You’re A Funny Ass Mofo!

William Henry Cosby, Jr. (1937 – )

Bill Cosby was born and raised in Philadelphia and began as a stand-up comic and ended up as one of America’s most beloved dads and television stars.

His comedy career was kick-started by a 1963 appearance on Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show. During the 1960s, his stand-up act was a coast-to-coast sensation, spawning a string of hilarious, best-selling comedy albums, which went on to win eight Gold Records, five Platinum records and five Grammy Awards.

In 1965, Cosby starred with Robert Culp in the TV series I Spy, making him the first Black to co-star in a dramatic series, breaking television’s racial barrier and winning three Emmy Awards. He was one of the few Black stars on prime-time TV.

In 1969, Cosby starred in his own show, The Bill Cosby Show, a situation comedy. Cosby played a physical education teacher at a Los Angeles high school. While only a modest critical success, the show was a ratings hit, finishing eleventh in its first season. Cosby was lauded for using Black legendary performers such as Lillian Randolph, Moms Mabley and Rex Ingram as characters.

Cosby was one of the major characters on the children’s television series The Electric Company for its first two seasons.

In 1972, Cosby was back in prime time with a variety series, The New Bill Cosby Show. However, this show lasted only a season.

More successful was a Saturday morning show, Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids, hosted by Cosby and based on his own childhood. That series ran from 1972 to 1979, and The New Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids from 1979 to 1984. Original Fat Albert animated production cels and drawings, as well as limited edition animation cels are part of The Museum Of UnCut Funk Black Animation Collection.

In the 1980s, he again rocked the television world with the The Cosby Show, a gentle, whimsical and hugely successful series that single-handedly revived the family sitcom and rescued NBC. From 1984 – 1992 he dominated prime time television with his family comedy in which he and Phylicia Rashad starred as Cliff and Claire Huxtable.

Cosby also appeared in several movies including Uptown Saturday Night, Let’s Do It Again and A Piece Of The Action.

Cosby earned his bachelors degree from Temple University, and a PhD in education from the University of Massachusetts. He crosses the country devoting his time and energy to the continued crises of property crime and lack of education in Black America.

Bill Cosby Quotes:

“A word to the wise ain't necessary - it's the stupid ones that need the advice”

Bill Cosby

“The main goal of the future is to stop violence. The world is addicted to it”

Bill Cosby

Television

  • 1964-65 – That Was the Week That Was
  • 1965-68 – I Spy
  • 1969-71 – The Bill Cosby Show
  • 1971-76 – The Electric Company
  • 1972-73 – The New Bill Cosby Show
  • 1972-77 – Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids
  • 1976 – Cos
  • 1981 – The New Fat Albert Show
  • 1984-92 – The Cosby Show
  • 1987-93 – A Different World – Executive Producer
  • 1992-93 – You Bet Your Life
  • 1992-93 – Here and Now Executive Producer
  • 1994-95 – The Cosby Mysteries
  • 1996-99 – Cosby

 

Made for Television Specials

  • 1971 – To All My Friends On Shore
  • 1978 – Top Secret
  • 1994 – I Spy Returns

 

Television Specials

  • 1968 – The Bill Cosby Special
  • 1969 – The Second Bill Cosby Special
  • 1970 – The Third Bill Cosby Special
  • 1971 – The Bill Cosby Special, Or?
  • 1972 – Dick van Dyke Meets Bill Cosby
  • 1975 – Cos: The Bill Cosby Comedy Special
  • 1977 – The Fat Albert Christmas Special
  • 1977 – The Fat Albert Halloween Special
  • 1984 – Johnny Carson Presents The Tonight Show Comedians
  • 1986 – Funny

 

Filmography

  • Hickey and Boggs (1972)
  • Man and Boy (1972)
  • Uptown Saturday Night (1974)
  • Let’s Do It Again (1975)
  • Mother Juggs and Speed (1976)
  • A Piece of the Action (1977)
  • California Suite (1978)
  • The Devil and Max Devlin (1981)
  • Bill Cosby Himself (1982)
  • Leonard: Part VI (1987)
  • Ghost Dad (1990)
  • The Meteor Man (1993)

 

Albums

Comedy Albums

  • Bill Cosby Is a Very Funny Fellow…Right! (1963)
  • I Started Out as a Child (1964)
  • Why Is There Air? (1965)
  • Wonderfulness (1966)
  • Revenge (1967)
  • To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With (1968)
  • 200 M.P.H. (1968)
  • 8:15 12:15 (1969)
  • It’s True! It’s True! (1969)
  • Sports (1969)
  • Live: Madison Square Garden Center (1970)
  • When I Was a Kid (1971)
  • For Adults Only (1971)
  • Bill Cosby Talks to Kids About Drugs (1971)
  • Inside the Mind of Bill Cosby (1972)
  • Fat Albert (1973)
  • My Father Confused Me… What Must I Do? What Must I Do? (1977)
  • Bill’s Best Friend (1978)
  • Bill Cosby: Himself (1982)
  • Those of You With or Without Children, You’ll Understand (1986)
  • OH, Baby (1991)

 

Music Albums

  • Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings (1967)
  • Bill Cosby Sings Hooray for the Salvation Army Band! (1968)
  • Badfoot Brown & the Bunions Bradford Funeral & Marching Band (1971)
  • Bill Cosby Presents Badfoot Brown & the Bunions Bradford Funeral Marching Band (1972)
  • At Last Bill Cosby Really Sings (1974)
  • Bill Cosby Is Not Himself These Days (1976)
  • Disco Bill (1977)
  • Where You Lay Your Head (1990)
  • My Appreciation (1991)
  • Hello Friend: To Ennis, With Love (1997)
  • Quincy Jones & Bill Cosby – The Original Jam Sessions 1969 (2004)
  • Quincy Jones & Bill Cosby – The New Mixes Vol. 1 (2004)
  • State of Emergency (2009)
  • Keep Standing (2010)

 

Compilations

  • The Best of Bill Cosby (1969)
  • More of the Best of Bill Cosby (1970)
  • Bill (1973)
  • Down Under (1975)
  • Cosby and the Kids (1986)
  • At His Best (1994)
  • 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Bill Cosby (2001)
  • The Bill Cosby Collection (2004)

 

Emmys

Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series – Primetime Emmys

  • 1966 – I Spy – Alexander Scott
  • 1967 – I Spy – Alexander Scott
  • 1968 – I Spy – Alexander Scott

 

Outstanding Variety Or Musical Program – Primetime Emmys

  • 1969 – The Bill Cosby Special

 

Grammys

Best Comedy Performance – Grammy Awards

  • 1965 – I Started Out as a Child
  • 1966 – Why Is There Air?
  • 1967- Wonderfulness
  • 1968 – Revenge
  • 1969 – To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With
  • 1970 – Sport
  • 1987 – Those of You with or Without Children, You’ll Understand

 

Best Recording for Children – Grammy Awards

  • 1972 – Bill Cosby Talks to Kids About Drugs
  • 1971 – The Electric Company – Cast member

 

Select Publications

  • The Wit and Wisdom of Fat Albert (1973)
  • Bill Cosby’s Personal Guide to Tennis Power (1975)
  • Fatherhood (1986)
  • Time Flies (1988)
  • Love and Marriage (1989)
  • Someone at the Top Has to Say: ‘Enough of this’ (1993)
  • My Big Lie (1999)
  • Kids Say the Darndest Things (1999)
  • Come on, People (2009)

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