Where is the Cast of the Cosby Show Today?

Ranked as one of the most popular family TV comedies of the 1980s, The Cosby Show was inspired by a Bill Cosby stand-up comedy about rearing children. The producers of the NBC at the time, Marcy Carsey and Tom Werner were geniuses in creating this comedy sitcom series. The show was filmed in front of a studio audience and focused on the daily issues that came up in the family’s daily lives while living in an upper-middle class home in Brooklyn, New York.

The Popularity of The Cosby Show

Its two most popular seasons brought in over 30.5 million monthly viewers and even when it “simmered down”, 13.8 million were still hooked on the series. In addition to its popularity, many critics loved it, receiving over 100 nominations and awards combined.

Even after the behind-the-scenes scandals, the show still remains popular today. Many of the cast members, particularly the children, are still a Hollywood hit as you may recognize them in your favorite TV shows and movies today.

Here’s what the cast of The Cosby Show is doing today and where they’re at.

1. Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby)

Cliff was known as one of the most hardworking, exceptional father figures on the history of TV. He was always joking and playing with his kids, and he sometimes even got himself into more trouble than they did. He also remained fully committed in his work as an OB/GYN and to his family, despite their daily problems.

After finishing The Cosby Show, Bill moved on to star in The Cosby Mysteries from 1994 – 1995 and then Cosby from 1996 – 2000. He also hosted some other short series, including Kids Say the Darnedest Things and also created the animated series Little Bill (1994 – 2004) for Nickelodeon.

It was in 2017 that numerous women took a stand against him and accused him of sexual misconduct. In 2018, he was found guilty of three counts of aggravated indecent assault and sentenced for three to ten years in prison. He is currently incarcerated at the State Correction Institution – Phoenix in Pennsylvania.

2. Clair Huxtable (Phylicia Rashad)

Clair Huxtable is known for being one of the best sitcom moms in the history of TV. She’s incredibly smart, affectionate, hard working and independent, making her an iconic character of a parent. She also wasn’t afraid to speak her mind as she led the family through their everyday challenges, providing support where needed.

Phylicia Rashad was also nominated three times for Emmy awards as she took the cultural significance of African Americans much further than The Cosby Show. She also starred in another sitcom alongside Bill Cosby in Cosby.

Phylicia won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play in 2004 for her role as Lena Younger in A Raisin in the Sun. She also made a few other appearances during the productions of Gem of the Ocean (2003), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), Head of Passes (2016) and August: Osage County (2013).

More recently, she appeared in the following films and tv shows:

• For Colored Girls (2010)
• Good Deeds (2012)
• Creed (2015)
• Creed II (2018)
• Station (2020)
• 13 Reasons Why (2020)

3. Theo Huxtable (Malcolm-Jamal Warner)

Theo Huxtable was the kid who made the most growth during the television series. He started out in season 1 as a teenage slacker and ended as a college graduate ready to take on his career in psychology.

He was also diagnosed with dyslexia, so he became a student teacher at an inner city center where he helped students who also showed signs of dyslexia, so they would have an earlier intervention than he did.

After finishing Cosby, Malcolm-Jamal Warner has been all over tv shows, including Malcolm & Eddie (1996 – 2000), Listen Up (2005 – 2005), and Reed Between the Lines (2011 – 2015). His last big role in a movie was playing EMT Jones in Shot in 2017. He currently stars as Dr. AJ Austin on the FOX medical drama The Resident, airing since 2018.

Malcolm also won the following:

• An Image Award in 2012 for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series during Reed Between the Lines.
• MD Theater Guide Readers’ Choice Award in 2013 for Best Performance by Lead Actor in a Play during Doctor John Prentice in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner at Arena Stage
• Grammy award in 2015 for Best Traditional R&B Performance during “Jesus Children of America” with Robert Grasper Experiment featuring Lalah Hathaway.

4. Olivia Kendall (Raven-Symoné)

Only four years old when she first appeared on the series as Denise Huxtable’s precocious stepdaughter, she is the only child of Martin and Paula Kendall. The girl went through some hardship after her parents divorced just after a few years of marriage as Paula gave Martin full custody as she went on to be raised by her father and grandparents.

After turning five, Martin married Denise Huxtable, whom he met in Africa. They moved in with Denise’s parents, Clair and Cliff Huxtable, who became Olivia’s step-grandparents.

