Malcolm-Jamal Warner, best known as Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show, died at the age of 54 after an accidental drowning off Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast, according to officials and multiple news sources.
Warner was on a family holiday when the event occurred, according to AP News, Reuters, and other sources.
According to Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department (OIJ), Warner was swimming in Playa Cocles in Limón Province on Sunday afternoon, July 20, when he was carried out to sea by a strong current.
Beachgoers pulled him to shore; first responders from the Costa Rican Red Cross attempted lifesaving efforts, but he died at the site, according to CBS News.
The Red Cross said it was alerted at about 2:10 p.m. local time and treated two adult men, transporting one in critical condition.
Local authorities subsequently listed the official cause of death as “asphyxia by submersion,” language echoed in statements provided to U.S. media outlets.
Police told ABC News that Warner had been caught in a rip current; Entertainment Weekly and PEOPLE likewise reported that preliminary findings pointed to asphyxiation following submersion.
In a statement, the OIJ said the victim “appears to have entered the sea and was apparently swept away by a current… [and] was declared lifeless at the scene” after treatment by the Costa Rican Red Cross.
Fox Entertainment, which worked with Warner during his run as cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. AJ Austin on the network drama The Resident, called the loss “tragic.”
“Everyone at FOX is heartbroken by the tragic loss of our friend and colleague, the extraordinary Malcolm-Jamal Warner,” the company said in a statement.
Born August 18, 1970, in Jersey City, New Jersey, and named after Malcolm X and jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal, Warner pursued performance from an early age and attended the Professional Children’s School in New York.
He broke out as the witty, vulnerable Theo in The Cosby Show (1984–1992), earning an Emmy nomination in 1986.
He later starred in Malcolm & Eddie, appeared in Reed Between the Lines, and had a prominent turn in The Resident.
