Bill Cosby
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 Many of his awards have been rescinded due to numerous sexual assault allegations, including the 1998 Kennedy Center Honor, the 2009 Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, and all but 10 of 72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.
Filmography · 126
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014 · Self - Guest
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1962 · Self
The Mike Douglas Show
1961 · Self - Co-Host
Meet the Press
1947
Great Performances
1971 · Self
The Merv Griffin Show
1962 · Self
The Cosby Show
1984 · Heathcliff Huxtable
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003 · Self
Touched by an Angel
1994 · Phil
The Dick Cavett Show
1968 · Self - Guest
A Different World
1987 · Heathcliff Huxtable
Late Night with David Letterman
1982 · Self
Becker
1998 · Hilton Lucas (uncredit...
Dinah!
1974 · Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948 · Self
Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In
1968 · Self (uncredited)
The Bob Hope Show
1950 · Self
Reading Rainbow
1983 · Self - Narrator (voice...
The Jay Leno Show
2009 · Self - Guest
I Spy
1965 · Alexander Scott
Zone interdite
1993 · Self
Cosby
1996 · Hilton Lucas
Basketball: A Love Story
2018 · Self (archive footage)
The Kennedy Center Honors
1978 · Self
The Dean Martin Show
1965
The Midnight Special
1972 · Self
The Electric Company
1971 · The Milk Man
Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
1972 · Fat Albert Robertson
The Flip Wilson Show
1970 · Self
The Bill Cosby Show
1969 · Chet Kincaid
Entertainment Tonight
1981 · Self
Malcolm X
1992 · Self (uncredited)
The Hollywood Palace
1964 · Self - Comedian
Jack
1996 · Lawrence Woodruff
The American Film Institute Salute to ...
1973 · Self
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
1996 · Self
Cher
1975 · Self
The David Susskind Show
1959 · Self
The Emmy Awards
1949 · Self
Ruby Wax Meets
1996
Fat Albert
2004 · Self
Cola Wars
2019 · Self (archive footage)
When Ruby Wax Met...
2021 · Self (archive footage)
Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice
1969 · Nightclub Patron (uncr...
Miles Davis: Kind of Blue
2008 · Self
Ghost Dad
1990 · Elliot Hopper
The Cosby Mysteries
1994 · Guy Hanks
NBC 75th Anniversary Special
2002 · Self
The Meteor Man
1993 · Marvin
The Earth Day Special
1990 · Cliff Huxtable
California Suite
1978 · Dr. Willis Panama
Playboy: Playmate Pajama Party
1999
Yo! The Story of ‘Yo! MTV Raps’
2012 · Self
Doug Henning's World of Magic
1975 · Self
Uptown Saturday Night
1974 · Wardell Franklin
The NBC All Star Hour: Let's All Be There
1985
A Piece of the Action
1977 · Dave Anderson
Happy Birthday, Bugs! 50 Looney Years
1990 · Self
TV's Funniest Comedians - 14 Stars Do Classic Routines
1986 · Self
Mother, Jugs & Speed
1976 · Mother
Nelson Mandela Redrawn
2014 · Self
Playboy's Roller Disco & Pajama Party
1979 · Self (uncredited)
The Jackson 5: Goin' Back to Indiana
1971 · Scoop Newsworthy
Playboy's Playmate Party
1977
King: A Filmed Record... Montgomery to Memphis
1970 · Self (archive footage)
Jack Paar: Smart Television
2003 · Self
We Need to Talk About Cosby
2022 · Self (archive footage)
A Walking Tour of Sesame Street
1979 · Self (Twins) (archive...
The Cosby Show: A Look Back
2002 · Self / Dr. Cliff Huxta...
Bill Cosby: Walking Free
2022 · Self (archive footage)
The Devil and Max Devlin
1981 · Barney Satin
Lightning in a Bottle
2004 · Self
B.B. King: The Life of Riley
2012 · Self
The One, the Only... Groucho
1991 · Self
Of Black America
1968
The Fat Albert Christmas Special
1977 · Fat Albert / Bill / Mu...
Let's Do It Again
1975 · Billy Foster
Man and Boy
1971 · Caleb Revers
I Am Richard Pryor
2019 · Self - Actor and Comed...
Comedian
2002 · Self
Lipstick & Dynamite
2005 · Self (archive footage)...
Baadasssss!
2004 · Bill Cosby
Leonard Part 6
1987 · Leonard
Superstars and their Moms
1987 · Self
The Pact
2006 · Self
In Remembrance of Martin
1986 · Self
Le Cirque: A Table in Heaven
2007 · Self
Hickey & Boggs
1972 · Al Hickey
Playmate Pajama Party
1999 · self
TV in Black: The First Fifty Years
2004 · Self (archive footage)
Whoopi Goldberg Presents Moms Mabley
2013 · Self
Goose
2012
The Fat Albert Halloween Special
1977 · Fat Albert Robertson /...
Class Dismissed: How TV Frames the Working Class
2005 · Self (archive footage)
4 Little Girls
1997 · Self - Educator
The Tulsa Lynching of 1921: A Hidden Story
2000
Sammy Davis, Jr. 60th Anniversary Celebration
1990 · Self
Why We Laugh: Black Comedians on Black Comedy
2009 · Self
Joe Louis: America's Hero Betrayed
2008 · Self
Bill Cosby: Himself
1983 · Self
Kraft Salutes the George Burns 90th Birthday Special
1986 · Self
The Fat Albert Easter Special
1982 · Fat Albert Robertson /...
Diana!
1971 · Self
The Weird Harold Special
1973
Top Secret
1978 · Aaron Strickland
To All My Friends on Shore
1972 · Blue
Bill Cosby: Fall of an American Icon
2017 · Self (archive footage)
The Harlem Globetrotters: The Team That Changed the World
2005 · Self
I Spy Returns
1994 · Alexander Scott
Bill Cosby: Far From Finished
2013 · Self
After Newtown: Guns in America
2013 · Self
Keep On Keepin' On
2014 · Self
The Electric Company's Greatest Hits & Bits
2006 · Self
Buffy Sainte-Marie: A Multimedia Life
2006 · Self
The Chocolate Princess
1974 · Narrator
Nickelodeon Studios Opening Day Celebration!
1990
Bill Cosby: An American Scandal
2017 · Self (archive footage)
Bill Cosby: 49
1987 · Self
The Shame of a City
2006 · Self
Sesame Street: 20 Years ... and Still Counting!
1989 · Self - Host
The Case Against Cosby
2022 · Self (archive footage)
Bill Cosby on Prejudice
1971
The Incredible Voyage of Bill Pinkney
1994 · Narrator
Creole Giselle
1987 · Self - Host
Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed
1968 · Self - Host / Narrator