Malcolm-Jamal Warner, the actor best known for playing Theodore “Theo” Huxtable on The Cosby Show, drowned Sunday while swimming at Grande Beach on Costa Rica’s Caribbean coast. He was 54.

According to the Costa Rican Red Cross, emergency responders received a distress call around 2:30 p.m. reporting that a tourist had been swept away by a powerful rip current.

Local lifeguards recovered Warner’s body and brought him to shore, where paramedics found him unresponsive and in cardiac arrest. Despite efforts to revive him, he was pronounced dead at the scene.

Warner had been vacationing with his family in Limón Province. He reportedly entered the water with a group of people, including another man (whose identity has not been released) and who was also caught in the current. That individual was rescued alive. The Red Cross took him to Tony Facio Castro Hospital in Limón for treatment.

The Red Cross coordinated with the Judicial Investigation Organization (OIJ), which transferred Warner’s remains to the Judicial Forensic Medicine Complex in Heredia, where an autopsy will determine the official cause of death.

Authorities say the case remains under investigation, and only Warner’s family is authorized to request further details.

Warner was born August 18, 1970, in Jersey City, New Jersey.

He became a household name as the only son of Bill Cosby’s character, Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable, in the groundbreaking sitcom The Cosby Show (1984–1992), which challenged racial stereotypes by portraying an upper-middle-class African American family.

After the Cosby Show, Warner starred opposite Eddie Griffin in the UPN sitcom Malcolm & Eddie (1996–2000) and later played Dr. Alex Reed on BET’s Reed Between the Lines (2011–2015).

He also appeared in a wide range of television series, including Sons of Anarchy, Jeremiah, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Community. Additionally, he lent his voice as “The Producer” in the beloved children’s educational program The Magic School Bus.

The U.S. Embassy assists U.S. citizens’ families in death cases. According to the embassy’s website, consular officials can help coordinate with local authorities, provide lists of funeral homes, and issue a Consular Report of Death Abroad, which serves as a U.S. death certificate for legal purposes.

However, the embassy does not cover funeral, repatriation, or burial costs. Families of Americans who die abroad are not required to travel to Costa Rica to manage arrangements, as embassy representatives can act on their behalf.

For more information, the embassy can be reached at +506-2519-2590 or +506-2519-2093. An after-hours emergency line is available at +506-2519-2000.

The OIJ, which operates under Costa Rica’s Supreme Court of Justice, is responsible for investigating all criminal cases in the country.

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