Born in New Jersey in 1970, Warner took to performing early and enrolled in The Professional Children’s School in New York City. After a few minor guest appearances on television, he landed the role of middle child Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show in 1984, having been chosen specifically by creator and star Bill Cosby. The series was an enormous and enduring success (despite the allegations that would later come to light about Cosby), and earned Warner an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series in 1986.
After The Cosby Show, Warner would go on to star on the Cosby-produced 1992 series Here And Now and Malcolm & Eddie, which ran from 1996 to 2000. In addition to appearing in films like Drop Zone, Restaurant, and Fool’s Gold, he continued to have a prolific television career in the 21st century; he starred in Jeremiah, Listen Up, Reed Between The Lines (opposite Tracee Ellis Ross), and The Resident. He also had guest roles in shows such as Dexter, Community, American Horror Story, Key & Peele, Detroiters, and more.
Beyond the screen, Warner was a bass guitarist and recording artist who won the Grammy for Best Traditional R&B Performance in 2015 for “Jesus Children” with Robert Glasper Experiment and Lalah Hathaway. He was nominated for another Grammy in 2022 for his spoken word poetry album Hiding In Plain View. Warner directed music videos for New Edition in 1989 and went on to direct for television, including episodes of The Cosby Show, Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, Kenan & Kel, All That, and more. Most recently, he launched the podcast Not All Hood, which covered topics like masculinity and mental health in the Black American community.
Warner is survived by his wife and daughter.
