Bill Cosby
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 Many of his awards have been rescinded due to numerous sexual assault allegations, including the 1998 Kennedy Center Honor, the 2009 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, and all but 10 of 72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.
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
The Case Against Cosby
Bill Cosby: Walking Free
We Need to Talk About Cosby
When Ruby Wax Met...
I Am Richard Pryor
Basketball: A Love Story
Bill Cosby: Fall of an American Icon
Nelson Mandela Redrawn
Keep On Keepin’ On
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Bill Cosby: Far From Finished
Moms Mabley
After Newtown: Guns in America
B.B. King: The Life of Riley
Yo! The Story of ‘Yo! MTV Raps’
Goose
The Jay Leno Show
Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
Joe Louis: America's Hero Betrayed
Le Cirque: A Table in Heaven
The Electric Company's Greatest Hits & Bits
Buffy Sainte-Marie: A Multimedia Life
The Shame of a City
The Pact
Class Dismissed: How TV Frames the Working Class
Lipstick & Dynamite, Piss & Vinegar: The First Ladies of Wrestling
The Harlem Globetrotters: The Team That Changed the World
Fat Albert
Los Angeles Plays Itself
The 50 Worst Movies Ever Made
Fatherhood
Baadasssss!
Lightning in a Bottle
TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
Jack Paar: Smart Television
Comedian
The Cosby Show: A Look Back
NBC 75th Anniversary Special
Men of Honor
The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story
Little Bill
Becker
4 Little Girls
Cosby
Jack
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
Touched by an Angel
I Spy Returns
The Cosby Mysteries
The Incredible Voyage of Bill Pinkney
The Meteor Man
Zone interdite
Malcolm X
Here and Now
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
The One, the Only... Groucho
Ghost Dad
Nickelodeon Studios Opening Day Celebration!
The Earth Day Special
Sesame Street: 20 Years ... and Still Counting!
Leonard Part 6
A Different World
Bill Cosby: 49
TV's Funniest Comedians - 14 Stars Do Classic Routines
In Remembrance of Martin
Kraft Salutes the George Burns 90th Birthday Special
The Cosby Show
Reading Rainbow
Bill Cosby: Himself
The Fat Albert Easter Special
Late Night with David Letterman
Entertainment Tonight
The Devil and Max Devlin
Playboy's Roller Disco & Pajama Party
A Walking Tour of Sesame Street
The Kennedy Center Honors
California Suite
Top Secret
The Fat Albert Christmas Special
The Fat Albert Halloween Special
A Piece of the Action
Mother, Jugs & Speed
Doug Henning's World of Magic
Let's Do It Again
Cher
Uptown Saturday Night
The Chocolate Princess
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
Hickey & Boggs
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
The Midnight Special
To All My Friends on Shore
The Electric Company
Goin' Back to Indiana
Man and Boy
Diana!
Great Performances
Bill Cosby on Prejudice
The Flip Wilson Show
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
The Bill Cosby Show
The Picasso Summer
Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed
Of Black America
The Dick Cavett Show
The Dean Martin Show
I Spy
The Hollywood Palace
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
The Mike Douglas Show
The David Susskind Show
The Bob Hope Show
The Emmy Awards
The Ed Sullivan Show
Meet the Press
Acting
Lipstick & Dynamite, Piss & Vinegar: The First Ladies of Wrestling
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Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
1982
The Fat Albert Easter Special
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Fat Albert Robertson / Bill / Mushmouth / Mudfoot Brown (voice)