Malcolm-Jamal Warner: Much more than Theo Huxtable

Malcolm-Jamal Warner as Theo Huxtable on "The Cosby Show" in the '80s.

Source: https://people.com/malcolm-jamal-warner-life-in-photos-11776000

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Wow, it has been a long time since he was vexing his father on a regular basis on one of the top comedies of the 1980s. At first I did not recognize him on “9-1-1”, playing one of the staff members working at a burn unit in Los Angeles. In part that could be his character is also a burn victim himself, with heavy scar tissue.

It could also be that Malcolm-Jamal Warner played Theo Huxtable on “The Cosby Show” starting 40 years ago.

Now, he is fully grown with a much deeper voice and stronger stature, but is still acting.

Only son
Theo Huxtable was the only son in the Huxtable family, to go with four daughters, which made for good comedy.

The very first joke I saw on the first episode of “The Cosby Show” was about Theo. He got into trouble and his mom told his dad to go talk to Theo. Mom told dad to be firm so, on his way up the stairs to Theo’s room, he stopped and grabbed a baseball bat. The dad is also a doctor. In the midst of their discussion, he got so vexed with Theo he said, “I brought you into this world, I can take you out.”

That set the stage for a lot of laughs between father and son.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner played Theo Huxtable for eight seasons and 201 episodes. He also earned an Emmy nomination in 1986 for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Yet, Malcolm-Jamal Warner was acting before “The Cosby Show” and continues on to this day.

Staying busy
Before Warner landed the role of Theo Huxtable, he already had had guest spots in “Matt Houston”; “Fame”; and “Call to Glory”.

He closed out the ‘80s primarily on “The Cosby Show”. He played himself in “Sesame Street”; “Saturday Night Live”; and “Home Alone: A Kid’s Guide to Playing it Safe When You’re on Your Own”. He also played Theo Huxtable in “A Different World”, which was a spin-off of “The Cosby Show”.

Warner was also in the television movies “The Father Clements Story” and “Mother’s Day”, and had a guest-starring role in an episode of “Tour of Duty”.

The years after
Malcolm-Jamal Warner just kept on acting. He appeared in “The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air”; was a regular in the series “Here and Now”; and was in “Touched by an Angel”.

He was in the TV movies “Tyson” and “The Tuskegee Airmen”; played a regular on the series “Malcolm and Eddie”; appeared in “Sliders”; was a regular on the series “Jeremiah” and “Listen Up”; and had guest spots in “Dexter”; “The Cleaner”; and four episodes of “Community”.

Warner was a regular in the series “Reed Between the Lines”; had a guest spot in “Key and Peele”; was a regular on the series “Major Crimes”; appeared in “Sons of Anarchy”; “American Horror Story”; “American Crime Story”; “Suits”; “Lethal Weapon”; and “Sneaky Pete”; was a regular on “Ten Days in the Valley”; and appeared in “White Famous”; “The Resident”; “Accused”; “The Wonder Years”; four episodes of “911” and much more.

Parting thoughts
The four-episode stint Malcolm-Jamal Warner did on “9-1-1” was incredible. It was a layered performance where he was compassionate, angry, sensitive, hard edged and so much more. He still sounded a bit like Theo, but he has left that life and role behind.

He is a man now, with an extensive record of solid performances, that go far behind that role on “The Cosby Show”.

Although when people of a certain age hear the name Malcolm-Jamal Warner they will immediately go to Theo Huxtable, he has moved far beyond that.

His role on “9-1-1” proves just how far he has come.