Malcolm-Jamal Warner will make his final television appearance Tuesday in a new episode of Murder in a Small Town.
The former Cosby Show star died by accidental drowning while on vacation in Costa Rica in July at the age of 54.
Before his death, he filmed a guest role in an episode of the Fox crime series titled “Mother Love.” He plays a single father who is fiercely protective of his teenage daughter when his ex-wife’s death is investigated as a murder.
Speaking to the New York Post, Murder in a Small Town showrunner Ian Weir said of Warner’s sudden death: “It was terrible, absolutely terrible. We lost him far too soon. He was absolutely wonderful. I hadn’t let myself dare hope that someone of his stature would be drawn to that role.”
Weir added that Warner, who was a father to a daughter in real life, became “the emotional heart of the story” through his performance. “In a way, where, I’m the guy who wrote the darn thing, and I hadn’t quite seen that until Malcolm-Jamal inhabited the role,” continued Weir. “It was simply magical. He was a really lovely man.”
The writer and showrunner went on to describer Warner as “collaborative” and “dedicated to the craft.”
Warner was just 13 when he was cast as Theo Huxtable in the beloved family sitcom The Cosby Show, and played the role from 1984 to 1992. Weir noted that working with Warner was “special for everyone” because “so many people on the crew and in the cast had grown up watching him on The Cosby Show.”
He added that the Murder in a Small Town episode had not needed to be edited after Warner’s death, and will play exactly as it was originally scripted.
The series stars Rossif Sutherland, son of the late Donald Sutherland, as Karl Alberg, a Police Chief in the small town of Gibsons, British Columbia.
Sutherland additionally told the Post that he was impressed by what Warner gave to the role, saying: “As an artist, he was given the part of a father raising his child on his own, and he brought so much heart to it.”
He added: “It’s hard to believe this was his last part, and that I had the privilege of being that actor who got to work with him. He was a generous soul, a lovely presence on set, and kind and humble.”
