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Bill Cosby
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=== Television and film === [[File:Bill Cosby 1965.JPG|thumb|268x268px|Cosby in 1965]] In 1965, Cosby was cast alongside [[Robert Culp]] in the ''[[I Spy (1965 TV series)|I Spy]]'' espionage adventure series on [[NBC]]. ''I Spy'' became the first weekly dramatic television series to feature an African American in a starring role.<ref name="The Atlantic on Cosby Conservatism">{{cite web |last=Coates |first=Ta-Nehisi |author-link=Ta-Nehisi Coates |title='This Is How We Lost to the White Man': The audacity of Bill Cosby's black conservatism |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2008/05/-this-is-how-we-lost-to-the-white-man/306774/ |work=[[The Atlantic Monthly]] |date=May 2008 |access-date=April 24, 2015}}</ref> At first, Cosby and NBC executives were concerned that some affiliates might be unwilling to carry the series. At the beginning of the 1965 season, four stations declined the show; they were in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama.<ref>{{cite book |last=Jackson |first=Andrew Grant |date=2015 |title=1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=978-1-250-05962-8 |page=220 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-QI3BAAAQBAJ&q=ispy+Georgia%2C+Florida%2C+and+Alabama&pg=PA220 |access-date=April 24, 2015}}</ref> Viewers were taken with the show's exotic locales and the authentic chemistry between the stars. It became one of the ratings hits of the season. ''I Spy'' finished among the twenty most-watched shows that year, and Cosby was honored with three consecutive [[Emmy Award]]s for [[Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series|Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series]].<ref name="New Yorker Profile">{{cite magazine |last=Sanneh |first=Kelefa |author-link=Kelefa Sanneh |date=September 15, 2014 |title=The Eternal Paternal Bill Cosby's never-ending tour |magazine=[[The New Yorker]] |url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/15/eternal-paternal |url-access=subscription |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327165830/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/09/15/eternal-paternal |archive-date=2019-03-27 |access-date=April 24, 2015}}{{cbignore}}</ref> When accepting his third Emmy for the show, Cosby told the audience: "Let the message be known to bigots and racists that they don't count!"<ref name="New Yorker Profile"/> During the series' run, Cosby continued to do stand-up comedy performances and recorded half a dozen record albums for Warner Bros. Records. He also began to dabble in singing, recording ''[[Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings]]'' in 1967.<ref>{{cite magazine |magazine=Billboard |title=Album Reviews|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ykEAAAAMBAJ&q=Silver%20Throat%3A%20Bill%20Cosby%20Sings&pg=PT1 |publisher= |date=August 19, 1967 |language=en}}</ref> In June 1968, [[Billboard (magazine)|''Billboard'' magazine]] reported that Cosby had turned down a five-year, $3.5{{nbsp}}million contract renewal offer and would leave the label in August that year to record for his own record label.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Cosby to Exit WB in August to Join Own Record Firm|magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]|date=June 1, 1968|page=1}}</ref> [[File:Bill Cosby I Spy 1966.jpg|left|thumb|264x264px|Cosby in 1966]] In July 1968, Cosby narrated ''Black History: Lost, Stolen, or Strayed'', a [[CBS]] documentary addressing the representation of black people in popular culture.<ref name="Jenkins1998">{{cite book|last=Jenkins|first=Henry|author-link=Henry Jenkins|title=The Children's Culture Reader |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gjJ91GtLta8C&pg=PA146|access-date=August 18, 2016|year=1998|publisher=[[NYU Press]]|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-8147-4231-0|pages=146–147}}</ref> [[Andy Rooney]] wrote the Emmy-awarded script<ref name="CharlieRooney2010">{{cite book |last1=Charlie |first1=Charlie |last2=Rooney |first2=Andrew A.|title=Andy Rooney: 60 Years of Wisdom and Wit{{snd}}Real Truth from Real Couples About Lasting Love|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6EoYLu7e_ucC&pg=PR4|access-date=August 31, 2016|year= 2010 |publisher=ReadHowYouWant.com, Limited |isbn=978-1-4587-5960-3|page=4}}</ref> for Cosby to read.