Here’s a look at the life of comedian and actor Bill Cosby.
Personal:
Birth date: July 12, 1937
Birth place: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Birth name: William Henry Cosby Jr.
Father: William Henry Sr., US Navy mess steward
Mother: Anna (Hite) Cosby
Marriage: Camille (Hanks) Cosby (January 25, 1964-present)
Children: Evin, 1976; Ensa, 1973-2018; Ennis, 1969-1997; Erinn, 1966; Erika, 1965
Education: Attended Temple University, 1961-1962; University of Massachusetts at Amherst, M.A, 1972; University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Ed.D, 1977
Military service: US Navy, 1956-1960
Other Facts:
More than 50 women have publicly accused Cosby of raping or assaulting them over the past 40 years.The comedian vehemently denied any wrongdoing. In April 2018, after two trials, Cosby was convicted for sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in a Philadelphia suburb in 2004.
Many organizations, including educational, advertising and media, have either rescinded awards and honors, or scrubbed Cosby’s name from their websites.
Spokesperson for Jell-O for 25 years, beginning in 1974.
All of his children have names beginning with an E, to represent excellence.
Nominated for 17 Grammy Awards and has won nine.
Nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards and has won five, including one honorary.
Timeline:
1956 – Drops out of high school and enlists in the US Navy. During his time in the Navy, Cosby earns his high school diploma through a correspondence course.
1961 – Wins a track and field scholarship to Temple University. While at school, he gets his first job telling jokes while tending bar.
1962 – Leaves school and moves to New York City to work as a comedian at the Gaslight Café.
1963 – Releases his first recording, “Bill Cosby Is a Very Funny Fellow … Right!”
1964 – Releases his second album, “I Started Out as a Child.”
April 13, 1965 – Wins a Grammy for Best Comedy Performance for “I Started Out as a Child.”
1965-1968 – Plays Alexander Scott, an undercover CIA agent, on the NBC show “I Spy.” Wins three Best Actor Emmy Awards in a row from 1966 to 1968.
June 8, 1969 – Wins an Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety or Musical Program for “The Bill Cosby Special.”
1969-1971 – Plays Chet Kincaid, a physical education teacher, on the NBC program, “The Bill Cosby Show.”
1972-1984 – “Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids” runs on television.
September 20, 1984 – “The Cosby Show” debuts on NBC. Cosby plays Dr. Heathcliff Huxtable.
1984-1992 – “The Cosby Show” runs on NBC.
October 3, 1992 – Is inducted into the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Hall of Fame. In 2018, the Academy removes all references to Cosby from their list of honorees.
1996-2000 – Stars on the television sitcom “Cosby.”
January 16, 1997 – Cosby’s only son, Ennis, is robbed and murdered on a Los Angeles highway after he stops to fix a flat tire.
July 1997 – Autumn Jackson, who claimed to be Cosby’s illegitimate daughter, is found guilty of attempting to extort $40 million dollars from him. She is later sentenced to 26 months in prison.
July 1998 – Mikhail Markhasev is convicted of Ennis Cosby’s murder.A month later he is sentenced to life in prison.
December 6, 1998 – Receives the Kennedy Center Honors.
July 9, 2002 – Is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
2003 – Receives the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the Emmy Awards.
January 2005 – Constand, a former Temple University employee, alleges that Cosby drugged and fondled her in January 2004.
February 2005 – Authorities announce that Cosby will not be charged in the Constand case, citing insufficient evidence.
March 2005 – Constand files a civil suit against Cosby. They settle out of court for $3.38 million, and the case is dismissed in November 2006.
October 26, 2009 – Is awarded the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
November 23, 2013 – Cosby’s first television comedy special in 30 years airs on Comedy Central.
November 14, 2014 – CNN interviews Barbara Bowman, who alleges that Cosby assaulted her a number of times. Cosby’s attorney, John Schmitt, states that the allegations are “decade-old” and “discredited.”
November 17, 2014 – Journalist and publicist Joan Tarshis tells CNN that Cosby sexually assaulted her 45 years ago, when she was a teenager. Tarshis joins a handful of women who have accused Cosby of sexual assault — allegations the comedian’s attorneys have repeatedly said are untrue. Cosby has never been prosecuted.
November 18, 2014 – Former supermodel Janice Dickinson accuses Cosby of sexual assault, telling “Entertainment Tonight” in an interview that the comedian raped her. Cosby’s attorney Martin Singer calls Dickinson’s story “a lie” and said it contradicts her own autobiography and a 2002 interview she did with the New York Observer.
November 26, 2014 – Cosby’s alma mater, the University of Massachusetts Amherst, cuts ties with the comedian, stating, “Bill Cosby has agreed to resign as an honorary co-chair of UMass Amherst’s capital campaign. He no longer has any affiliation with the campaign nor does he serve in any other capacity for the university.”
