Malcolm-Jamal Warner, best known for his role as Theodore Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” has died at 54.

The Emmy-nominated actor drowned off the coast of Costa Rica on July 20, according to ABC News and The Associated Press. Costa Rican National Police confirmed to ABC News that Warner died after being caught by a high current in the water while swimming near Cocles, a beach in Limon, Costa Rica.

Warner was “rescued by people on the beach,” an initial report by Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Department said, according to The AP, but first responders from Costa Rica’s Red Cross found him without vital signs and he was taken to the morgue.

ABC News reports the actor was formally identified by police. Warner’s reps have declined to comment to USA TODAY.Malcolm-Jamal Warner dies: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Jamie Foxx, more pay tributeRemembering those we lost: Celebrity Deaths 2025

In addition to eight seasons on the hit NBC sitcom as the son of Bill Cosby‘s Cliff Huxtable and Phylicia Rashad‘s Clair Huxtable, Warner was also known for his role as Malcolm McGee in the 1990s UPN sitcom “Malcolm & Eddie” and as Dr. AJ Austin on the Fox medical drama “The Resident” from 2018 to 2023.

But it is his role as the lovable but at times clueless teen son of the Huxtables that made Warner a household name in the 1980s.

Warner was a 5-foot-5-inch, 13-year-old and “literally the last person” to audition for the role of Theo for “The Cosby Show,” following a nationwide search, he told NPR in 2014. Show producers were looking for a taller Theo. However, Warner’s audition, overseen by creator and star Cosby, led to the successful casting as the only son and middle child of five children in the famed TV family.

“The Cosby Show” ran for eight seasons on NBC, from Sept. 20, 1984, to April 30, 1992, with Warner earning global stardom, an Emmy nomination for best supporting actor in a comedy series, a “SNL” hosting gig at 16, and directing experience behind the camera for several episodes.

“The 80s for me were a blast, I was a teenager, living in New York on the number one show. Not just in the country but in the world,” Warner told the Television Academy in 2014, “Everybody watched the show and knew the show.”Malcolm-Jamal Warner family: Did ‘The Cosby Show’ star have a wife, children?

The star also spoke to the Television Academy about the impact of “The Cosby Show.”

It was “for Black America and white America alike” and, Warner said, the show “finally legitimized the Black middle class, which has always been around since the inception of this country, but, as with everything, is not legitimate until it’s on television.”

He added: “When the show first came out, there were white people and Black people talking about (how) the Huxtables don’t really exist, Black people don’t really live like that. Meanwhile, we were getting tens of thousands of fan letters from people saying, ‘Thank you so much for this show.'”More: Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s notable shows and movies, from ‘The Cosby Show’ to ‘The Resident’

But the legacy of the show grew even more complex and “tarnished” when the show’s patriarch, Bill Cosby, faced sexual assault allegations. His criminal conviction in a Pennsylvania court was later overturned in 2021.

In a 2015 interview with the Associated Press, Warner said his “biggest concern” was “when it comes to images of people of color on television and film.”

“We’ve always had ‘The Cosby Show’ to hold up against that,” Warner said. “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.”

That same year, in a separate interview with Billboard, Warner called Cosby “one of my mentors” and said, “he’s been very influential and played a big role in my life as a friend and mentor.” He added: “Just as it’s painful to hear any woman talk about sexual assault, whether true or not, it’s just as painful to watch my friend and mentor go through this.”

Warner, who was born on August 18, 1970, grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey, with his mother, Pamela, who eventually became his acting manager. He was named after civil rights leader Malcolm X and jazz musician Ahmad Jamal.

At an early age, Warner found he was interested in acting, which launched his career as a child performer and set him on the path to attend The Professional Children’s School in New York.

In the 2010s, Warner had notable recurring roles on the NBC comedy “Community,” playing the ex of Yvette Nicole Brown’s Shirley Bennett. He also portrayed the character Sticky, the vice president of motorcycle club The Grim Bastards, on FX’s “Sons of Anarchy.”

In the 2016 FX series “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” Warner played Al Cowlings, a friend of O.J. Simpson who drove the infamous white Ford Bronco during the televised police chase.

The “Reed Between the Lines” actor also dabbled in music and poetry, going on to win a Grammy Award for best traditional R&B performance for the song “Jesus Children” in 2015, and receiving a nomination for best spoken word poetry album for “Hiding in Plain View” in 2023.

One of Warner’s final acting roles was as Dr. A.J. “The Raptor” Austin in Fox’s medical drama “The Resident,” where his character proposed to Dr. Mina Okafor (Shaunette Renée Wilson) in Season 4. Wilson described being “beyond heartbroken” on Instagram. “Rest in Power, Malcom,” Wilson wrote. “It was a joy to be Mina to your A.J. I will miss you deeply.”

Warner is survived by his wife and daughter. He never publicly disclosed their names.