Bill Cosby
Acting • Born 1937-07-12
Biography
William Henry "Bill" Cosby Jr. (born July 12, 1937) is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer and convicted sex offender. He got his start as a nightclub stand-up comic before landing a starring role in the action show I Spy (1965-1968). After various film and television roles, Cosby's greatest success came when he produced and starred in The Cosby Show (1984-1992), a popular sitcom that highlighted the experiences and growth of an upper-middle-class African-American family. Due to this role, he was widely dubbed "America's Dad." After the show ended, he produced and starred in multiple other shows and films. He was a sought-after spokesman from the 1960s until the early 2000s, endorsing a number of products including Jell-O, Kodak film, Ford, Texas Instruments, and Coca-Cola. Cosby has received several awards including 5 Primetime Emmy Awards, 2 Daytime Emmy Awards, 9 Grammy Awards, 2 Golden Globe Awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contribution to television (2002), and several honorary degrees from colleges and universities. Many of his awards have been rescinded due to numerous sexual assault allegations, including the 1998 Kennedy Center Honor, the 2009 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, and all but 10 of 72 honorary degrees. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences expelled him as a member of the Actors Branch in May 2018. Approximately 60 women have accused Cosby of various forms of sexual assault in alleged incidents spanning from 1965 to 2008. These allegations became highly publicized in 2014, leading to several civil suits and criminal investigations for cases that had not yet reached the statute of limitations. Many networks, including NBC, removed reruns of The Cosby Show from their schedules. In April of 2018, Cosby was sentenced to three to ten years in prison for multiple counts of aggravated indecent assault. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the conviction in June 2021 due to violation of a prior prosecutorial agreement that Cosby's previous civil suit testimony—in which he admitted to giving drugs to women he wanted to have sex with—would not be used in the criminal trial. He was released from prison later that month after serving almost three years of the sentence and maintains his innocence in all accusations. As of August 2021, there is still one known active civil suit against Cosby.
Filmography
139 credits
Ghost Dad
Movie • 1990
Elliot Hopper
Bill Cosby: Himself
Movie • 1983
Self
Jack
Movie • 1996
Lawrence Woodruff
Leonard Part 6
Movie • 1987
Leonard
I Am Richard Pryor
Movie • 2019
Self - Actor and Comedian (archive footage)
California Suite
Movie • 1978
Dr. Willis Panama
The Devil and Max Devlin
Movie • 1981
Barney Satin
Uptown Saturday Night
Movie • 1974
Wardell Franklin
Let's Do It Again
Movie • 1975
Billy Foster
A Piece of the Action
Movie • 1977
Dave Anderson
Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy
Movie • 2009
Self
Fat Albert
Movie • 2004
Self
The Fat Albert Christmas Special
Movie • 1977
Fat Albert / Bill / Mushmouth / Mudfoot Brown (voice)
Joe Louis: America's Hero Betrayed
Movie • 2008
Self
Comedian
Movie • 2002
Self
Los Angeles Plays Itself
Movie • 2004
Al Hickey in Hickey & Boggs (archive footage)
The Pact
Movie • 2006
Self
Bill Cosby: 49
Movie • 1987
Self
Le Cirque: A Table in Heaven
Movie • 2007
Self
Hickey & Boggs
Movie • 1972
Al Hickey
Nickelodeon Studios Opening Day Celebration!
Movie • 1990
Cutting Edge Comedians of the '60s & '70s
Movie • 2007
Self (archive footage)
The Chocolate Princess
Movie • 1974
Narrator
Man and Boy
Movie • 1971
Caleb Revers
Bill Cosby: Walking Free
Movie • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Keep On Keepin' On
Movie • 2014
Self
Lipstick & Dynamite
Movie • 2005
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Aesop's Fables
Movie • 1971
Aesop
B.B. King: The Life of Riley
Movie • 2012
Self
I Spy Returns
Movie • 1994
Alexander Scott
Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley
Movie • 2013
Self
To All My Friends on Shore
Movie • 1972
Blue
Bill Cosby: Far From Finished
Movie • 2013
Self
Goose
Movie • 2012
Class Dismissed: How TV Frames the Working Class
Movie • 2005
Self (archive footage)
The Harlem Globetrotters: The Team That Changed the World
Movie • 2005
Self
Top Secret
Movie • 1978
Aaron Strickland
NBC 75th Anniversary Special
Movie • 2002
Self
The Fat Albert Easter Special
Movie • 1982
Fat Albert Robertson / Bill / Mushmouth / Mudfoot Brown (voice)
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
Movie • 1970
Self (archive footage)
The Fat Albert Halloween Special
Movie • 1977
Fat Albert Robertson / Bill / Mushmouth / Mudfoot Brown (voice)
Goin' Back to Indiana
Movie • 1971
Scoop Newsworthy
The Meteor Man
Movie • 1993
Marvin
Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed
Movie • 1968
Self - Host / Narrator
Baadasssss!
Movie • 2004
Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby on Prejudice
Movie • 1971
Lightning in a Bottle
Movie • 2004
Self
Yo! The Story of ‘Yo! MTV Raps’
Movie • 2012
Self
Nelson Mandela Redrawn
Movie • 2014
Self
Sesame Street: 20 Years ... and Still Counting!
