Early life

Warner was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He was raised by his divorced mother, Pamela, who served as his manager. He was named after Malcolm X and jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal. At the age of nine, he demonstrated an interest in show business which led to enrollment in acting schools. His active career as a child later led him to graduate high school from The Professional Children's School in New York City, New York.

Career

With appearances and roles on many television shows and films, he landed his most successful role as Theo Huxtable, the only son of Heathcliff Huxtable, who was played by Bill Cosby on the NBC sitcom, The Cosby Show from 1984 to 1992. Warner auditioned for the role on the very last day of the nationwide search and was chosen by Cosby himself.

He also starred in Jeremiah, was the voice of The Producer character on The Magic School Bus and co-starred with comedian Eddie Griffin for four years on the UPN sitcom Malcolm & Eddie. Warner continued his career on the CBS sitcom Listen Up! with Jason Alexander and the host of the literacy-promoting children's show CBS Storybreak. He guest-starred on an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air playing the role of Hilary's boyfriend, and has directed several music videos including British R&B group Five Star's "I Love You For Sentimental Reasons" (1994) as well as many sitcom episodes including The Cosby Show, All that, Kenan & Kel, and Malcolm & Eddie. Also In 1988 Warner was In New Edition's 1988 Music Video N.E Heartbreak.

In addition, Warner directed the acclaimed, teen-oriented public health video Time Out: The Truth About HIV, AIDS, and You (1992), which featured Arsenio Hall and Earvin "Magic" Johnson discussing the realities of HIV and AIDS and the best ways to prevent its spread.

In 2003, Warner released his debut EP, The Miles Long Mixtape. In 2007, Warner followed up with his second CD entitled Love & Other Social Issues. In 2009 he guest starred in an episode in the new TNT series HawthoRNe. In 2011 he guest starred in an episode of the NBC series Community as the ex-husband of Shirley Bennett (Yvette Nicole Brown). His character subtly referenced his Cosby Show past by wearing a "Cosby sweater" that he stated was from his dad.

He is a bass guitar player and a performance poet, and has performed at the National Black Theatre Festival since 2003, in addition to hosting its Poetry Jam.

Warner's most recent television role is on Black Entertainment Television's new scripted comedic television series Reed Between the Lines as Alex Reed. In this series, which first aired in 2011 Warner plays the role of an English professor married to Carla Reed, a psychologist played by former Girlfriends star Tracee Ellis Ross. The couple have three children: Kaci and Kenan Renolds, who are Carla's children from a previous relationship, and Alexis Reed, who is their child together. The show highlights the couple's ups and downs together as a blended family. In 2012 Warner was nominated for Outstanding Actor in a comedy series at the NAACP Image awards for his role in Reed Between the Lines.

In the spring of 2015, it was announced that Warner would be playing the part Al Cowlings in the crime series American Crime Story, based on the events of the O.J. Simpson trial.

Personal life

Warner had a relationship with actress Michelle Thomas, who portrayed his girlfriend on The Cosby Show, and was at her bedside when she died in 1998. He was in a relationship with actress Karen Malina White for seven and a half years.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	The Real Story of Itsy Bitsy Spider	Spinner
1990	The Earth Day Special	Theo Huxtable
1994	Drop Zone	Terry Nessip
1998	A Fare to Remember	Winter Valen
1998	Restaurant	Steven
2001	15 Minutes		unconfirmed
2004	Reflections: A Story of Redemption	Samuel	Short
2006	The List	Randy
2008	Fool's Gold	Cordell
2009	Contradictions of a Heart	Miles Long Band
2011	King of the Underground	Malcolm
2014	Muted	Curtis Gladwell	Short
2016	Wannabe	Luther	Short

