Information AboutBill Cosby |
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William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr., Ed.D (born July 12 , 1937 ) is an American Actor , Comedian , Television Producer and Activist . He was the first African-American to star in a dramatic television series ('' I Spy '', in which he co-starred with Robert Culp during the mid- 1960s ), and also became well-known for his Stand-up Comedy during the 1960s and 1970s . After ''I Spy'' he starred in other series, some of which were successful (such as the long-running cartoon '' Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids ''), while others were not. In the mid- 1980s , his Sitcom '' The Cosby Show '' was very popular (helping to rescue NBC from possible Bankruptcy ), and notable for being one of the first television programs to star an Upper-class Black family. During the 1980s, Cosby was among the highest-paid entertainers in the United States. In recent years, Cosby's reputation has been affected by his Controversial Statements regarding the advancement of the Black community, and (unproved) allegations of sexual harassment. CAREER Cosby was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to William Henry Cosby and Anna Pearl Hite. He began attending Central High School Of Philadelphia , but dropped out in the tenth grade and joined the Navy , and completed high school through correspondence courses ( GED ). He served 4 years in the Navy, achieving the rank of Hospital Corpsman Third Class . During his service, he was stationed at Bethesda Naval Hospital , and played for the Quantico Marines football team and the Naval Hospital Bethesda basketball team. He was discharged in 1961 . Later, he won an athletic scholarship to Temple University . After working as a bartender for several years, he began his career as a Stand-up Comic , working the " Chitlin Circuit " for a time before his big break with the comedy album, '' Bill Cosby Is A Very Funny Fellow, Right! ''. Unlike many contemporary Afro-American comedians, Cosby told stories rather than jokes, often surrounding his Philadelphia childhood, particularly in tales about his little brother Russell and friends Old Weird Harold and Fat Albert . Unlike his contemporaries on the circuit, he avoided the use of harsh language. As a result, Cosby was deemed acceptable to white audiences which found these stories to be universal. He won fame for his performances and a series of best-selling Record Albums . His breakout routine was an imagined conversation between God and a skeptical Noah , which made its first appearance on his first vinyl release. TV producer Sheldon Leonard landed Cosby a break-out television role in '' I Spy '' ( 1965 ), the first time an African-American actor starred in a weekly dramatic television series. Cosby won two Emmy Award s for his portrayal of undercover CIA agent Alexander Scott. Beginning in 1968 , Cosby recorded several hundred 5-minute comedy shorts titled ''The Bill Cosby Radio Program'' and sponsored by Coca-Cola for daily broadcast on Top 40 radio stations. The series introduced "The Brown Hornet," a parody of The Green Hornet that would resurface on '' Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids ''. Cosby then appeared in a series of shows named after himself: '' The Bill Cosby Show '', ''The New Bill Cosby Show'', the animated '' Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids '', '' Cos '', '' The Cosby Show '', '' The Cosby Mysteries '', and '' Cosby '' (based upon the British series '' One Foot In The Grave ''). He has producer, writer, director and even composer credits on many of his projects. Cosby was a regular on the '' Captain Kangaroo '' show in the 1980s , presenting the " Picture Pages " segment which was later syndicated on its own. He won several Grammy Awards for his comedy albums, had a top forty song ("Little Old Man") in 1969 , and sang on a number of albums. He won more Grammies for comedy than any other artist, winning every year from 1965 to 1970 and again in 1987 . As Of 2005 , he had 3 gold- and 6 platinum-certified comedy albums. He has also written several humorous books about different aspects of life, based on his stand-up comedy such as ''Fatherhood'' and ''Love and Marriage''. In fact, ''Fatherhood'' and ''Time Flies'' were the best selling non-fiction hardback books of 1986 and 1987 , respectively. Cosby has also made occasional forays into ) and '' Ghost Dad '' ( 1990 ), and the notorious flop '' Leonard Part 6 '' ( 1987 ), although his work in ensemble casts in '' Uptown Saturday Night '' and '' Let's Do It Again '', a pair of productions headed up by Sidney Poitier in the mid- 1970s , received favorable reviews, as did his supporting role in Francis Ford Coppola 's '' Jack '' ( 1996 ). One of Cosby's more colorful performances was his portrayal as a Bigot in '' Bill Cosby On Prejudice '' ( 1971 ). His many Commercial endorsements, made at the height of his popularity in the 1970s and '80s for products such as Jell-O , Texas Instruments , Eastman Kodak , and Coca-Cola , have been widely parodied. Cosby earned a doctorate in concerned the use of the ''Fat Albert'' series as a teaching aid. He has attempted