His phenomenal success with the Cosby Show on TV sort of amazed me at the time, though since I such an ardent fan of "The Simpsons" from its first episodes ( which ran against the Cosby show), I only saw it sporadically.
Cosby broke through all sorts of barriers and defied racial stereotypes largely by force of will power, it always seemed to me.
Even when he had setbacks ( such as his tepid show based on the old Groucho Marx comedy " You Bet Your Life,") the failure to me seemed to be that Cosby mistook his success with his earlier show to mean that he was capable of being Groucho,--and repeated viewing of his old films shows that not even Groucho was always capable of being Groucho.
Despite all his ups and downs and controversial statements issued in later years, Cosby still pops up on TV and his continuing stamina and sense of comic timing remain.
At the moment, there are no other African Americans in Cosby's league really around, and he I guess it shows how trailblazers in the Arts do not lead in a straight line to some kind of cultural evolution that is predictable..
Bill Cosby
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the comedian. For the British governor of New York, see William Cosby.
| Bill Cosby | |
|---|---|
Cosby in February 2010
|
|
| Born | William Henry Cosby Jr. July 12, 1937 [1] Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor, comedian, author, producer, musician, activist |
| Years active | 1962–present |
| Notable work(s) | I Spy The Bill Cosby Show Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids The Cosby Show Cosby The Cosby Mysteries The Electric Company |
| Spouse(s) | Camille Hanks (1964–present) |
| Children | Erika, Erinn, Ensa, Evin, Ennis |
| Website | |
| www.billcosby.com | |
During the 1980s, Cosby produced and starred in one of the decade's defining sitcoms, The Cosby Show, which aired eight seasons from 1984 to 1992. It was the number one show in America for five straight years (1985–89).[2] The sitcom highlighted the experiences and growth of an affluent 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.
In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante included him in his book The 100 Greatest African Americans.[3]
In 1976, Cosby earned a Doctor of Education degree from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. His dissertation discussed the use of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids as a teaching tool in elementary schools.
Contents
Early life
While serving in the Navy as a Hospital Corpsman for four years, Cosby worked in physical therapy with some seriously injured Korean War casualties,[10] which helped him discover what was important to him. Then he immediately realized the need for an education, and finished his equivalency diploma via correspondence courses.[11] He then won a track and field scholarship to Philadelphia's Temple University in 1961–62,[12] and studied physical education while running track and playing fullback on the football team.
As Cosby progressed through his undergraduate studies, he 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 onto the stage.[13]
Stand-up career
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.[8] He lined up dates in Chicago, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere. He received national exposure on NBC's The Tonight Show in the summer of 1963. This led to a recording contract with Warner Bros. Records, who, in 1964, released his debut LP Bill Cosby Is a Very Funny Fellow...Right!, the first of a series of popular comedy albums.While many comics were using the growing freedom of that decade to explore material that was controversial and sometimes risqué, Cosby was making his reputation with humorous recollections of his childhood. Many Americans wondered about the absence of race as a topic in Cosby's stories. As Cosby's success grew he had to defend his choice of material regularly; as he argued, "A white person listens to my act and he laughs and he thinks, 'Yeah, that's the way I see it too.' Okay. He's white. I'm Negro. And we both see things the same way. That must mean that we are alike. Right? So I figure this way I'm doing as much for good race relations as the next guy."[14]
Cosby remains an actively touring stand-up comedian, performing at theaters throughout the United States. He performed his first TV standup special in 30 years, Bill Cosby: Far From Finished, on Comedy Central on November 23, 2013.[15]
Acting career
I Spy
In 1965, when he was cast alongside Robert Culp in the I Spy espionage adventure series, Cosby became the first African-American co-star in a dramatic television series, and NBC became the first to present a series so cast. At first Cosby and NBC executives were concerned that some affiliates might be unwilling to carry the series. At the beginning of the 1965 season, four stations declined the show; they were in Georgia, Florida, and Alabama.[citation needed] Viewers were taken with the show's exotic locales and the authentic chemistry between the stars, and it became one of the ratings hits of that television season. I Spy finished among the twenty most-watched shows that year, and Cosby would be honored with three consecutive Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series.During the run of the series, Cosby continued to do stand-up comedy performances and recorded a half-dozen record albums for Warner Bros. Records. He also began to dabble in singing, recording Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings in 1967, which provided him with a hit single with his recording of "Li'l Ole Man".[citation needed] He would record several more musical albums into the early 1970s, but he continued to record primarily stand-up comedy work.
