Bill Cosby

Bill Cosby is one of the world's most well-known entertainers and comedians. William Henry Cosby, Jr. was born on July 12, 1937, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Anna Pearl (Hite), a maid, and William Henry Cosby, Sr. , a U. S. Navy sailor. After tenth grade, Cosby joined the Navy and completed high school through a correspondence course. He later took up an athletics scholarship at Temple University, supporting himself during his studies by tending bar, where his easy-going style and witty joking with the clientèle prompted suggestions that he try stand-up comedy. This he did and was soon to be discovered by the legendary Carl Reiner.

In his early twenties, he appeared on many well-known variety programs including The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) (aka "The Ed Sullivan Show").

He studied for many years during his career in the 1960s and 1970s, and he received a doctorate in Education from the University of Massachusetts.

Played as Running Back for Temple University (Philadelphia, PA, USA) football team during the 1962-1964 seasons.

Bill Cosby's television debut was on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson (1962), on August 6, 1963. Allan Sherman was the guest host and after his six-minute stand-up comedy routine ("Karate"), he was "called over" to chat.

His big break came in 1965 when he appeared as "Alexander Scott" in I Spy (1965), winning numerous Emmys for his performance.

He later appeared in The Bill Cosby Show (1969), playing a teacher, although originally the show only lasted for two years.

" He was one of the original cast members of The Electric Company (1971), and he was featured in the series Pinwheel (1976) during the late 1970s and then appeared in the mediocre The Devil and Max Devlin (1981).

He then created a Filmation cartoon based on many of his high school buddies including Weird Harold, Dumb Donald, Mushmouth, and others: the show was, of course, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972). The theme was humorous but also focused on Cosby's more educational side.

Cosby also starred in some highly successful movies such as Uptown Saturday Night (1974), Let's Do It Again (1975), A Piece of the Action (1977), Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976), and California Suite (1978). During his early years he also made some comedy albums that sold very well; his most notable comedy song being "Little Old Man.

In 1976, he earned a doctorate in education from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. His dissertation was titled "An Integration of the Visual Media Via Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids (1972) into the Elementary School Curriculum as a Teaching Aid and Vehicle to Achieve Increased Learning."

Played in two movies where his characters were mistook for Satan: The Devil and Max Devlin (1981) and Ghost Dad (1990).

In 1984, 'Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids' stopped production, and The Cosby Show (1984) commenced. The show was originally intended to follow a blue-collar family, but finally ended up portraying a white-collar family. It was originally rejected by ABC, accepted by a then-floundering NBC, and was an almost instant success.

The Cosby Show led what was considered by many at that time to be the best night of television: the line-up included Night Court (1984), Hill Street Blues (1981), and Family Ties (1982), which all followed The Cosby Show. Cosby was dissatisfied with the way minorities were portrayed on television.

From 1985 to 1987 the show broke viewing records, with Cosby becoming perhaps the strongest driving force in television during the eighties. Despite this great success, he arguably created his own downfall.

Broke Radio City's 53-year-old attendance record for his concert appearance. (1986)

He produced the TV series A Different World (1987) and insisted that this program should follow the Cosby Show, rather than Family Ties. A Different World was set in an historically Black college and concentrated on young people and education. Impact was felt on the show immediately; at its peak, the Cosby Show logged an estimated 70 million viewers. However, after the scheduling reshuffle, the show lost roughly 20% of its massive audience.

Cosby never seemed able to top the success of the Cosby Show; his film Leonard Part 6 (1987) was considered to be one of the worst American films in history and may have contributed in part to his downfall as a film actor, along with his performance in Ghost Dad (1990).

However, Cosby was still riding high in the early nineties until massive competition from The Simpsons (1989).

The Cosby Show finally ended in 1992, conceding to The Simpsons (1989), with the final production considered to be one of the highest-rated shows of the season and featured a pleading Cosby asking for peace in riot-torn Los Angeles during the height of the Rodney King riots.

Inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame in 1994.

He did attempt a minor comeback in 1996 starring in the Robin Williams film Jack (1996), which was directed by Francis Ford Coppola; and in another show, Cosby (1996), (starring Phylicia Rashad, who appeared as his wife in the previous Cosby Show).

National Enquirer offers $100,000 reward for the capture of the killer of Bill's son, Ennis Cosby. [January 1997]

Since then he has produced films such as Men of Honor (2000), and shows including Little Bill (1999).

Upon receiving his Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the 2003 Emmys, Cosby paid tribute to two people: children's show host Fred Rogers (who had died earlier that year) and, poignantly, his late son, Ennis.

Cliff Huxtable, Cosby's character on The Cosby Show (1984), was ranked #1 by TV Guide in its list of the 50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time [20 June 2004 issue].

Received the 12th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor [October 2009].

Bill Cosby: Far from Finished (2013) was the first of his televised concerts which was specifically produced to accommodate the inclusion of television commercials.