Movie • 1989
Self - Host
Sammy Davis, Jr. 60th Anniversary Celebration
Movie • 1990
Self
Mother, Jugs & Speed
Movie • 1976
Mother
TV's Funniest Comedians - 14 Stars Do Classic Routines
Movie • 1986
Self
The Incredible Voyage of Bill Pinkney
Movie • 1994
Narrator
Kraft Salutes the George Burns 90th Birthday Special
Movie • 1986
Self
4 Little Girls
Movie • 1997
Self - Educator
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
Movie • 1969
Nightclub Patron (uncredited)
The Weird Harold Special
Movie • 1973
Diana!
Movie • 1971
Self
After Newtown: Guns in America
Movie • 2013
Self
The Shame of a City
Movie • 2006
Self
TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
Movie • 2004
Self (archive footage)
Bill Cosby: An American Scandal
Movie • 2017
Self (archive footage)
Bill Cosby: Fall of an American Icon
Movie • 2017
Self (archive footage)
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
Movie • 2008
Self
Playboy's Roller Disco & Pajama Party
Movie • 1979
Self (uncredited)
Miles Ahead: The Music of Miles Davis
Movie • 1986
Self
Jack Paar: Smart Television
Movie • 2003
Self
The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story
Movie • 2000
The One, the Only... Groucho
Movie • 1991
Self
In Remembrance of Martin
Movie • 1986
Self
Buffy Sainte-Marie: A Multimedia Life
Movie • 2006
Self
The Electric Company's Greatest Hits & Bits
Movie • 2006
Self
The Cosby Show: A Look Back
Movie • 2002
Self / Dr. Cliff Huxtable (archive footage)
The Earth Day Special
Movie • 1990
Dr. Cliff Huxtable
A Walking Tour of Sesame Street
Movie • 1979
Self (Twins) (archive footage) (uncredited)
Murder at N.B.C.
Movie • 1966
Superstars and their Moms
Movie • 1987
Self
Jack Paar: 'As I Was Saying...'
Movie • 1997
Self
Cola Wars
Movie • 2019
Self (archive footage)
Bicycles are Beautiful
Movie • 1974
Self - Host
Creole Giselle
Movie • 1987
Self - Host
The NBC All Star Hour: Let's All Be There
Movie • 1985
Playboy's Playmate Party
Movie • 1977
Playboy: Playmate Pajama Party
Movie • 1999
A Different World
TV • 1987
Heathcliff Huxtable
Touched by an Angel
TV • 1994
Phil
The Cosby Show
TV • 1984
Heathcliff Huxtable
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
TV • 1992
The David Susskind Show
TV • 1959
Self
The Bill Cosby Show
TV • 1969
Chet Kincaid
Becker
TV • 1998
Hilton Lucas (uncredited)
Meet the Press
TV • 1947
The Electric Company
TV • 1971
The Milk Man
The Jay Leno Show
TV • 2009
Self - Guest
Late Night with David Letterman
TV • 1982
Self
I Spy
TV • 1965
Alexander Scott
Cosby
TV • 1996
Hilton Lucas
Kids Say the Darndest Things
TV • 1998
Host
The Hollywood Palace
TV • 1964
Self - Comedian
Cos
TV • 1976
The New Bill Cosby Show
TV • 1972
Self - Host
The Don Knotts Show
TV • 1970
Self
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
TV • 1963
The Dean Martin Show
TV • 1965
The Flip Wilson Show
TV • 1970
Self
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
TV • 1972
Bill Cosby
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
TV • 1972
Fat Albert Robertson
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
TV • 1972
Mushmouth
The Cosby Mysteries
TV • 1994
Guy Hanks
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
TV • 1973
Self
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self
The Kennedy Center Honors
TV • 1978
Self
Basketball: A Love Story
TV • 2018
Self (archive footage)
The Emmy Awards
TV • 1949
Self
Cher
TV • 1975
Self
Doug Henning's World of Magic
TV • 1975
Self
When Ruby Wax Met...
TV • 2021
Self (archive footage)
The Midnight Special
TV • 1972
Self
The Mike Douglas Show
TV • 1961
Self - Co-Host
We Need to Talk About Cosby
TV • 2022
Self (archive footage)
Of Black America
TV • 1968
The Bob Hope Show
TV • 1950
Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
TV • 1948
Self
Reading Rainbow
TV • 1983
Self - Narrator (voice)
Zone interdite
TV • 1993
Self
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
TV • 1996
Self
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
TV • 2014
Self - Guest
Entertainment Tonight
TV • 1981
Self
The Case Against Cosby
TV • 2022
Self (archive footage)
The Mike Douglas Show
TV • 1961
Self
The Dick Cavett Show
TV • 1968
Self - Guest
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV • 1962
Self - Guest Host
Ruby Wax Meets
TV • 1996
Great Performances
TV • 1971
Self
Dinah!
TV • 1974
Self
The Merv Griffin Show
TV • 1962
Self
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
TV • 1968
Self (uncredited)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
TV • 2015
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)