Remembering Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s ‘Sons of Anarchy’ Role

Malcom-Jamal Warner will always be lauded as America’s favorite brother from his role as Theodore Huxtable on The Cosby Show, but the actor has other prolific roles throughout his lengthy career. One of his praised works was his recurring role in FX’s Sons of Anarchy.

He joined the series in its seventh and final season as Sticky, the Vice President of the Grim Bastards Motorcycle Club. Sticky makes his debut in the episode “Black Widower.”

Playing a bad guy character wasn’t something fans were expecting from Bill Cosby’s television son. Many were even more shocked to discover that Warner even rode his own motorcycle.

In an interview with Yahoo News about the role, Warner revealed how much of a surprise it was to people on the show that had his own bike. He used his own bike for the role. 

“Yes, that was one of the added benefits. People were definitely pleasantly surprised, one, that I ride, and also that my bike is cool. Because the [SAMCRO] guys have their style of bikes, but the black motorcycle clubs, they’ve got cruisers, and they really put a lot into their bikes,” he explained at the time. He revealed he’d been riding since he was in his early 20s.

Of playing a member of a motorcycle gang, Warner admitted it was a foreign thing. “That was really the whole attraction. It’s so out of the box from what I normally get to do,” he explained.

He even joked that Cosby, known for being critical of anything not PG at the time, wouldn’t tune in. “I don’t think he’ll watch Sons of Anarchy. I can imagine him seeing an episode and calling me and saying, “All right, so you just had to get that out of your system, huh?”

Warner tragically died of an accidental drowning while vacationing in Costa Rica on July 20. He was 54 years old.