchy and the BET sitcom Reed Between the Lines.
He received a Grammy nomination for Best Traditional R&B Performance in 2015 for the song “Jesus Children,” a collaboration with Robert Glasper Experiment and Lalah Hathaway.
In addition to his acting work, Warner cohosted the “Not All Hood” podcast With Candace Kelley, which took “a provocative look at the vastly different lived experiences and identities of Blacks in America.”
Tributes began pouring in for Warner after news of his death was announced.
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“It’s been an interesting experience for me, because it’s a place where I feel safe enough to be able to be as vulnerable as I allow myself to be,” he told People in May 2024. “When we talk about the Black community, we tend to speak of it as a monolith when the reality is there are so many different facets of the Black community, and we wanted to have a space where we can really explore, discuss, and acknowledge all of those different aspects.”
Actress Marlee Matlin wrote via X, “I am so sad to read of the untimely passing of Malcolm Jamal Warner. He was the nicest guy and it was a privilege to have been in [the] same company with him.”
Actor Eddie Griffin, who appeared with Warner on the sitcom Malcolm & Eddie from 1996 to 2000, called the actor his “big little brother” via Instagram.