All About Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s Wife and Daughter

Tributes are pouring in for Malcolm-Jamal Warner, who died on Sunday, July 20, in Costa Rica, a source confirmed to People . The actor, best known for his role as Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show, was 54 years old. Warner is survived by a wife and a daughter. He never publicly revealed their names, preferring to keep their identities private.

“Thank you for sharing in my joy as a father even though I don’t post her face,” he wrote in the caption of a 2019 Instagram post about his daughter. “She has the rest of her life for that life. Right now I just want her to BE…but it doesn’t stop me from BEing a proud papa!”

Warner announced the news of his daughter’s arrival in a July 2017 Instagram post, which shows the late actor holding her in his arms. “Peaceful time with family takes on a whole new meaning now…😍😍😍” he captioned the photo. 

While he didn’t show his wife on social media, he described their daughter as “the beautiful manifestation of our love” and “our ‘mini us’” in another post.

Here’s everything the late Malcolm-Jamal Warner shared about his family.

He’d been with his wife for almost 10 years.

In a May 2025 appearance on the Hot & Bothered podcast, Warner revealed that he and his unnamed partner had “been together almost 10 years.” 

“And we have never had a fight, an argument, a raised voice, or a harsh word said to one another. It’s not like we agree on everything. She’s Black and Puerto Rican so it’s not like she’s incapable of the smoke,” he said, adding, “I think because we met later in life, we’ve just always been at a point where we have a way of communicating like adults.”

In the same interview, he explained that he met his wife at 45—and wanted people to know that it was possible to find love after your 20s. “It’s okay to wait. You don’t have to be in your 20s, looking for your soulmate, when you don’t know who the f— you are.”

He “never second-guessed” their love.

During his Hot & Bothered podcast appearance, Warner opened up about realizing early on that his wife was the one he wanted to marry and have children with.

“I’ve never, never second-guessed it,” the Grammy winner told host Melyssa Ford. “Like, there was a moment where I realized, ‘Oh, so when people say, ‘When you know, you know’—that’s what that feeling is.’

“And I had always heard that, and being in long-term relationships for most of my life, I always felt like, okay, that’s a cool concept. But [with my wife] I just had that experiential knowledge of, ‘When you know, you know.’ Like, this is it.”

His daughter watched The Cosby Show with him.

An enduring part of Warner’s legacy is his breakthrough role as Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show from 1984 to 1992. The portrayal even nabbed the late actor an Emmy nomination in 1986 for Outstanding Supporting Actor In A Comedy Series. 

Warner had the chance to share the show with his 8-year-old daughter, he revealed on the Hot & Bothered podcast in May. They began watching it when she was just 4 years old. He recalled that, while his daughter recognized him as Theo, she was more interested in the character Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam). 

“[My daughter] is like, ‘That’s Papa, that’s Papa. Where’s Rudy?’” he joked of the bonding experience. “So for the longest time, she actually called the show Rudy’s Family.”

Later in the same interview, Warner discussed how the show’s intentional use of made-up slang and its solid writing helped it hold up over the years. “I’m watching this show with my daughter, laughing, and like, wow, this show is still relevant to this day,” he said with a touch of amazement.

He wrote about being “blessed” with his daughter.

The Resident star, who would have turned 55 in August, regularly gushed about his daughter on social media, whether they were celebrating her first Easter, learning Black history, dancing together, or baking a special cake for his wife’s birthday.

In an especially heartfelt Instagram post about his daughter made in 2023, Warner wrote a lengthy caption touching on fatherhood and gratitude. “Often I find myself just staring at [my daughter] and wondering where she came from. I wholeheartedly own that the parents she came from/chose are special spirits in our own right and we’ve passed onto her our spiritual and vibrational riches,” he reflected. 

The pictures in the post showed his daughter riding a horse, playing in a splash pad, and lining up her toys to read to them. Warner added in his caption, “Growing up, when people would praise my mother [Pamela Warner] for being such an incredible parent, she would always say that, in me, she had great material to work with. Mom, I get it now. We have also been blessed in that way. 

“And we feel honored and blessed to be backed by a village of family and intimate friends [too] who love our daughter deeply and share in the honor our job to nurture, support, encourage, and protect her precious light. 🙏🏾”