Actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner, made famous for his role as Theo Huxtable, died on Sunday after an accidental drowning while on a family vacation in Costa Rica. He was 54 years old.

Warner was swimming in the Caribbean Sea off of Playa Cocles beach when a current pulled him deep into the sea, the Associated Press reported. His body was pulled from the water by bystanders on the beach, and first responders tried to save him, according to multiple reports.

“The victim appears to have entered the sea and was apparently swept away by a current,” Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency told People. “The man was rescued by bystanders and taken to shore, where he received treatment from the Costa Rican Red Cross. However, he was declared lifeless at the scene.”

Paramedics tried to resuscitate Warner for 20 minutes but were unable to do so, according to People. He “apparently died as a result of asphyxiation by submersion.”

The actor rose to fame for portraying the son, Theo Huxtable, in the beloved 1980s sitcom The Cosby Show. Actor and comedian Bill Cosby starred in the show as Dr. Clifford Huxtable, the patriarch of the Huxtable family. The show was one of the most popular in the United States in the 1980s and ran for nine seasons, from 1984 to 1992. 

Most recently, Warner hosted the Not All Hood podcast, which the actor started in June 2024. He co-hosted it with Weusi Baraka and Candace Kelley and focused on “the vast and diverse experiences” of people in the black community.

“When we talk about the black community, we tend to speak of it as a monolith when the reality is there are so many different facets of the black community, and we wanted to have a space where we can really explore, discuss, and acknowledge all of those different aspects,” Warner told People in an interview in May 2024.

Warner appeared in numerous roles after the Cosby Show, including starring roles in the sitcoms Malcolm & Eddie, which ran from 1996 to 2000, and Reed Between the Lines, which aired from 2011 to 2015. He had many guest starring roles as well, including stints on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, 9-1-1, The Wonder Years, and Suits, among many others.

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“I grew up with a maniacal obsession with not wanting to be one of those ‘where are they now kids,’” Warner told the Associated Press during an interview in 2015. “I feel very blessed to be able to have all of these avenues of expression … to be where I am now and finally at a place where I can let go of that worry about having a life after ‘Cosby.’”

Warner is survived by his wife and daughter.