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| Birth Name(s) : Bill Cosby |
Date of Birth: N/A |
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Full Bill Cosby Biography
His good-natured, fatherly image has made him a popular personality and earned him the nickname of "America's Dad," and he has also been a sought-after spokesman for products like Jell-O Pudding, Kodak film, Coca-Cola, and the defunct retail chain Service Merchandise.
While serving in the Navy as a Hospital Corpsman for four years, Cosby worked in physical therapy with some seriously injured Korean War casualties, which helped him discover what was important to him. He immediately realized the need for an education, and finished his equivalency diploma via correspondence courses. He then won a track and field scholarship to Philadelphia's Temple University in 1961, and studied physical education while running track and playing fullback on the football team. However, he had continued to hone his talent for humor, joking with fellow enlistees in the service and then with college friends. When he began tending bar at the Cellar, a club in Philadelphia, to earn money, he became fully aware of his ability to make people laugh. He worked his customers and saw his tips increase, then ventured on to the stage.
In 1965, Cosby achieved a first for African-Americans when he costarred with Robert Culp in I Spy, an adventure show that reflected cold-war America's seemingly endless appetite for James Bond-style espionage fantasies. But Cosby's presence as the first black star of a dramatic television series made I Spy unique; Cosby and NBC executives were concerned that some affiliates might be unwilling to carry the series. At the beginning of the 1965 season, however, only four stations--in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama--declined the show. But the rest of the country was taken with the show's exotic locales and the authentic chemistry of the stars, and it became one of the ratings hits of that television season. I Spy finished among the twenty most-watched shows that year, and Cosby was honored with an Emmy award for outstanding actor in a dramatic series, as he would be again for the next two consecutive years. Although ostensibly focused on Culp's character, the show had clearly become a vehicle for his co-star.
After The Bill Cosby Show left the air, Cosby returned to his education, actively pursuing an advanced degree in education from the University of Massachusetts. This professional interest led to his involvement in the PBS series The Electric Company, for which he recorded several segments teaching reading skills to young children. In 1972, he was back in prime time with a variety series, The New Bill Cosby Show, but this time he met with poor ratings, and the show lasted only a season. More successful was a Saturday morning show, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, hosted by Cosby and based on his own childhood, running from 1972 to 1979, then from 1979 to 1984 as The New Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids. Some schools used the program as a teaching tool, and Cosby himself wrote his thesis on it in order to obtain his doctorate in Education in 1977.
Cosby's greatest television success came in 1984 with the debut of The Cosby Show. For Cosby the new situation comedy was a response to the increasingly violent fare the networks usually offered. Cosby insisted on and received total creative control of the series, and he was involved in every aspect of the series. Not surprisingly, the show had parallels to Cosby's actual family life: like the characters Cliff and Claire Huxtable, Cosby and his wife Camille were college educated, financially successful, and had five children. Essentially a throwback to the wholesome family situation comedy, The Cosby Show was unprecedented in its portrayal of an intelligent, affluent, nonstereotypical African-American family.
In 1987, Cosby attempted to return to the big screen with the spy spoof Leonard Part 6. Unfortunately, Cosby realized during production that the film was not going to be what he wanted and publicly denounced it, warning audiences to "stay away" on talk shows.
In early 1997 fans were startled when a 22-year-old woman, Autumn Jackson, tried to extort $40 million from Cosby, claiming he was her biological father. He admitted to having a one-time fling with Jackson's mother and had provided money to the family until Jackson turned 18, though he disputed the paternity claim from the start. She was found guilty of extortion and sentenced to 26 months in prison; two accomplices were sentenced to five years and three months. The convictions were overturned in June 1999 on a technicality. The case was retried later, and the convictions were returned.
Cosby is an active alumni supporter of his Alma Mater, Temple University, and in particular their men's basketball team, whose games Cosby frequently attends (particularly during the team's glory days under coach John Chaney, who is a close friend of Cosby).
Cosby also attends many public events, such as the 100th Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden in New York on February 2, 2007.
In recent years, the popular comedian has been parodied on several television cartoons such as The Simpsons, Family Guy and The Boondocks. |
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