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1982	Matt Houston	Johnny Randolph	Episode: "Stop the Presses"
1983	Fame	Lucas Boyd	Episode: "Ending on a High Note"
1984	Call to Glory		Episode: "A Nation Divided"
1984-1992	Cosby Show, TheThe Cosby Show	Theodore "Theo" Huxtable	Series Regular, 176 episodes
1985	CBS Storybreak	Host
1986	ABC Afterschool Special	Charlie Curtis	Episode: "A Desperate Exit"
1986	Saturday Night Live	Himself	Host Episode: "Malcolm-Jamal Warner/Run-DMC"
1987	Home Alone: A Kid's Guide to Playing it Safe When On Your Own	Himself	Host Direct-to-video special
1987	Father Clements Story, TheThe Father Clements Story	Joey	Television film
1988-1989	Different World, AA Different World	Theo Huxtable	2 episodes
1989	Mother's Day	Cullen Sturgis	Television film
1989	Tour of Duty	SPC Sweet	Episode: "The Volunteer"
1990	Saturday Morning Videos	Himself	Host
1991	Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, TheThe Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Eric	Episode: "Cased Up"
1992-1993	Here and Now	Alexander "A.J." James
1994-1997	Magic School Bus, TheThe Magic School Bus	The Producer	Voice
1995	Touched by an Angel	Zack	Episode: "There But For the Grace of God"
1995	Tyson	Rory Holloway	Television film
1995	Tuskegee Airmen, TheThe Tuskegee Airmen	Leroy Cappy	Television film
1996-2000	Malcolm & Eddie	Malcolm McGee	Series Regular, 89 episodes
1997	Moloney		Episode: "The Ripple Effect"
1999	Sliders	R.J.	Episode: "My Brother's Keeper"
2001	Legend of the Candy Cane	Rusty	Voice Television film
2002	Static Shock	Lester Biggs	Voice Episode: "Duped"
2002	Lyric Cafe	Himself	Host
2002-2004	Jeremiah	Kurdy Malloy	Series Regular, 35 episodes
2004	Stripperella		Episode: "The Bridesmaid"
2004-2005	Listen Up!	Bernie Widmer	Series Regular, 22 episodes
2006	Dexter	Rita's Lawyer	Episode: "Seeing Red"
2008	Cleaner, TheThe Cleaner	Jason Anders	Episode: "Lie with Me"
2009	HawthoRNe	Fred	Episode: "Healing Time"
2009	Sherri	Kevin	Series Regular, 13 episodes
2010	True Blue	Walker MacRae
2010	Special Agent Oso	Braden's Dad	Episode: "The Living Holiday Lights"
2011-12	Community	Andre Bennett	4 episodes
2011-present	Reed Between the Lines	Dr. Alex Reed	Series Regular
2013	Key & Peele	Black Republican	Episode: "Episode 21"
2014	The Michael J. Fox Show	Russel	Episode: "Party"
2014-present	Major Crimes	Lt. Chuck Cooper	Recurring role
2014	Sons of Anarchy	Sticky
2014-2015	American Horror Story: Freak Show	Angus T. Jefferson	3 episodes
2015	Megachurch Murder	Rev. Hamilton Spears	Television film
2015	48 Hrs Til Monday		Television film
2016	American Crime Story	Al "A.C." Cowlings	4 episodes

Discography

• The Miles Long Mixtape (2003)
• Love & Other Social Issues (2007)

Awards and nominations

Grammy Awards

• 2015: Won, "Best Traditional R&B Performance" - "Jesus Children" (with Robert Glasper Experiment featuring Lalah Hathaway)

MD Theatre Guide Readers' Choice Awards

• 2013: Winner 1st Place, "Best Performance by Lead Actor in a Play" -Doctor John Prentice in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner at Arena Stage

BET Comedy Awards

• 2005: Nominated, "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series" — Listen Up

Emmy Awards

• 1986: Nominated, "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series" — The Cosby Show

Image Awards

• 1996: Nominated, "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series" — Touched by an Angel
• 2001: Nominated, "Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series" — Malcolm & Eddie
• 2012: Won, "Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series" - Reed Between the Lines

TV Land Awards

• 2006: Nominated, "Favorite Singing Siblings" — The Cosby Show (shared w/co-stars)

Young Artist Award

• 1985: Won, Best Young Supporting Actor in a Television Comedy Series - The Cosby Show
• 1988: Nominated, Best Young Male Superstar in Television - The Cosby Show
• 1989: Won, Best Young Actor/Actress Ensemble in a Television Comedy, Drama Series or Special - The Cosby Show (shared w/co-stars)
• 1990: Won, "Best Young Actor Supporting Role in a Television Series" — The Cosby Show

Books

• Theo and Me: Growing up Okay (1988) - ISBN 0-525-24694-0 (with Daniel Paisner)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]