Bill Cosby

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Bill Cosby Information

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Facts in Brief
Birth: July 12,1937
Parents: Anna and William Cosby
Education: dropped out in 10th grade- later went to Temple University and recieved his degree in correspondence
Died: Still alive today

Bill Cosby was born William Henry Cosby, Jr He was born in Gernmantown, Pennsylvania on July 12, 1937 to Anna and William Cosby. He had four brothers in his family. One brother, died at age six from rheumatic fever (Encyclopedia of World Biography Pages 257).

Bill dropped out of high school in the tenth grade to join the Navy in the early 1950's. Cosby had to shine shoes and deliver groceries to make money (North American Biographies). Bill's mother always wanted her boys to have a good education. Later, in life, he earned his diploma through correspondence school and was accepted to Temple University in Philadelphia on an athletic scholarship . Cosby earned his undergraduate degree from Temple University in 1971, and in 1977 completed his Ph. D. in education at the University of Massachusetts (Encyclopedia of World Biography). After college, Bill began work by playing at small clubs around Philadelphia and New York's Greenwich Village (Reference Library of Black America). He was remembered mainly because his acts did not have to be censored (North American Biographies).

Bill Cosby was a cast member of the following shows: "I Spy," "Cos," and "Bill Cosby Show." He also was a commercial spokesman for the following products: "Jell-O," "Kodak," "Del Monte," "Coca-Cola," and "Ford Motor Company." Bill has won various awards including his 1963 Grammy Award for Bill Cosby Is A Very Funny Fellow.... Right, his 1964 Grammy for Best Comedy in I Started Out As A Child. Together, he won a total of five Grammy Awards. He also won an Emmy Award in 1967-1969 for Best Actor in a dramatic series for I Spy. Bill also had an album career in which he won Best Comedy Album awards every year from 1964-1969. All of his albums earned more than one million dollars in sales (Encyclopedia of World Biographies).

Bill Cosby has performed in the following movies: Man and Boy and California Suite. He has also made these movies Hickey and Boggs, Uptown Saturday Night, Lets Do It Again, Mother, Jugs, and Speed, A Piece of the Action, The Devil and Max Devlin, Bill Cosby Himself, Leonard the Sixth, and Ghost Dad. Cosby also created "The Cosby Show." Its first episode aired in September of 1984. The series, which was scheduled to run for three and a half years, sold to the Fox Network for 550 million dollars (Encyclopedia of World Biographies). Bill has also written two best-selling books: Fatherhood and Time Flies (Reference Library of Black America).

Bill Cosby resides in Rural, England with his wife, Camille (Reference Library of Black America). Bill and Camille were married in 1964, and had four daughters and one boy, Ennis, who was murdered at the age of twenty-seven(World Biographies)

Bill Cosby has affected American society in many ways. He was the most visible spokesperson, and was the first African-American to go on “The Tonight Show” (Encyclopedia of World Biographies). Bill Cosby is known today as one of America's funniest people. He is also one of the highest paid African-American actors. Bill's acts were mainly remembered because they did not have to be censored.

Works Cited

"Bill Cosby." Reference Library of Black America. Vol. 4. Farmington Hills, MI. Gale Group, 1990. 1135.

"Cosby, Bill." Encyclopedia of Black America. first ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1981. 289.

"Cosby, Bill." North American Biographies. Vol. 5. Connecticut: Grolier Educational Corporation, 1994. 65.

"William Henry Cosby Jr." Encyclopedia of World Biography. Second ed. Vol. 4. New York: Gale Research, 1998. 257-258.










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