Bill Cosby Fast Facts
CNN Editorial Research
(CNN) — Here is 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, Ensa, Ennis, Erinn and Erika
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 of sexually assaulting Andrea Constand in a Philadelphia suburb in 2004. After appeal, his conviction was overturned based on violation of his right to due process.
Many organizations, including educational, advertising and media, have either rescinded awards and honors, or scrubbed Cosby’s name from their websites.
Television spokesman for Jell-O for more than 25 years, beginning in 1974.
All of his children were given names beginning with an E, to represent excellence.
Nominated for 17 Grammy Awards and has won nine.
Nominated for eight Primetime Emmy Awards and won four.
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 – The album “Bill Cosby Is a Very Funny Fellow … Right!” is released.
1964 – The album “I Started Out as a Child” is released.
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.”
1966-1968 – Wins three Best Actor Primetime Emmy Awards in a row for “I Spy.”
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,” an animated show created by Cosby, 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. In July 1998, Mikhail Markhasev is convicted of Ennis Cosby’s murder. A month later he is sentenced to life in prison.
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.
December 6, 1998 – Receives the Kennedy Center Honors. The Kennedy Center rescinds the honors in 2018.
July 9, 2002 – Is awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
2003 – Receives the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award at the Emmy Awards.
January 2005 – Andrea Constand, a former Temple University employee, alleges that Cosby drugged and fondled her in January 2004. In February, authorities announce that Cosby will not be charged in the Constand case, citing insufficient evidence. Constand files a civil suit against Cosby in March. 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. The prize is rescinded in 2018.
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. On November 20, 2023, Tarshis files a lawsuit against him.
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 says it contradicts her own autobiography. On May 20, 2015, Dickinson sues Cosby for defamation. On July 25, 2019, Dickinson’s attorney announces that they have reached a “very large settlement” with Cosby’s insurance company. Cosby’s spokesman says the insurance company settled the lawsuit despite Cosby’s objections.
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 assaulted her in 1974, when she was 15 years old. (The timeline is later revised to 1975, when Huth was 16.) In a pleading, Singer writes that Huth’s claims are “absolutely false.” He accuses her of engaging in extortion after Cosby rejected her “outrageous demand for money in order not to make her allegations public.” On June 21, 2022, a Los Angeles jury finds Cosby liable in the civil case brought by Huth. The jury awards Huth $500,000 in damages.
December 4, 2014 – The Navy revokes Cosby’s title of honorary chief petty officer.
December 10, 2014 – Tamara Green, who accused Cosby of sexually assaulting her in 1970, files a defamation lawsuit against Cosby in federal court, claiming she was called a liar after coming forward with allegations. Within a year, six additional accusers join in the lawsuit. On December 14, 2015, Cosby countersues the seven women, claiming they actually defamed him. Cosby is seeking unspecified damages and public retractions from the seven women. In 2019, Cosby withdraws his countersuit. On April 5, 2019, a settlement is reached in the case against Cosby. His spokesman, however, says his client did not authorize the settlement, which was negotiated between the plaintiffs and the insurance company, American International Group (AIG).
February 12, 2015 – Two more women accuse Cosby of sexual assault.
July 6, 2015 – Newly unsealed documents reveal Cosby 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 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. On February 19, 2016, Cosby’s defamation lawsuit is voluntarily dismissed.
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. On April 26, 2018, Cosby is convicted on all three counts of aggravated indecent assault for drugging and sexually assaulting Constand. The verdict comes a year after Cosby’s previous trial ended in a mistrial. Later, he is sentenced to 3-10 years in state prison for aggravated indecent assault.
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.
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.
February 16, 2017 – A federal judge in Massachusetts dismisses a defamation lawsuit against Cosby by Katherine McKee, an actress who claimed he raped her in 1974, according to court documents.
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.
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.
April 16, 2019 – In a statement, Cosby rails against insurance company AIG for an “unauthorized settlement” in a 2016 sexual battery lawsuit filed by Chloe Goins.
April 2019 – Cosby challenges an arbitration decision that mandated he pay $6.7 million in legal fees – $4.3 million of which had already been paid, $2 million by Cosby and $2.3 million by his insurer, AIG. $2.4 million remains to be paid. Originally, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan was requesting more than $9 million for its total bill, but that amount was trimmed during arbitration.
June 25, 2019 – Cosby files an appeal of his criminal conviction, arguing that the trial was flawed because the testimony of five accusers was “strikingly dissimilar” to that of Constand. In December, a Pennsylvania appeals court upholds Cosby’s sexual assault conviction.
September 20, 2019 – A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge sides with law firm Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, ruling that Cosby must pay $2.74 million for unpaid compensation, interest and arbitration fees.
November 24, 2019 – In his first interview since he was sentenced to prison for sexual assault, Cosby says he doesn’t expect to express remorse when it comes time for his parole. Cosby gave National Newspaper Publishers Association’s BlackPressUSA.com the exclusive interview from SCI Phoenix, a state prison near Collegeville, Pennsylvania.
June 23, 2020 – Pennsylvania’s Supreme Court rules that Cosby is allowed to appeal two key issues in his 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges.
June 30, 2021 – Cosby is released from prison after the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania vacates his 2018 conviction on sexual assault charges and judgment of sentence. The court rules in its opinion that his due process rights were violated when Montgomery County District Attorney Bruce Castor’s decision to not prosecute him in return for his deposition in a 2005 civil case was used against him at trial. The decision cannot be appealed by the prosecution in the state of Pennsylvania. On March 7, 2022, the Supreme Court leaves in place an opinion by Pennsylvania’s highest court that overturned comedian Cosby’s sexual assault conviction, rejecting a bid from Pennsylvania prosecutors to review the decision.
June 14, 2023 – Nine women who have accused Cosby of sexual abuse in the past file a new lawsuit asking for a jury trial against the comedian in Nevada.
March 23, 2026 – A civil jury in California finds Cosby liable for drugging and sexually assaulting a woman in 1972 and awards her $19.25 million.
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
