Comedian, author, television producer; born in Germantown, Pennslyvania. Rather than repeat the tenth grade, he left school and joined the navy. While attending Temple University on an athletic scholarship, he appeared at New York's Gaslight Cafe (1962) where his comic narratives were so successful that he left college to pursue his career. In 1965 he became the first African-American actor to star in a weekly television dramatic series, I Spy (1965--68), winning two Emmys as an undercover Central Intelligence Agency agent. Subsequent series were The Bill Cosby Show (1969--71), The New Bill Cosby Show (1972--73), and Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972--84). His interest in children and education led him to earn M.A. and Ed.D degrees at the University of Massachusetts and to incorporate many of his ideas and ideals in his work. As obstetrician Cliff Huxtable in The Cosby Show (1984--1992), he projected a new image of middle-class African-American families and the program was one of the most popular and lucrative in television history. Currently he stars in the sitcom Cosby and hosts the show Kids Say the Darndest Things. His gentle, wry clowning appeals to both children and adults, leading to a series of successful television commercials, comedy records, and books, and made him one of the wealthiest individuals in the history of the American entertainment industry. Only his movies failed to be money-machines. In later years he has become a generous contributor to various causes and institutions, particularly Atlanta's Spelman College. He and his wife Camille have four daughters; their son Ennis was tragically murdered in 1997. .