Bill Cosby- Dentists
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- Duration: 7:33
- Published: 2007-05-06
- Uploaded: 2011-01-25
- Author: elbenio
Bill Cosby talks about Dentists. From the 1983 show 'Himself'
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| Name | Bill Cosby |
|---|---|
| Caption | Cosby speaking at Riverside Church, New York City, in 2010 |
| Birth name | William Henry Cosby, Jr. |
| Birth date | July 12, 1937 |
| Birth place | Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, comedian, author, producer, musician, activist |
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Spouse | Camille Hanks (1964–present) Five children |
| Website | http://www.billcosby.com/ |
During the 1980s, Cosby produced and starred in what is considered to be one of the decade's defining sitcoms, The Cosby Show, which aired eight seasons from 1984 to 1992. The sitcom highlighted the experiences and growth of an upper-middle-class African-American family. He also produced the spin-off sitcom A Different World, which became second to The Cosby Show in ratings. He starred in the sitcom Cosby from 1996 to 2000 and hosted Kids Say the Darndest Things for two seasons.
He has been a sought-after spokesman, and has endorsed a number of products, including Jell-O, Kodak film, Ford, Texas Instruments, and Coca-Cola, including New Coke. In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante included him in his book, the 100 Greatest African Americans.
In 1976, Cosby earned a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Massachusetts. For his doctoral research, he wrote a dissertation entitled, "An Integration of the Visual Media Via 'Fat Albert And The Cosby Kids' Into the Elementary School Curriculum as a Teaching Aid and Vehicle to Achieve Increased Learning".
While serving in the Navy as a Hospital Corpsman for four years, Cosby worked in physical therapy with some seriously injured Korean War casualties, He then won a track and field scholarship to Philadelphia's Temple University in 1961–62, and studied physical education while running track and playing fullback on the football team. Cosby also joined the school's chapter of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.
Cosby loved humor, and he called himself the class clown. Even as he progressed through his undergraduate studies, Cosby had continued to hone his talent for humor, joking with fellow enlistees in the service and then with college friends. When he began bar tending at the Cellar, a club in Philadelphia, to earn money, he became fully aware of his ability to make people laugh. He worked his customers and saw his tips increase, then ventured on to the stage.
Cosby left Temple to pursue a career in comedy, though he would return to collegiate studies in the 1970s. He lined up gigs at clubs in Philadelphia and soon was off to New York City, where he appeared at The Gaslight Cafe starting in 1962.
Carl Reiner, at the awarding to Cosby of the Mark Twain Prize in 2009, described a step in Cosby's career. Reiner's son Rob Reiner, then in his early teens, delivered what the father regards as a word-for-word rendition of Cosby's performance on The Ed Sullivan Show of the "Right!" routine, from his "Noah" series that also appears on the 1963 album Bill Cosby Is A Very Funny Fellow...Right!. The father's interest led him first to obtain the video-taped performance, and then to propose Cosby as a guest for The Dick Van Dyke Show. Asked about whether the comic could act, he asserted anyone who could pull off the role of The Lord in the "Right!" routine must be a skilled actor. Cosby's official agency biography differs, saying Carl Reiner had caught Cosby's act in Pittsburgh "and introduced Cosby to producer Sheldon Leonard, who signed him to star in the I Spy series." Subsequently, Temple University, where Cosby had begun but never finished his undergraduate studies, would grant him his bachelor's degree on the basis of "life experience".
Also during the 1970s, Cosby and other African-American actors, including Sidney Poitier, joined forces to make some successful comedy films that countered the violent "blaxploitation" films of the era. Uptown Saturday Night (1974) and Let's Do It Again (1975) were generally praised, but much of Cosby's film work has fallen flat. Mother, Jugs & Speed (1976) costarring Raquel Welch and Harvey Keitel; A Piece of the Action, with Poitier; and California Suite, a compilation of four Neil Simon plays, were all panned. In addition, Cos (1976) an hour-long variety show featuring puppets, sketches, and musical numbers, was canceled within the year. Cosby was also a regular on children's public television programs starting in the 1970s, hosting the "Picture Pages" segments that lasted into the early 1980s.
Much of the material from the pilot and first season of The Cosby Show was taken from his then popular video , released in 1983. The series was an immediate success, debuting near the top of the ratings and staying there for most of its long run. The Cosby Show is one of only three American programs that have been #1 in the Nielsen ratings for at least five consecutive seasons, along with All in the Family and American Idol. Idol is the only program to be ranked #1 for six consecutive seasons. People magazine called the show "revolutionary", and Newsday concurred that it was a "real breakthrough."
In 1987, Cosby attempted to return to the big screen with the spy spoof Leonard Part 6. Although Cosby himself was 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.
A series for preschoolers, Little Bill, made its debut on Nickelodeon in 1999. The network renewed the popular program in November 2000. In 2001, at an age when many give serious consideration to retirement, Cosby's agenda included the publication of a new book, as well as delivering the commencement addresses at Morris Brown College, Ohio State University, and at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. 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. Fat Albert was released in theaters in December 2004. In May 2007 he spoke at the Commencement of High Point University.