While she may not have been everyone’s favorite character, she was an impressive little actress. After Cosby, she starring in Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper (1992 – 1997) and Kim Possible (2002 – 2007), which brought her to the peak of her acting career in That’s So Raven (2003 – 2007).

Now in 2020, she just married her social media manager Miranda Maday just after releasing her single “Spacetruck” and the extended play InfraSounds under her mononym, Raven in April 2020. She then performed her new song “Serah” on The View in July 2020.

5. Walter “Cockroach” Bradley (Carl Anthony Payne II)

Walter “Cockroach” Bradley was known as Theo’s best friend and handsome partner in crime throughout seasons 2 – 4. The pair consistently produced raps for school assignments, developed meticulous plans to win over girls and in his last episode, they fought about who would appear on the TV show Dance Mania.

But Cockroach was written out of the show after Carl Anthony Payne II got into into an argument with Bill Cosby for having longer hair. While that was his last time being on Cosby, he made a starring role in the sitcom Martin (1992 – 1997). He also had many other small roles in TV shows and movies, particularly in sitcoms as well as working in directing, producing, stand up comedy and hosting acting workshops.

6. Denise Huxtable-Kendall (Lisa Bonet)

Even off screen, Denise was the most controversial character. Everything from leaving the show to star in a spinoff for one season, secretly marrying and becoming a stepmother or dropping out of college, she made some sporadic decisions and always kept people on their toes.

Lisa Bonet almost matches her character’s personality, making guest appearances in New Girl (2011 – 2018), Girls (2012 – present) and Ray Donovan (2013 – 2020).

She married Lenny Kravitz and gave birth to their daughter Zoë Kravitz who is also a major star today. Although Lisa divorced her husband in 1993, she went onto marry the drop dead gorgeous hunk from Game of Thrones (2011 – 2019) and Aquaman (2018), Jason Momoa in 2007. Together, they had two children, Lola Iolani and Nakoa-Wolf.

7. Vanessa Huxtable (Tempestt Bledsoe)

Vanessa Huxtable was known for being the most quintessential annoying sitcom child. She had many temper tantrums and acted rudely, but she had all the hallmarks of Middle TV Child Syndrome – though she wasn’t actually the middle child.

After leaving her role in The Cosby Show in 1992, she’s made various guest appearances on The Practice (1997 – 2004), The Parkers (1999 – 2004), South of Nowhere (2005 – 2008), and the animated tv show The Replacements (2006 – 2009). She also made a leading role on the short sitcom Guys with Kids (2012 – 2013), starring alongside Anthony Anderson. Her most recent appearance was on the Netflix show Family Reunion (2019 – present) on episode 10: Remember When Our Boys Became Men?, which aired in July 2019.

8. Rudy Huxtable (Keshia Knight Pulliam)

Rudy was of course the youngest of all the Huxtable children, and she was definitely the cutest. Her role was so prominent and comedic that Keshia Knight Pulliam was the youngest actress to be nominated for the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series Emmy at just six years old.

After being taken off the air in 1992, Keshia has had lead roles in movies including Madea Goes to Jail (2009) as well as the TBS comedy-drama Tyler Perry’s House of Payne (2007 – 2012).

In January 2016, she married former football player Edgerton Hardwell and gave birth to her first daughter, Ella Grace in January 2017. But sadly, she divorced her husband just afterwards. Since 2019, she’s currently in a relationship with the actor Brad James.

9. Sondra Huxtable-Tibideaux (Sabrina La Beauf)

As the eldest of the Huxtable children, Sondra took her big sister responsibility of watching over her siblings very seriously. During the series, she played an incredibly intelligent aspiring lawyer, Princeton Graduate and mother of twins, Winnie and Nelson.

But despite her success, she wasn’t often the focus of the family, possibly due to her well-put together lifestyle. While Sondra did change careers quite frequently throughout the series, Sabrina Le Beauf expanded her career in multiple fields.

In addition to playing Sondra, she made appearances on Star Trek: The Next Generation (1987 – 1994) and the animated show Fatherhood (2004 – 2005). She’s also had extensive performances in theater, including various off-Broadway productions, including “LOVE, LOSS AND WHAT I WORE” that ran from 2009 – 2012.

10. Elvin Tibideaux (Geoffrey Owens)

Known for playing Sondra’s loving yet crazy husband, Elvin caused both frustration and amusement during the series. He was openly misogynistic, which led him into many conflicts with Clair. Nevertheless, he was the closest character to playing that lovable oaf, despite him being an overly confident med student.