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rooney|first=Andy|author-link=Andy Rooney|title=Black, white, nation weeps for the Great Bill Cosby|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1907&dat=19970125&id=M98xAAAAIBAJ&pg=1813,1279921|access-date=September 1, 2016|work=The Daily Reporter |date=January 25, 1997}}</ref> [[Georgetown University]] professor [[Michael Eric Dyson]] said it was one of "the rare exceptions when Cosby took off the gloves and blinders, to discuss race in public with candor and discernment".<ref name="Dyson2008">{{cite book|last=Dyson|first=Michael Eric|author-link=Michael Eric Dyson|title=Is Bill Cosby Right?: Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VqJwmw4CusIC&pg=PT121|access-date=August 18, 2016|year=2008|publisher=[[Basic Books]]|location=New York City|isbn=978-0-7867-2207-5 |page=121}}</ref> Due to its popularity and controversial nature, it was rebroadcast less than a month later.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sergio|title=Bill Cosby's Forgotten 'Militant' Documentary – 'Black History: Lost, Stolen or Strayed' |url=https://www.indiewire.com/2014/07/bill-cosbys-forgotten-militant-documentary-black-history-lost-stolen-or-strayed-watch-it-now-159418/ |website=[[IndieWire]] |access-date=August 19, 2016|date=July 1, 2014|format=video}}</ref> [[Tetragrammaton Records]], a division of the Campbell, Silver, Cosby (CSC) Corporation—the Los Angeles–based production company founded by Cosby, his manager Roy Silver, and filmmaker Bruce Post Campbell—produced films as well as records, including Cosby's television specials, the ''[[Fat Albert]]'' cartoon special and series, and several motion pictures. CSC hired Artie Mogull as President of the label. Tetragrammaton was fairly active during 1968–69 but ceased trading during the 1970s.<ref>{{cite web |title=TetragrammatonAlbum Discography |url=http://www.bsnpubs.com/la/tetragrammaton/tetragrammaton.html |access-date=December 6, 2014}}</ref> Throughout the 1960s Cosby pursued a variety of additional television projects and appeared as a regular guest host on ''The Tonight Show'' and as the star of an annual special for NBC. In 1969, he returned with another series, ''[[The Bill Cosby Show]]'', a situation comedy that ran for two seasons. Cosby played a physical education teacher at a Los Angeles high school. While only a modest critical success, the show was hit with ratings, finishing eleventh in its first season. Cosby was lauded for using African American performers such as [[Lillian Randolph]], [[Moms Mabley]], and [[Rex Ingram (actor)|Rex Ingram]] as characters. According to commentary on the Season{{nbsp}}1 DVDs for the show, Cosby was at odds with NBC over his refusal to include a [[laugh track]] in the show, as he felt viewers had the ability to find humor for themselves when watching a TV show.{{Citation needed|date=April 2017}} For the [[PBS]] series ''[[The Electric Company (1971 TV series)|The Electric Company]]'', Cosby recorded several segments teaching reading skills to young children.<ref>{{cite web |last=Blair |first=Elizabeth |title=50 years ago, 'The Electric Company' used comedy to boost kids' reading skills |url=https://news.azpm.org/p/news-npr/2021/10/25/202413-50-years-ago-the-electric-company-used-comedy-to-boost-kids-reading-skills/ |website=Arizona Public Media |date=October 25, 2021 |access-date=October 26, 2021}}</ref> Cosby resumed his formal education in 1971; he began graduate work at [[University of Massachusetts Amherst|UMass Amherst]]. In 1972, he 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 cartoon]], ''[[Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids]]'', hosted by Cosby and based on his own childhood. That series ran from 1972 to 1979, then ran as ''The New Fat Albert Show'' in 1979, and finally ran as ''The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids''. Cosby would use his experience producing ''Fat Albert'' in his educational endeavors; his [[dissertation]] for his [[Doctor of Education|Ed. D.]] at UMass Amherst discussed the use of ''Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids'' as a teaching tool in elementary schools. During the 1970s, Cosby and other African-American actors, including [[Sidney Poitier]], joined forces to make successful [[comedy film]]s to counter the violent "[[blaxploitation]]" films of the era, such as ''[[Uptown Saturday Night]]'' in 