In June 1968, Billboard reported that Cosby had turned down a five-year, US$3.5 million contract renewal offer and would leave the label in August that year to record for his own record label.[16]
Tetragrammaton Records was a division of the Campbell, Silver, Cosby (CSC) Corporation, the Los Angeles based production company founded by Cosby, his manager Roy Silver, and filmmaker Bruce Post Campbell. It produced films as well as records, including Cosby's television specials, the Fat Albert cartoon special and series and several motion pictures. CSC hired industry veteran Artie Mogull as President of the label and Tetragrammaton was fairly active during 1968–69 (its most successful signing was British heavy rock band Deep Purple) but it quickly went into the red and ceased trading during 1970.[17]
Fat Albert, The Bill Cosby Show, and the 1970s
After The Bill Cosby Show left the air, Cosby returned to his education. He began graduate work at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. For the PBS series The Electric Company, Cosby recorded several segments teaching reading skills to young children.
In 1972, Cosby received an MA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was also back in prime time with a variety series, The New Bill Cosby Show. However, this time he met with poor ratings, and the show lasted only a season. More successful was a Saturday morning show, Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids, hosted by Cosby and based on his own childhood. That series ran from 1972 to 1979, and as The New Fat Albert Show in 1979 and The Adventures of Fat Albert and the Cosby Kids in 1984.[citation needed] Some schools used the program as a teaching tool,[citation needed] and Cosby himself wrote a dissertation on it, "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", as partial fulfillment of obtaining his 1976 doctorate in education, also from the University of Massachusetts.[8][18] 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."[19]
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. It was during this season that ABC decided to take advantage of this phase of Cosby's career by associating with Filmation (producers of Fat Albert) in creating live-action segments starring Cosby for the 1964/1971 animated film Journey Back to Oz, which made its network premiere at Christmas 1976, and aired subsequently in syndication. 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.
These endeavors created a bridge in Cosby's career that led to his greatest success that would save a faltering television network from the ratings cellar.
The Cosby Show and the 1980s
Cosby's greatest television success came in September 1984 with the debut of The Cosby Show. The program aired weekly on NBC and went on to become the highest ranking sitcom of all time.[citation needed] For Cosby, the new situation comedy was a response to the increasingly violent and vulgar fare the networks usually offered.[citation needed] Cosby is an advocate for humor that is family-oriented. He insisted on and received total creative control of the series, and he was involved in every aspect of the series. The show had parallels to Cosby's actual family life: like the characters Cliff and Claire Huxtable, Cosby and his wife Camille were college educated, financially successful, and had five children. Essentially a throwback to the wholesome family situation comedy, The Cosby Show was unprecedented in its portrayal of an intelligent, affluent, African-American family.Much of the material from the pilot and first season of The Cosby Show was taken from his video Bill Cosby: Himself, 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. People magazine called the show "revolutionary",[citation needed] and Newsday concurred that it was a "real breakthrough."[citation needed]
In 1987, Cosby attempted to return to film 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.[20]
See also: Bill Cosby in advertising
In the 1990s and 2000s
Also in 1996, he started up a new show for CBS, Cosby, again co-starring Phylicia Rashād, his onscreen wife on The Cosby Show. Cosby co-produced the show for Carsey-Werner Productions. The show was based on the British program One Foot in the Grave.[citation needed] It centered on Cosby as Hilton Lucas, an iconoclastic senior citizen who tries to find a new job after being downsized and, in the meantime, gets on his wife's nerves. Madeline Kahn costarred as Rashād's goofy business partner Pauline. Cosby was hired by CBS to be the official spokesman of the WWJ-TV during an advertising campaign from 1995 to 1998. In addition, Cosby in 1998 became the host of Kids Say the Darndest Things. After four seasons, Cosby was canceled. The last episode aired April 28, 2000. Kids Say the Darndest Things was also canceled the same year. Cosby continued to work with CBS through a development deal and other projects.
