BREAKING: Malcolm-Jamal Warner dead at 54 from accidental drowning

Warner was born in 1970 in Jersey City, New Jersey and at the time of his death he was in Limón, Costa Rica. He died while swimming after being caught in a high current. He died of asphyxia and his body was found on Sunday afternoon.

His mother Pamela served as his manager and he attended acting schools as a child. He graduated from The Professional Children's School in New York City.

Warner secured an Emmy nod for Oustanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance, where he played the only son of the Huxstable family, between Lisa Bonet's Denise and Tempestt Bledsoe's Vanessa. Sabrina Le Beauf as Sondra and Keshia Knight Pulliam as Rudy rounded out the cast of children.

Warner went on to voice the show Malcolm & Eddie as well as The Magic School Bus, where he was an executive producer. He won a Grammy in 2015 for Best Traditional R&B Performance and as a Featured Performer and has been hosting the podcast Not all Hood, or NAH.

He was also on the Fox show The Resident where he plated cardio-thoracic surgeon AJ Austin. Warner had a lengthy career in TV and film, also performing in Ten Days in the Valley alongside Kyra Sedgwick.

Warner was questioned about Bill Cosby's downfall and asked if he was resentful about Cosby's arrest. "No. I get how this business works. For one, and just that whole situation is so layered, man. I can’t defend him or his actions at all. But I also can’t throw him under the bus completely."

He was a producer as well and performed on Broadway, winning the NAACP Theater Award for Best Supporting Actor. His wife and daughter, whose identities he kept private from speculating paparazzi and fans, survive him.

The Cosby Show was an iconic staple of 1980s television. It debuted in 1984 and was a mainstay of American culture. The Huxstable family on the show lived in a Brooklyn brownstone where lawyer Claire Huxstable and doctor Heathcliffe Huxstable, played by Phylicia Rashad and Bill Cosby led a prosperous family. The show ran until 1992 and spent five consecutive seasons as the top-rated show.

The parents had high expectations for their children, complete with academic demands of excellence and social decorum. It was must see TV and many American kids wanted to be Cosby kids. The show saw the spin-off A Different World, starring Bonet, which launchd the career of Marissa Tomei.

Appreciation and sadness erupted on social media as soon as Warner's death was announced.