LOS ANGELES: American actor MalcolmJamal Warner, who played Bill Cosby`s son Theo on the 1980s ground-breaking television hit The Cosby Show, died in Costa Rica on Monday by drowning. He was 54.

Warner was vacationing with his family, media reported.

The Cosby Show, which aired from 1984 to 1992, was one of the earliest por-trayals of a successful, stable and wholesome Black American family on television, which challenged negative stereotypes.

Cosby portrayed a doctor and Warner played his only son.

Warner, who was born on Aug 18, 1970, grew up in Jersey City, New Jersey, with his mother, Pamela, who eventually became his acting manager.

-Reuters