In the summer of 2009, Cosby hosted a comedy gala at Montreal's Just for Laughs, which is the largest comedy festival in the world.[22]
Socioeconomic views
Main article: Pound Cake speech
In May 2004, after receiving an award at the celebration of the 50th Anniversary commemoration of the Brown v. Board of Education ruling—a ruling of the U.S. Supreme Court that outlawed school racial segregation
in schools—Cosby made public remarks critical of African Americans who
put higher priorities on sports, fashion, and "acting hard" than on
education, self-respect, and self-improvement, pleading for
African-American families to educate their children on the many
different aspects of American culture.In the "Pound Cake" speech, Cosby, who holds a doctorate in education, asked that African-American parents teach 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).[page needed] 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."[23]
Cosby again came under sharp criticism and was again 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 apathetic 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."[24] The speech was featured in the documentary 500 Years Later, which set the speech to cartoon visuals.[citation needed]
In 2005, Georgetown University sociology professor Michael Eric Dyson wrote a book entitled Is Bill Cosby Right? Or Has the Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?[25] 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.[26] Dyson suggested Cosby's comments "betray classist, elitist viewpoints rooted in generational warfare."[25]
Cornel West defended Cosby and his remarks, saying, "he's speaking out of great compassion and trying to get folk to get on the right track, 'cause we've got some brothers and sisters who are not doing the right things, just like in times in our own lives, we don't do the right thing... He is trying to speak honestly and freely and lovingly, and I think that's a very positive thing."[27]
In a 2008 interview, Cosby mentioned Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Detroit, Michigan; Oakland, California; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; 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.[28] Cosby still lectures to black communities (usually at churches) about his frustrations with certain problems prevalent in underprivileged urban communities, such as 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 African-Americans who preceded Generation X.
Cosby has also been openly critical of conservative Republican politicians in regards to their views on socioeconomic and racial issues. In a 2013 CNN interview regarding voting rights, Cosby stated "this Republican Party is not the Republican Party of 1863, of Abraham Lincoln, abolitionists and slavery, is not good. I think it's important for us to look at the underlying part of it. What is the value of it? Is it that some people are angry because my people no longer want to work for free?"[29]
Humanitarian causes
Cosby has become an active member of The Jazz Foundation of America.[30] Cosby became involved with the foundation in 2004. For several years, he has been a featured host for its annual benefit, A Great Night in Harlem, at the Apollo Theater in New York City.[31][32]Personal life
Cosby met his future wife, Camille Olivia 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). Their son Ennis was shot dead while changing a flat tire on the side of Interstate 405 in Los Angeles on January 16, 1997. Cosby maintains homes in Shelburne, Massachusetts, and Cheltenham, Pennsylvania.[33]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.[34]
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. He is a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. He was initiated in the fraternity's Beta Alpha Alpha graduate chapter in White Plains, New York, in 1988.[35]
Cosby also attends many public events, such as the 100th Millrose Games at Madison Square Garden in New York City 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.
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.[36]
Lawsuits
In July 1997, Cosby testified that he made private payments to Shawn Upshaw, a woman who had briefly been his lover in Las Vegas during the early 1970s. Upshaw later told Cosby that her daughter, Autumn Jackson, was his daughter, too, but he denied it. Cosby said he gave Upshaw a total of about $100,000 because he did not want her to publicly reveal the affair.[37] Twenty-two-year-old Autumn Jackson was sentenced to 26 months in jail for trying to extort $40 million from Cosby.[38]In August 2006, Cosby settled a lawsuit against him by a Canadian woman who claimed he had attacked her in his Philadelphia home in 2004.[33][39] The woman claimed she had been sexually assaulted after being given pills when she had complained of feeling stressed. Cosby denied the assertions.[40]
Awards and honors
- 1969: Received his third Man of the Year award from Harvard University's performance group the Hasty Pudding Theatricals
- 1998: Received the Kennedy Center Honor[41]
- 2002: The Presidential Medal of Freedom for his contributions to television
- 2003: The Bob Hope Humanitarian Award
- 2005: In a British poll to find the Comedian's Comedian, he was voted among the top-50 comedy acts ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders
- 2009: Presented with the 12th annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor
- 2011: Made an honorary Chief Petty Officer (Hospital Corpsman) in the United States Navy[42]
Emmys
Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Series – Primetime Emmys1966 I Spy – Alexander Scott
