The Cosby Show’s Geoffrey Owens paid tribute to his late costar Malcolm-Jamal Warner following his death at age 54.
“This tragedy has almost left me speechless,” Owens, 64, told Us Weekly in a statement on Tuesday, July 22. “Malcolm was a lovely man, a sweet and sensitive soul. I respected him for many reasons, including the fact that he genuinely loved the act of creation. He had the mind of an actor and the heart of a musician.”
Owens noted that Warner had supported him in his own artistic endeavors as well.
“He was generous too,” the actor said. “I did a theater project long ago and asked him to participate, and he was there for me. My heart goes out to his family.”
Us confirmed on Monday, July 21, that Warner drowned off the coast of Costa Rica one day prior. His official cause of death was ruled as asphyxia.
Cosby Show’s Malcolm-Jamal Warner Dead at 54
According to authorities, Warner died near Cocles, a beach in Limon, Costa Rica. He was caught by a high current in the water on Sunday, July 20, and formally identified by Costa Rica’s national police.
Us confirmed on Monday that the Costa Rican Red Cross was alerted to a water-related incident at Playa Grande, Cahuita, Limón, via the 9-1-1 emergency system at 2:10 p.m local time on Sunday. When authorities got the alert, three ambulances were dispatched to the scene.
A spokesperson for the Red Cross exclusively told Us that emergency personnel attended to two adult male patients. A 35-year-old man who hasn’t been identified was transported in critical condition to the local clinic, and his current condition is unknown. CPR was performed on a 54-year-old male, Warner, who was declared dead at the scene. The spokesperson confirmed that both Warner and the second individual were “involved in the same incident.”
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Lifeguards later confirmed they were “not present” on the beach when Warner died because of a lack of resources.
“We deeply regret the passing of Malcolm-Jamal Warner at Playa Grande. He was swept away by a strong rip current and died by drowning,” the Caribbean Guard, Costa Rica’s volunteer lifeguard association, said in a Monday statement via Facebook. “It all happened very quickly, and although there were people on the beach who entered the water to rescue him, they did not arrive in time. He was pulled from underwater without vital signs, and despite CPR maneuvers being performed on the beach, resuscitation was unsuccessful.”
Warner was best known for playing Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show for all eight of its seasons, which aired from 1984 to 1992. Owens, meanwhile, played Theo’s eventual brother-in-law, Elvin Tibideaux, who married eldest Huxtable daughter Sondra (Sabrina LeBeauf).
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In 2018, a photo of Owens working at Trader Joe’s went viral. He later said the incident opened some doors for him but admitted he still doesn’t make a living entirely as an actor.
“I still struggle to make a living,” he said in December 2024. “I struggle every day to make my ends meet, and people can’t get their heads around that because they see me in movies. … They don’t understand the specifics of how my industry works.”