to integrate education with television in some projects, such as '' Picture Pages '', where Cosby taught children how to draw in a series of shorts aired by PBS . Notably, he structured the 80's Cosby family to represent children at all ages, and the addition of daughter Sondra ( Sabrina Le Beauf ) as a Princeton graduate and aspiring law student is meant to send the message that good parenting and education of children leads to success. ''The Cosby Show'' also addressed social issues, such as Drugs , Illiteracy , Teen Pregnancy , and Gang Violence . Cosby is now a leading educational Philanthropist . He hosted the television program '' Kids Say The Darndest Things '', which aired from 1996 through 2000 . He is married to Camille Hanks and they have four daughters. Their only son Ennis Cosby , aged 27, was Murder ed on January 16 , 1997 , while changing a flat tire in Los Angeles, California . On March 12 , 1997 , his assailant, Mikail Markhasev, was arrested in Los Angeles and charged with attempted robbery and murder. He was convicted on July 7 1998 and is currently serving a Life Sentence without the possibility of Parole . Cosby, As Of 2005 maintains a home in Shelburne, Massachusetts . HONORS
POLITICAL VIEWS
The Pound Cake Speech In May 2004 after receiving an award at the celebration of the 50th Anniversary commemoration of the '' Brown V. Board Of Education '' ruling, which was the U.S. surpreme courts decision that outlawed school segregation (Wu, Frank H.), Cosby made public remarks critical of those Blacks who he believed were putting higher priorities on Sports and Fashion than on education and self-improvement. He has made a plea for African American families to educate their children on the many different aspects of American culture(Baker). According to Washington Times, he has had a long history of endeavors to advance African Americans (DeBose, Brian). When his address was reported by the national media, the headlines implied that Cosby was placing the blame of socioeconomic disparity solely on African-Americans. In "Pound Cake" Cosby asks that African American parents begin teaching their children better morals at a younger age. He directed this address to the leaders in the lower and middle economic classes of the African American community. According to USA Today, Cosby is not alone in asking blacks to own up to problems. Other leaders such as Jesse Jackson, along with Cosby, are willing to publicly say that some blacks are their own worst enemy (Segregated Expectations). :Cosby told reporters of the Washington Times, "Parenting needs to come to the forefront. If you need help and you don't know how to parent, we want to be able to reach out and touch" (DeBose, Brian). Regardless of the content of the speech, the U.S. national media focused on limited content and, without any national opinion polls or quantitative study, declared his speech was divisive and suggested that Cosby was addressing all blacks. Here are some examples of the headlines that were sent out nationally reporting the speech: :"Bill Cosby has more harsh words for black community" '' San Francisco Chronicle '' July 1 2004 :"Bill Cosby Remarks Divide Black Community" Black America Web, May 31 2004 (Associated Press) There were other lead-in paragraphs that suggest a huge division: :CHICAGO — ''Bill Cosby went off on another tirade against the black community Thursday, telling a room full of activists that black children are running around not knowing how to read or write and "going nowhere."'' Fox News , Friday, July 02, 2004 ( Associated Press ) Using those headlines and descriptions the national media characterized Cosby as being elitist and suggested he was speaking derisively against all blacks. The media ensured his remarks chastizing the Black communities were all-inclusive but noticibly did not include his scathing remarks about Christians and the police, as well as praise for the efforts of the Black Muslim organization and its effectiveness. Cosby later appeared on WBUR to comment on his speech, his various remarks and African-Americans generally. Cosby again came under sharp criticism, and again he was largely unapologetic for his stance. He made similar remarks during a speech on July 1 at a Rainbow Coalition meeting commemorating the anniversary of '' Brown V. Board Of Education ''. During that speech, he admonished Blacks for not assisting or concerning themselves with the individuals who are in crime or have counter-productive aspirations. He further described those who needed attention as "Blacks (who) had forgotten the sacrifices of those in the Civil Rights Movement . The talk was interrupted several times by applause and received praise from leaders such as Jesse Jackson . COSBY AND JAZZ Since his youth in 1950s Philadelphia, Cosby has been a fan and supporter of Jazz music. He hosted at his home the 1983 wedding of jazz innovator Miles Davis and actress Cicely Tyson , and on ''The Cosby Show'' he wrote the fathers of both Cliff Huxtable and his wife to be aged jazz musicians. Cosby has stated, many times in his stand up shows, that "kids these days don't know what the jazz is all about". CONTROVERSY
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