Prior to his death, Malcolm-Jamal Warner reflected on his career in Hollywood, including the sweet message his father told him about what he was most proud of in his son.
During an interview on “Hot and Bothered with Melyssa Ford” the actor and director was asked about what he hopes his legacy would be.
Warner said there’s a legacy in his work as Theo Huxtable on “The Cosby Show,” but noted, “I’m still working” on what it meant for him at that time.
However, he added, “There is part of me that, I will be able to leave this Earth knowing, and people knowing, that I was a good person.”
At the time, Warner said he had recently spoken to his father, Robert Warner Jr., who would often tell him what made him proud of his son.
“People love you and people always talking about your career and your success and all of that,” Warner shared what his father told him.
Continuing, “But what really makes me the most proud is that you are a good person.”
Warner added that he believes he’s a good person “because my dad’s a good person.”
In his most recent podcast episode for “Not All Hood” on July 18, Warner spoke about longevity in Hollywood and how his mother previously made him aware of how fame is fleeting.
“It was a phenomenon out the box,” he said of his work on “The Cosby Show,” which earned him an Emmy nomination in 1986. “I’m 14 and my mom says to me, ‘Listen, baby, it’s great that this show is the phenomenon that it is, but you know how this business is. This show could be over next year.’ She said, ‘What are you going to do when the show’s over?’”
From there, he said, he mapped out his next steps.
On July 21, a representative of Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) confirmed Warner’s death to NBC News, sharing that he died the afternoon of July 20 in Playa Cocles, Limon, Costa Rica.
According to a preliminary OIJ report, he died when he entered the sea and was dragged by a current offshore. Warner’s body was rescued and received medical attention from the Costa Rican Red Cross, the OIJ stated. However, he was declared dead at the scene.
He was then taken to the Judicial Morgue in San Joaquin de Flores, Heredia for the respective autopsy.
