For family members and loved ones, The Cosby Show alum Malcolm-Jamal Warner was so much more than Theodore Huxtable.
While the late actor appeared in the popular sitcom for all eight seasons from 1984 to 1992, Warner tried his best to keep his family and personal life away from the spotlight.
“My parents were separated when I was three. They got divorced when I was six,” Warner recalled in a rare interview with the “Hot & Bothered” podcast in June 2025. “My father has been remarried for 47 years, and my mother and father are like brother and sister. My whole life, they’ve had this close relationship and coparented very well.”
Warner died after he drowned off the coast of Costa Rica on Sunday, July 20, Costa Rican National Police told ABC News. He was 54. Warner’s official cause of death was asphyxia, police said.
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After Warner’s death was confirmed, fans learned that he left behind a wife and daughter. He chose not to publicly share their names during his life.
Keep reading to learn more about Warner’s wife and his relationship history:
Who Was Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s Wife?
In a rare interview on the “Hot & Bothered” podcast, Warner gushed about his wife without revealing her full name.
“I was just really honest and frank and candid about everything,” he said when recalling his first date. “I wasn’t trying to smash.”
While he initially told his future wife that he didn’t want kids, everything changed five and a half months later.
“I said, ‘What do you think about starting a family?’” he shared. “At some point during this time, if I’m going to have a kid, this is the person I would like to have it with.”
Warner said he never second-guessed his decision.
“This feels right and this makes sense,” he said. “When people say, ‘When you know you know,’ that’s what that feeling is.”
Malcolm-Jamal’s widow, Tenisha Warner, revealed her identity more than one month after her husband’s death. She paid tribute to the Reed Between the Lines star via a post on Instagram, sharing a photo from their 2017 wedding day.
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“Thank you for holding us in so much love during this tender time,” she wrote in the caption. “Tomorrow marks our anniversary — and my heart is wide open. For the first time, I’m sharing a glimpse of the love that began it all.”
Tenisha continued, “I can still hear my husband’s laugh, still feel the way he made room for every part of me — every tear, every dream. Today, in his honor, my daughter and I are launching River & Ember and officially opening The Warner Family Foundation.”
She concluded, “Together we carry the legacy my husband and I began — one that nurtures children’s inner light and gives young artists the freedom to create outside the lines. This is love, Still moving. Still making. Still carrying us forward.”
Tenisha also included a statement about River & Ember, revealing the inspirations behind the brand.
“River & Ember was born not only from my knowledge as a doctor of psychology, but from my own journey with grief and love. It’s about creating rituals that outlast us — the kind that our children will carry as a legacy,” the statement read.
She continued, “River & Ember began with two simple forces: the steady flow that carries us forward, and the quiet warmth that keeps us alive inside. My husband embodied both. His presence was a river — steady, sure, and always moving toward what matters.”
Tenisha added that Malcolm-Jamal’s “spirit was an ember — glowing with encouragement, igniting possibility in those around him. His way of seeing the world — that children’s inner light is worth tending with care and constancy — is the heartbeat of everything we create here.”
The statement concluded, “My husband believed deeply in tending not only to the inner light in children, but in ourselves. This company carries forward that belief — offering stories and rituals that honor the quiet power of connection between parent and child. This work is a continuation of that presence he embodied. Through story and ritual, I hope to offer families the same gifts he gave us: a sense of being held, and a reminder that even in life’s changing seasons, our inner light is worth tending.”
Who Were Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s Exes?
In March 2013, Us confirmed that Warner and Regina King had split after two years of dating.
“I believe the universe has a plan, and we probably wouldn’t have been ready years ago,” King told Parade in January 2012 about dating her longtime friend. “We both had to do whatever we had to do to be ready for each other now.”
Warner was also linked to actress Karen Malina White for several years.
During his appearance on the “Hot & Bothered” podcast, Warner discussed being in a long-term relationship that ultimately came to an end. (He did not share White’s name.)
“After being in a relationship for six years, I spent the next two years like a man who had been in a relationship for six years,” he said before making a big change. “I went on this hiatus. I was cold turkey.”
During his break, however, Warner met his wife through a mutual friend, and the rest is history.
Did Malcolm-Jamal Warner Date ‘The Cosby Show’ Costar Michelle Thomas?
According to reports, Warner previously had a relationship with Thomas — who portrayed his girlfriend Justine Phillips on The Cosby Show. She later died in December 1998 after being diagnosed with stomach cancer.
“If there was ever an angel who walked amongst us mere mortals, this woman was it,” he wrote via Instagram in January 2015. “So powerful even her haters would have to agree. She lit up the room like she lit up the screen! R.I.P. my love. We miss you.”
