Pamela Warner, the mother of actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner, said she screamed "from the bottom of my soul" when she learned her son had drowned while on a trip in Costa Rica in July. The actor, best known for playing Theodore "Theo" Huxtable on The Cosby Show, was 54.
Speaking on Good Morning America, Pamela Warner described the scream as coming from "the bottom of my soul" and said the pain she experienced "was indescribable" and resonated throughout her body. She said her son's wife, Tenisha, and their daughter remain "both in deep grief." Pamela Warner spoke publicly for the first time since his death in a televised appearance this month.
Pamela Warner rejected media suggestions that her granddaughter was in the water when the incident occurred, saying, "She was not in the water." She said Malcolm-Jamal Warner had been in the water with another man, at what she estimated was chest- or waist-deep, when an undertow pulled him under. She added that her son was not an experienced swimmer and did not know how to respond to the current. Officials later listed the cause of death as asphyxiation by submersion.
Local lifeguards from Playa Grande, the beach community where the drowning occurred, issued a statement after the incident saying they were not present at the scene because of a lack of resources. Authorities also said the drowning happened very rapidly.
Pamela Warner said the actor's daughter witnessed attempts to resuscitate him and that seeing those efforts had been "awfully, awfully traumatic." She said her daughter "loved her father dearly" and "adored papa."
Warner said her son had traveled to Costa Rica because of his daughter's schooling. She told interviewers that Tenisha and their daughter had been in Costa Rica about three weeks before the actor arrived; the family had placed the child in a home-school immersion program, she said.
In an earlier social media post after her son's death, Pamela Warner wrote that he "did not suffer" and that he was "at peace." She also reflected on the symbolism of water in his life, writing that he was "birthed through water and transitioned through water," and saying, "This was his time. His mission on earth had been completed."
Pamela Warner praised her son’s life and work in public remarks, calling him a "kind, loving man with a huge heart for humanity" and noting his roles as an actor, musician, teacher, coach and business partner. She pointed to his Grammy nominations and a win as part of his artistic accomplishments and urged those who knew him to "hold close to whatever part of Malcolm's life that touched yours. In keeping it near, you keep his spirit alive."
Peers and colleagues have paid tribute to Warner since his death. Actress Phylicia Rashad spoke at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards on Sept. 14 beside a photograph of Warner, saying he left "an indelible mark on the world and on countless hearts."
Warner rose to prominence as the eldest son on The Cosby Show in the 1980s and continued to work in television, film and music. His family and representatives have described him in recent statements as devoted to his wife and daughter and committed to helping others realize personal transformation and inner strength.
Authorities continue to list the cause of death as asphyxiation by submersion; local officials and family accounts have attributed the drowning to a sudden undertow and the absence of lifeguards at the scene. Pamela Warner’s recent public comments focused on the family's grief, the trauma her granddaughter experienced, and the desire to remember Malcolm-Jamal Warner for his artistic and humanitarian contributions.