Tracee Ellis Ross Pays Tribute to Late Co-Star Malcolm-Jamal Warner

Tracee Ellis Ross is mourning Malcolm-Jamal Warner following his sudden and shocking death at 54.

Shortly after news broke on Monday that The Cosby Show star had drowned in Costa Rica while on a family vacation, Ross took to social media to pay tribute to her Reed Between the Lines co-star.

“I love you, Malcolm. First I met you as Theo with the rest of the world then you were my first TV husband,” Ross, 52, captioned photos with Warner from their time on the BET sitcom. “My heart is so so sad. What an actor and friend you were: warm, gentle, present, kind, thoughtful, deep, funny, elegant.”

She concluded, “You made the world a brighter place. Sending so much love to your family. I’m so sorry for this unimaginable loss.”

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Warner may be best known for his role as Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show, which he portrayed as a teen from 1984 to 1992, but he also made a name for himself as an adult actor in Malcolm & Eddie from 1996 to 2000 and in Reed Between the Lines from 2011 to 2015.

More recently, Warner appeared as Chuck Cooper in Major Crimes and as Julius Rowe in Suits, as well as in the role of AJ Austin in The Resident. He is most recently credited on 9-1-1 and Alert: Missing Persons Unit, and was one of the hosts of the podcast Not All Hood. He was also a celebrated musician and poet, winning a Grammy in 2015 for Best Traditional R&B Performance for the song “Jesus Children” alongside Robert Glasper Experiment and Lalah Hathaway.

Warner drowned off the coast of Costa Rica on Sunday near Cocles, a beach in Limon. Costa Rican police told ABC News that the actor was caught by a rip current Sunday afternoon, and while bystanders rescued him and brought him to shore, he was declared dead due to asphyxia.

Since his death, Warner’s many friends and fans have mourned his passing, including fellow former child star Jaleel White. The Family Matters alum told Extra that he “grew up looking up” to Warner, whom he recalled was the first former child actor his mother “even let me go out with late at night past 11 p.m.” when he was also growing up in the industry.

White asked that people “please remember him as a poet, a Grammy award-winning musician, and an actor who did a lot more than just star on a sitcom when he was a kid.”