1967 I Spy – Alexander Scott
1968 I Spy – Alexander Scott
Outstanding Variety Or Musical Program – Primetime Emmys
1969 The Bill Cosby Special
Grammys
Best Comedy Performance – Grammy Awards1965 I Started Out as a Child
1966 Why Is There Air?
1967 Wonderfulness
1968 Revenge
1969 To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With
1970 Sports
1987 Those of You with or Without Children, You'll Understand
Best Recording for Children – Grammy Awards
1972 Bill Cosby Talks to Kids About Drugs
1971 The Electric Company – Cast member
Honorary degrees
Cosby has received honorary degrees from more than a dozen colleges and universities:- Honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Marquette University, May 19, 2013.[43]
- Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Virginia Commonwealth University, December 5, 2008.[44]
- Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Carnegie Mellon University, May 20, 2007; he was also the keynote speaker for the commencement ceremony.[45]
- Honorary Doctor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music, May 8, 2004.[46] Cosby was also the host of the school's 60th Anniversary Concert in January 2006.[47]
- Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Baylor University, September 4, 2003, at the "Spirit Rally" for the Baylor and Central Texas communities.[48]
- Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Yale University, May 26, 2003.[49]
- Honorary Degree in 2003 presented by President William Harjo LoneFight from the Sisseton Wahpeton College on the Lake Traverse Reservation for his contributions to minority education.
- Honorary Doctorate from West Chester University of Pennsylvania during the 2003 graduation ceremony.
- Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree from Haverford College, May 2002.[50]
- Honorary Degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute[21] and the University of Cincinnati in 2001.
- Honorary Doctorate from Amherst College, May 1999. (Doctor of Humane Letters, honoris causa)
- Honorary Doctorate from Colgate University, May 22, 1999; he was also the keynote speaker for the commencement ceremony.[51]
- Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from the University of Southern California, May 8, 1998.[52]
- Cosby served as the commencement speaker [53] and received an Honorary Doctor of Fine Arts from the University of Connecticut, 18 May 1996.[54]
- Honorary LL.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, 1990.[55] He also served as the commencement speaker in May 1997.[56]
Works
Discography
Comedy albums
- Bill Cosby Is a Very Funny Fellow...Right! (1963)
- I Started Out as a Child (1964)
- Why Is There Air? (1965)
- Wonderfulness (1966)
- Revenge (1967)
- To Russell, My Brother, Whom I Slept With (1968)
- 200 M.P.H. (1968)
- 8:15 12:15 (1969)
- It's True! It's True! (1969)
- Sports (1969)
- Live: Madison Square Garden Center (1970)
- When I Was a Kid (1971)
- For Adults Only (1971)
- Bill Cosby Talks to Kids About Drugs (1971)
- Inside the Mind of Bill Cosby (1972)
- Fat Albert (1973)
- My Father Confused Me... What Must I Do? What Must I Do? (1977)
- Bill's Best Friend (1978)
- Bill Cosby: Himself (1982)
- Those of You With or Without Children, You'll Understand (1986)
- OH, Baby (1991)
- Bill Cosby: Far From Finished (TV broadcast on November 23, 2013, Blu-ray, DVD, CD and digital distribution on November 26, 2013)[57]
Music albums
- Silver Throat: Bill Cosby Sings (1967)
- Bill Cosby Sings Hooray for the Salvation Army Band! (1968)
- Badfoot Brown & the Bunions Bradford Funeral & Marching Band (1971)
- Charles Mingus and Friends in Concert - As master of ceremonies (Columbia, 1972)
- Bill Cosby Presents Badfoot Brown & the Bunions Bradford Funeral Marching Band (1972)
- At Last Bill Cosby Really Sings (1974)