December 1, 2014 – Cosby resigns from Temple University’s board of trustees, a position that he has held for 32 years.
December 2, 2014 – Judy Huth files a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court, alleging that Cosby sexually assaultedher in 1974, when she was 15 years old.
December 4, 2014 – The Navy revokes Cosby’s title of honorary chief petty officer.
December 4, 2014 – Cosby’s attorney Martin D. Singer says that Huth’s claims are “absolutely false” and accuses her of engaging in extortion after Cosby rejected her “outrageous demand for money in order not to make her allegations public.”
December 10, 2014 – Tamara Green, who has accused Cosby of sexually assaulting her in 1970, files a defamation lawsuit against Cosby, claiming she was called a liar after coming forward with allegations.
December 16, 2014 – Citing the statute of limitations, the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office declines to charge Cosby regarding Huth’s 1974 sexual assault allegation.
January 2015 – Linda Traitz tells CNN that she and fellow accuser Therese Serignese are joining a defamation lawsuit against Cosby that was originally filed by Tamara Green.
February 12, 2015 – Two more women accuse Cosby of sexual assault.
May 20, 2015 – Dickinson sues Cosby for defamation.
July 6, 2015 – Newly unsealed documents revealCosby has admitted to getting prescription Quaaludes to give to women he wanted to have sex with. The documents, dating back to 2005, stem from a civil lawsuit filed by Constand.
July 25, 2015 – Spelman College, a historically black women’s school in Atlanta, announces it has officially terminated a professorship endowed by Cosby and his wife Camille.
December 14, 2015 – Cosby countersues the seven women who had sued him for defamation, claiming they actually defamed him. Cosby is seeking unspecified damages and public retractions from the seven women: Green, Serignese, Traitz, Moritz, Bowman, Tarshis and Leslie.
December 21, 2015 – Cosby sues model, Beverly Johnson for defamation and intentional infliction of emotional distress. He claims that she falsely accused him of attempted rape.
December 30, 2015 – Cosby is charged in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, with three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault in the case of Constand, who accused the TV star of assaulting her in 2004.
January 6, 2016 – The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office announces that Cosby won’t be charged in two cases. According to a charge evaluation sheet, prosecutors think neither of the two allegations could have resulted in charges within the statute of limitations.
February 19, 2016 – Cosby’s defamation lawsuit against Johnson is voluntarily dismissed.
December 5, 2016 – A judge rules that Cosby’s 11-year-old deposition — in which he admitted to extramarital affairs and giving some women drugs in order to have sex with them — is admissible in his upcoming criminal trial in 2017.
December 13-14, 2016 – A pre-trial hearing is held to determine whether the testimony of 13 women who say Cosby drugged and sexually assaulted them from 1964 to 2002 may be included as evidence in his criminal case.
February 16, 2017 – A federal judge in Massachusetts dismisses a defamation lawsuit against Cosbyby Katherine McKee, an actress who claimed he raped her in 1974, according to court documents.
February 24, 2017 – A Pennsylvania judge orders only one additional accuser will be allowed to testifyin Cosby’s upcoming criminal sexual assault trial to demonstrate the comedian’s alleged pattern of criminal conduct.
May 16, 2017 – In an interview with Michael Smerconish on the SiriusXM POTUS channel, Cosby says that he does not plan to testify on his own behalf during his upcoming assault trial.
June 17, 2017 – After six days and more than 53 hours of jury deliberations, Cosby’s aggravated indecent assault case ends in a mistrial after a Pennsylvania jury of seven men and five women are unable to come to a unanimous decision. Prosecutors immediately announce they will retry the case.
January 22, 2018 – Cosby performs at the LaRose Jazz Club in Philadelphia. This is his first stand-up event since May 2015.
February 23, 2018 – Cosby’s daughter Ensa, 44, dies of renal disease.
March 15, 2018 – A Pennsylvania judge rules that five women will be allowed to testify during the comedian’s new trial for allegedly assaulting Constand in 2004.Prosecutors wanted 19 accusers to take the witness stand but the judge said that they could choose five out of the group. During the first trial,just one other accuser testified against the comedian.
April 5, 2018 – The jury is seated in Cosby’s new trial,with seven men and five women.
April 26, 2018 – Cosby is convictedon all three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Constand in a Philadelphia suburb in 2004. The 80-year-old former comedian faces up to 10 years in prison on each count.
September 25, 2018 – Cosby is sentenced to 3-10 years in state prison for aggravated indecent assault.He is led out of the courthouse in handcuffs. His attorneys are filing an appeal. The following day, Cosby arrives at SCI Phoenix prison in Pennsylvania.
January 28, 2019 – Cosby enters the prison general population and is housed in cell by himself, which a spokeswoman says is typical for the facility. He is listed as Inmate Number NN7687.
