Bill Cosby

Acting

Born Jul 12, 1937

From Philadelphia, PA, USA

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 Many of his awards have been rescinded due to numerous sexual assault allegations, including the 1998 Kennedy Center Honor, the 2009 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, and all but 10 of 72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.

Bill Cosby

Known For

The Meteor Man

Jack

Fat Albert

The Earth Day Special

Ghost Dad

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis

4 Little Girls

Los Angeles Plays Itself

Baadasssss!

Filmography — Acting

The Meteor Man

Jack

Fat Albert

The Earth Day Special

Ghost Dad

Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice

King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis

4 Little Girls

Los Angeles Plays Itself

Baadasssss!

Cola Wars

California Suite

Comedian

NBC 75th Anniversary Special

Leonard Part 6

Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley

A Piece of the Action

Yo! The Story of ‘Yo! MTV Raps’

The Cosby Show: A Look Back

B.B. King: The Life of Riley

TV in Black: The First Fifty Years

Hickey & Boggs

The Electric Company's Greatest Hits & Bits

Let's Do It Again

I Spy Returns

Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy

The Devil and Max Devlin

The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story

I Am Richard Pryor

Playboy: Playmate Pajama Party

Goose

Mother, Jugs & Speed

A Walking Tour of Sesame Street

Man and Boy

Nelson Mandela Redrawn

Uptown Saturday Night

The Harlem Globetrotters: The Team That Changed the World

Sammy Davis, Jr. 60th Anniversary Celebration

Murder at N.B.C.

To All My Friends on Shore

TV's Funniest Comedians - 14 Stars Do Classic Routines

Superstars and their Moms

Keep On Keepin' On

The One, the Only... Groucho

In Remembrance of Martin

Lightning in a Bottle

The Fat Albert Christmas Special

The NBC All Star Hour: Let's All Be There

Joe Louis: America's Hero Betrayed

Jack Paar: Smart Television

Jack Paar: 'As I Was Saying...'

Class Dismissed: How TV Frames the Working Class

Cutting Edge Comedians of the '60s & '70s

Lipstick & Dynamite

Top Secret

Le Cirque: A Table in Heaven

Diana!

Bill Cosby: Fall of an American Icon

Buffy Sainte-Marie: A Multimedia Life

Nickelodeon Studios Opening Day Celebration!

Playboy's Roller Disco & Pajama Party

The Shame of a City

Playboy's Playmate Party

Bill Cosby: Walking Free

The Fat Albert Easter Special

Kraft Salutes the George Burns 90th Birthday Special

The Weird Harold Special