In the summer of 2009, Cosby hosted a comedy gala at Montreal's Just for Laughs comedy festival, the world's largest.
Cosby met his wife Camille Hanks while he was performing stand-up in Washington, D.C., in the early 1960s, and she was a student at the University of Maryland. They married on January 25, 1964, and had five children: daughters Erika Ranee (b. 1965), Erinn Chalene (b. 1966), Ensa Camille (b. 1973), and Evin Harrah (b. 1976), and son Ennis William (1969–1997). His son Ennis was shot dead while changing a flat tire on the side of the Interstate 405 in Los Angeles on January 16, 1997.
Bill Cosby is an active alumnus supporter of his alma mater, Temple University, and in particular its men's basketball team, whose games Cosby frequently attends.
Cosby is a devoted fan of the Philadelphia Eagles. In 2002, when both the Eagles' starting and backup quarterbacks were injured, Cosby sent a letter to head coach Andy Reid, joking that he was ready to play if needed.
Cosby also attends many public events, such as the 100th Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden in New York on February 2, 2007. His love for track and field athletics has also been shown with his long time sponsorship, and on-track work with the Penn Relays. For many years, Cosby has been known to work the finish line at Franklin Field and congratulate athletes. in Atlanta, October 3, 2006]]
Cosby maintains homes in Shelburne, Massachusetts, and Cheltenham, Pennsylvania.
During the 2009 NFL Draft, he celebrated the draft with former Texas Longhorns' wide receiver Quan Cosby as a means of support, though the two are not related. He even wore a Temple University helmet and jersey.
Bill Cosby has hosted the Los Angeles Playboy Jazz Festival since 1979. An avid musician, he's best known as a jazz drummer although he can be seen playing bass guitar with Jerry Lewis and Sammy Davis, Jr. on Hugh Hefner's 1970s talk show. His story "The Regular Way" was featured in Playboy's December 1968 issue.
* Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, December 5, 2008. Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Carnegie Mellon University, May 20, 2007; he was also the keynote speaker for the commencement ceremony. Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music, May 8, 2004. Cosby was also the host of the school's 60th Anniversary Concert in January 2006. Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Baylor University, September 4, 2003, at the "Spirit Rally" for the Baylor and Central Texas communities. Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Yale University, May 26, 2003.
In "Pound Cake," Cosby, who holds a doctorate in education, asked that African American parents begin teaching their children better morals at a younger age. Cosby told the Washington Times, "Parenting needs to come to the forefront. If you need help and you don't know how to parent, we want to be able to reach out and touch" (DeBose, Brian). Richard Leiby of The Washington Post reported, "Bill Cosby was anything but politically correct in his remarks Monday night at a Constitution Hall bash commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education decision."
Cosby again came under sharp criticism, and again he was largely unapologetic for his stance when he made similar remarks during a speech in a July 1 meeting commemorating the anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education. During that speech, he admonished blacks for not assisting or concerning themselves with the individuals who are involved with crime or have counter-productive aspirations. He further described those who needed attention as "blacks [who] had forgotten the sacrifices of those in the Civil Rights Movement." The speech was featured in the documentary 500 Years Later which set the speech to cartoon visuals.
Georgetown University sociology professor Michael Eric Dyson wrote a book in 2005 entitled Is Bill Cosby Right or Is the Black Middle Class Out of Touch? In the book, Dyson wrote that Cosby was overlooking larger social factors that reinforce poverty and associated crime; factors such as deteriorating schools, stagnating wages, dramatic shifts in the economy, offshoring and downsizing, chronic underemployment, and job and capital flight. Dyson suggested Cosby's comments "betray classist, elitist viewpoints rooted in generational warfare."
In a 2008 interview, Cosby mentioned Chicago; Atlanta; Philadelphia; Oakland; Detroit; and Springfield, Massachusetts among the cities where crime was high and young African-American men were being murdered and jailed in disproportionate numbers. Cosby stood his ground against criticism and affirmed that African-American parents were continuing to fail to inculcate proper standards of moral behavior. Cosby still lectures to black communities (usually at churches) about his frustrations with certain problems prevalent in underprivileged urban communities such as taking part in illegal drugs, teenage pregnancy, Black Entertainment Television, high school dropouts, anti-intellectualism, gangsta rap, vulgarity, thievery, offensive clothing, vanity, parental alienation, single-parenting and failing to live up to the ideals of Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Jr. and the African-American ancestors that preceded Generation X. Cosby criticizes those African Americans who associate his ideals with race treachery.
;General References:
Category:1937 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:African American comedians Category:African American television actors Category:American activists Category:American film actors Category:American game show hosts Category:American football running backs Category:American stand-up comedians Category:American voice actors Category:Daytime Emmy Award winners Category:Emmy Award winners Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Best Musical or Comedy Actor Golden Globe (television) winners Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Pennsylvania Democrats Category:Writers from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Temple Owls football players Category:Temple University alumni Category:United States Navy sailors Category:University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni Category:Spingarn Medal winners
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