- Bill Cosby Is Not Himself These Days (1976)
- Disco Bill (1977)
- Where You Lay Your Head (1990)
- My Appreciation (1991)
- Hello Friend: To Ennis, With Love (1997)
- Quincy Jones & Bill Cosby – The Original Jam Sessions 1969 (2004)
- Quincy Jones & Bill Cosby – The New Mixes Vol. 1 (2004)
- State of Emergency (2009)
- Keep Standing (2010)
Compilations
- The Best of Bill Cosby (1969)
- More of the Best of Bill Cosby (1970)
- Bill (1973)
- Down Under (1975)
- Cosby and the Kids (1986)
- At His Best (1994)
- 20th Century Masters: The Millennium Collection: The Best of Bill Cosby (2001)
- The Bill Cosby Collection (2004)
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | ||
| 1967 | "Little Ol' Man (Uptight—Everything's Alright)" | 4 | 18 |
| 1970 | "Grover Henson Feels Forgotten" | 70 | — |
| 1976 | "I Luv Myself Better Than I Luv Myself" | — | 59 |
| "Yes, Yes, Yes" | 46 | 11 | |
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice | Patron at nightclub (uncredited) | |
| 1969 | Hey, Hey, Hey, It's Fat Albert | Bill (voice) / Fat Albert (voice) / Dumb Donald (voice) | (TV movie) |
| 1971 | Man and Boy | Caleb Revers | (TV movie) |
| 1971 | Aesop's Fables | Aesop | |
| 1972 | To All My Friends on Shore | Blue | (TV movie) |
| 1972 | Hickey & Boggs | Al Hickey | |
| 1974 | Uptown Saturday Night | Wardell Franklin | |
| 1974 | Journey Back to Oz | The Wizard of Oz | (TV version only) |
| 1975 | Let's Do It Again | Billy Foster | |
| 1976 | Mother, Jugs & Speed | Mother | |
| 1977 | A Piece of the Action | Dave Anderson | |
| 1978 | Top Secret | Aaron Strickland | (TV movie) |
| 1978 | California Suite | Dr. Willis Panama | |
| 1981 | The Devil and Max Devlin | Barney Satin | |
| 1987 | Leonard Part 6 | Leonard Parker | |
| 1990 | Ghost Dad | Elliot Hopper | |
| 1993 | The Meteor Man | Marvin | |
| 1994 | The Cosby Mysteries | Guy Hanks | (TV movie) |
| 1994 | I Spy Returns | Alexander Scott | (TV movie) |
| 1996 | Jack | Lawrence Woodruff | |
| 2002 | Sylvia's Path | (voice) | (TV movie) |
| 2004 | Fat Albert | Himself |
Books
- Cosby, Bill (1986). Fatherhood. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-23410-8. OCLC 15686687.
- Cosby, Bill (1987). Time Flies. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-24040-6. OCLC 16081611.
- Cosby, Bill (1989). Love and Marriage. New York: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-24664-4. OCLC 18984758.
- Cosby, Bill (1991). Childhood. New York: Putnam. ISBN 978-0-399-13647-4. OCLC 23650310.
- Cosby, Bill (1998). Kids Say the Darndest Things. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-553-11043-2. OCLC 39498709.
- Cosby, Bill (1999). Congratulations! Now What?: A Book for Graduates. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 978-0-7868-6572-7. OCLC 40979923.
- Allen, Dwight William; Cosby, Bill (2000). American Schools: The $100 Billion Challenge. New York: IPublish.com. ISBN 978-0-7595-5000-1. OCLC 48915448.
- Cosby, Bill; Booth, George (2001). Cosbyology: Essays and Observations from the Doctor of Comedy. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 978-0-7868-6810-0. OCLC 46359836.
- Cosby, Bill (2003). I Am What I Ate ... and I'm Frightened!!!: And Other Digressions from the Doctor of Comedy. New York: HarperEntertainment. ISBN 978-0-06-054573-4. OCLC 52387894.
- Cosby, Bill; Cosby, Erika (2003). Friends of a Feather: One of Life's Little Fables. New York: Harper Entertainment. ISBN 978-0-06-009147-7. OCLC 52206847.
- Cosby, Bill; Poussaint, Alvin F. (2007). Come on, People: On the Path from Victims to Victors. Nashville: Thomas Nelson. ISBN 978-1-59555-092-7. OCLC 153581209.
- Cosby, Bill (2011). I Didn't Ask to Be Born (But I'm Glad I Was). New York: Center Street. ISBN 978-0-89296-920-3. OCLC 707964887.
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