Known For
Acting
Born
Jul 12, 1937
Place of Birth
Philadelphia, PA, USA
Credits
145 titles
Bill Cosby
Biography
William Henry "Bill" Cosby Jr. (born July 12, 1937) is an American 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 Many of his awards have been rescinded due to numerous sexual assault allegations, including the 1998 Kennedy Center Honor, the 2009 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, and all but 10 of 72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.
Known For
Filmography
The Case Against Cosby
Self (archive footage)
Bill Cosby: Walking Free
Self (archive footage)
We Need to Talk About Cosby
Self (archive footage)
When Ruby Wax Met...
Self (archive footage)
Cola Wars
Self (archive footage)
I Am Richard Pryor
Self - Actor and Comedian (archive footage)
Basketball: A Love Story
Self (archive footage)
Bill Cosby: Fall of an American Icon
Self (archive footage)
Bill Cosby: An American Scandal
Self (archive footage)
Nelson Mandela Redrawn
Self
Keep On Keepin' On
Self
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self - Guest
Bill Cosby: Far From Finished
Self
Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley
Self
After Newtown: Guns in America
Self
B.B. King: The Life of Riley
Self
Yo! The Story of ‘Yo! MTV Raps’
Self
Goose
The Jay Leno Show
Self - Guest
Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy
Self
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
Self
Joe Louis: America's Hero Betrayed
Self
Le Cirque: A Table in Heaven
Self
Cutting Edge Comedians of the '60s & '70s
Self (archive footage)
The Electric Company's Greatest Hits & Bits
Self
Buffy Sainte-Marie: A Multimedia Life
Self
The Shame of a City
Self
The Pact
Self
Class Dismissed: How TV Frames the Working Class
Self (archive footage)
Lipstick & Dynamite
Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Harlem Globetrotters: The Team That Changed the World
Self
Fat Albert
Self
Fatherhood
Producer
Baadasssss!
Bill Cosby
Lightning in a Bottle
Self
TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
Self (archive footage)
Jack Paar: Smart Television
Self
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Self
Comedian
Self
The Cosby Show: A Look Back
Self / Dr. Cliff Huxtable (archive footage)
NBC 75th Anniversary Special
Self
Ralph Bunche: An American Odyssey
Producer
Men of Honor
Executive Producer
The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story
Little Bill
Executive Producer
Playboy: Playmate Pajama Party
Becker
Hilton Lucas (uncredited)
Kids Say the Darndest Things
Host
4 Little Girls
Self - Educator
Jack Paar: 'As I Was Saying...'
Self