In addition to playing Elvin, Geoffrey Owners made a few starring roles on largely successful shows like Law & Order (1990 – 2010), That’s So Raven (2003 – 2007), It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005 – present) and most recently, an episode on Lucifer (2016 – present)

Geoffrey is also a Yale University graduate and has built himself a very successful career as a Broadway actor, starring in various plays from Oscar Wilde, David Mamet, Shakespeare and more. He’s also the founder and artistic director of The Brooklyn Shakespeare Company. His most recent film in 2020 was playing a police detective in the film Impossible Monsters.

11. Russell Huxtable (Earle Hyman)

Playing the loving grandfather and Cliff’s father, Russell Huxtable made 40 appearances throughout The Cosby Show series. He was a jazz musician, war veteran and talented orator, married to Anna, with whom was lovingly critical of their son Heathcliff and devoted to their grandchildren.

Earle portrayed his character so successfully that he was nominated for a Tony and Emmy Award, which helped to span his Hollywood and Broadway career for over 50 years. He’s starred in a number of Broadway productions, including The Merchant of Venice (2004) and Waiting for Godot (1957). And more specifically in the 80s, he voiced Panthro in Thundercats (1985 – 1989), the animated series.

In 2014, Jet Magazine quoted his words at 90 year old, “You never retire. Acting is in my blood.” In November 2017, he died at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, NJ.

12. Pam Tucker (Erika Alexander)

Introduced in seasons 7 – 8, Pamela was Clair Huxtable’s cousin once removed. As the daughter of a single mother, she lived with the Huxtable’s after her mother moved to California to take care of Pam’s grandmother.

Just after moving in as a high school junior, she wasn’t comfortable with the upper middle class lifestyle and close ties of the family. After a few months, she transitioned into the family and became another Huxtable.

After starring as Pam, fame brought her to another role as Maxine Shaw on the FOX sitcom series Living Single (1993 – 1998). Her most recent role in movies was playing Lieutenant Moriah Davis in I See You (2019) and the TV show Wu-Tang: An American Saga (2019) as Linda Diggs.

13. Peter Chiara (Peter Costa)

Peter Chiara was Rudy’s closest friends, playing the eternally shy but mischievous little neighbor. Together, the two ruined Cliff’s beloved juicer, helping to tarnish Rudy’s sweet innocence.

But after the end of The Cosby Show, his acting career didn’t carry on much further beyond 13 episodes. Although he did appear as himself in The Flamingo Kid (1984) and The Cosby Show: A Look Back (2002). He also had some minor roles in The Lemon Sisters (1989) and To Be Legendary (2003).

While he didn’t continue with his acting career as an adult, he’s been a drummer for various New Jersey metal and experimental bands, including Kreptatka Bar Band and Torrential Downpour.

14. Smitty (Adam Sandler)

Can you believe that the famous Adam Sandler had a role in The Cosby Show? While he only appeared in a few episodes throughout season 4, he was a part of Theo’s friend group. Smitty had some bright ideas that led the group to some of their worst experiences, like when they decided to rent a helicopter for prom.

Fun fact: Smitty was Adam Sandler’s first onscreen role.

Sandler of course has made himself a huge name in comedy movies and TV shows, including the following successful titles and many more:

• Saturday Night Live (five years)
• Billy Madison (1995)
• Happy Gilmore (1996)
• The Waterboy (1998)
• The Wedding Singer (1998)
• Big Daddy (1999)
• Click (2006)
• Grown Ups (2010)
• Uncut Gems (2019)

15. Kenny/Bud (Deon Richmond)

Kenny was another one of Rudy’s friends, initially expressing a lot of sexist views, such as believing a wife shouldn’t be in the workforce, she should cook for him and be older than him so she can die before him. Rudy got really mad at these statements and most often proved him wrong. But he got these views from his misogynistic older brother, who was known as the lazy “loser”. Thankfully, his views gradually changed as he got older.

Following The Cosby Show, Deon Richmond starred in Eddie Murphy Raw (1987) as young Eddie Murphy and also appeared in the 80s movie Enemy Territory as Chet. Since then, some of his most successful work was playing Tamera Campbell’s boyfriend Jordan Bennett during the fifth season of Sister, Sister (1994 – 1999). He became a regular cast member during the sixth and final season.

His most recent role in movies was playing George in FDR: American Badass! (2012) and in TV shows, Psych (2014) as Gus’s New Boss.