1974, ''[[Let's Do It Again (1975 film)|Let's Do It Again]]'' in 1975, and ''[[A Piece of the Action (film)|A Piece of the Action]]'' in 1977. He also starred in ''[[Mother, Jugs & Speed]]'', co-starring ''[[Raquel Welch]]'' and ''[[Harvey Keitel]]'' in 1976. In 1978, he starred in ''[[California Suite (film)|California Suite]]'', a compilation of four [[Neil Simon]] plays. Cosby also hosted ''[[Cos (TV series)|Cos]]'' in 1976. In addition, he produced an hour-long variety show featuring puppets, sketches, and musical numbers. It was during this season that ABC decided to take advantage of this phase of Cosby's career, by joining with [[Filmation]] producers of ''Fat Albert'' to create live-action segments starring Cosby, for the 1972 animated film ''[[Journey Back to Oz]]''; it subsequently aired in syndication. Cosby was also a regular on children's [[Public broadcasting|public television]] programs starting in the 1970s, hosting the "[[Picture Pages]]" segments that lasted into the early 1980s.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Woolery |first1=George W. |title=Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981, Part II: Live, Film, and Tape Series |date=1985 |publisher=[[The Scarecrow Press]] |location=Lanham, Maryland|isbn=0-8108-1651-2 |pages=393–394}}</ref>[[File:Bill Cosby Reminds Us That We Can All Be Scientists (cropped).jpg|thumb|226x226px|Cosby wearing a sweater in 1990, similar to the ones he wore on ''[[The Cosby Show]]'' in the role of [[Cliff Huxtable]]]] Cosby's greatest television success came in September 1984 with the debut of ''The Cosby Show''. Cosby, an advocate for family-oriented humor, co-produced the series, held creative control and involved himself in every aspect of production. Plots were often based on ideas that Cosby suggested while in meetings with the writing staff.<ref name="People Magazine article (December 10, 1984)">{{cite web|title=People Magazine article |date=December 10, 1984|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20089368,00.html|website=People |access-date=July 19, 2015}}</ref> The show had parallels to Cosby's actual family life: like the characters [[Cliff Huxtable|Cliff]] and [[Clair Huxtable]], Cosby and his wife [[Camille Cosby|Camille]] were college-educated and financially successful, and they had five children. On the show, Cosby played the role of an [[obstetrician]]. Much of the material from the pilot and first season of ''The Cosby Show'' was taken from his video ''Bill Cosby: Himself'',{{citation needed|date=December 2015}} released in 1983. The series was an immediate success, debuting near the top of the ratings and staying there for most of its eight-season run.{{citation needed|date=April 2017}} In 1987, Cosby attempted to return to film with the spy spoof ''[[Leonard Part 6]]''. Although Cosby himself was the producer and wrote the story, he realized during production that the film was not going to be what he wanted and publicly denounced it, warning audiences to stay away.<ref name=yahoobio>{{cite web|publisher=Yahoo! Movies |title=Bill Cosby |url=https://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800036559/bio |access-date=July 14, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100521044901/http://movies.yahoo.com/movie/contributor/1800036559/bio |archive-date=May 21, 2010}}</ref> The film was however marked the first project for Columbia to be greenlighted by studio executive David Puttman.<ref>{{Cite news|date=July 9, 1986|title=Cosby To Produce, Star In Pic For Col|page=4|work=[[Variety (magazine)|Variety]]}}</ref> Later in the 1980s, Cosby served as an advisor to the [[Los Angeles Student Film Institute]].<ref>{{cite book |year= 1994 |title=National Student Film Institute/L.A: The Sixteenth Annual Los Angeles Student Film Festival |location=The Directors Guild Theatre |pages=10–11}}<!-- is this the program broschure?--></ref><ref>{{cite book |year= 1991 |title=Los Angeles Student Film Institute: 13th Annual Student Film Festival |location=The Directors Guild Theatre |page=3}}<!-- is this the program broschure?