Cosby, Bill (1937-…), is an American entertainer, author, and television producer. He has been noted for his warm, gentle humor , centered on the family and the trials and troubles of childhood. His TV series “The Cosby Show” ran from 1984 to 1992. It ranked as one of the most popular TV shows in the United States.
William Henry Cosby, Jr., was born on July 12, 1937, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He began his show business career as a nightclub comedian and has since recorded over 20 comedy albums. He starred in several motion pictures , including Hickey and Boggs (1972) and Uptown Saturday Night (1974). Cosby was the first black actor to co-star in a prime-time TV dramatic series. This series, “I Spy,” ran from 1965 to 1968. In 1972, he became executive producer and host of the TV cartoon series “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids,” based on one of his comic characters. In 1985, Cosby was awarded the Spingarn Medal for his achievements in entertainment and education.
Cosby has written a number of books, including Fatherhood (1986), a book of humorous essays; Time Flies (1987), about aging; and Love and Marriage (1989), which deals with romantic relationships. With the American psychiatrist Alvin F. Poussaint, Cosby wrote Come On People (2007). The book urges African Americans to overcome what the authors see as low self-esteem. Cosby also has written a series for children called the “Little Bill” books.
In 2018, Cosby was convicted of drugging and sexually assaulting an employee of Temple University in 2004. He was sentenced to 3 to 10 years in prison. In 2021, an appeals court overturned Cosby’s conviction, and he was freed after serving three years in jail. The court ruled that Cosby’s due process rights had been violated.