--></ref> After ''The Cosby Show'' went off the air in 1992, Cosby embarked on a number of other projects, which included a [[revival (television)|revival]] of the classic [[Groucho Marx]] game show ''[[You Bet Your Life#1992 Bill Cosby version|You Bet Your Life]]'' (1992–93), the [[Television movie|TV movie]] ''[[I Spy Returns]]'' (1994), and ''[[The Cosby Mysteries]]'' (1994). In the mid-1990s, he appeared as a detective in [[black-and-white]] [[film noir]]-themed commercials for [[Turner Classic Movies]]. During this time, he reunited with [[Sidney Poitier]] starring in ''[[Ghost Dad]]'' (1990) and appeared in minor roles in [[Robert Townsend (actor)|Robert Townsend]]'s superhero comedy ''[[The Meteor Man (film)|The Meteor Man]]'' (1993), and [[Francis Ford Coppola]]'s coming of age film ''[[Jack (1996 film)|Jack]]'' (1996). In addition, he was interviewed in [[Spike Lee]]'s [[HBO]] project ''[[4 Little Girls]]'' (1997), a documentary about the [[16th Street Baptist Church bombing|1963 racist bombing]] of a church in [[Birmingham, Alabama]] which injured 22 people, killing four girls. Also in 1996, he started up a new show for CBS, ''[[Cosby (TV series)|Cosby]]'', again co-starring [[Phylicia Rashād]], his onscreen wife on ''The Cosby Show''. Cosby co-produced the show for [[Carsey-Werner Productions]]. It centered on Cosby as Hilton Lucas, an iconoclastic [[senior citizen]] who tries to find a new job after being [[Layoff|downsized]] and, in the meantime, gets on his wife's nerves. [[Madeline Kahn]] co-starred as Rashād's goofy business partner Pauline. Cosby was hired by CBS to be the official spokesman of its Detroit affiliate [[WWJ-TV]] during an advertising campaign from 1995 to 1998. Cosby also hosted a CBS special, ''[[Kids Say the Darndest Things]]'', on February 6, 1995, which was followed after as a full-season show, with Cosby as host, from January 9, 1998, to June 23, 2000.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Brooks |first1=Tim |last2=Marsh |first2=Earle F. |year= 2007 |title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946–Present |edition=9 |publisher=Ballantine Books |isbn=978-0-345-49773-4 |pages=736–737}}</ref> After four seasons, ''Cosby'' was canceled. Its last episode aired April 28, 2000. ''Kids Say the Darndest Things'' was terminated the same year. A series for [[preschool]]ers, ''[[Little Bill]]'', created by Cosby as a semi-biographical representation of his childhood growing up in Philadelphia, made its debut on [[Nickelodeon]] in 1999. The network renewed the popular program in November 2000. In 2001, Cosby's agenda included the publication of a new book, as well as delivering the [[commencement address]]es at [[Morris Brown College]],<ref>{{cite news |date=August 2001 |title=Who Were Our 2001 College Commencement Speakers? (A sampling) |work=The Black Excel Newsletter |quote=Bill Cosby (actor and TV personality) spoke at Morris Brown College |url=http://www.blackexcel.org/august-2001.htm |access-date=June 29, 2015}}</ref> [[Ohio State University]],<ref>{{cite web|date=Spring 2001 |title=The Ohio State University Commencement Address by Bill Cosby |publisher=The Ohio State University |url=https://kb.osu.edu/handle/1811/54007 |last1=Cosby |first1=Bill |hdl=1811/54007 }}</ref> and at [[Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute]].<ref name="rpi_grad">{{cite news |date=May 12, 2001 |title=Cosby Urges Rensselaer Graduates: Be Honest, Be Humble |location=Albany, New York |url=http://news.rpi.edu/luwakkey/459 |access-date=June 29, 2015}}</ref> Also that year, he signed a deal with [[20th Century Fox]] to develop a live-action feature film centering on the popular Fat Albert character from his 1970s cartoon series. Co-written and executive produced by Cosby, ''[[Fat Albert (film)|Fat Albert]]'' was released in theaters in December 2004. Cosby makes an appearance in the film as himself. In May 2007, Cosby spoke at the commencement of [[High Point University]].<ref>{{cite web |date=Spring 2015 |title=Commencement 2015: Previous Graduation Speakers |publisher=High Point University |quote=2007 Commencement Ceremony: Bill Cosby |url=http://www.highpoint.edu/commencement/previous-graduation-speakers-highlights/ |access-date=June 29, 2015}}</ref> In the summer of 2009, Cosby hosted a comedy gala at [[Montreal]]'s ''[[Just for Laughs]]'', the largest comedy festival in the world.<ref>{{cite news |last=Brown |first=Georgia |date= March 16, 2007 |title=Five top comedy festivals around the world |work=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2007/mar/16/scotland.canada.australia |access-date=June 5, 2013}}</ref> During this time he also made an appearance in [[Mario Van Peebles]] film ''[[Baadasssss!]]'' in 2003.
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