Veteran comedian Bill Cosby, star of the long-running NBC hit "The Cosby Show," will be the next guest in the Sacerdote Great Names Series at Hamilton College. He will perform on Wednesday, Oct. 15, at 7:30 p.m., in the Margaret Bundy Scott Field House. The event is free and open to the public. No tickets are necessary. Attendees are encouraged to park at Clinton Central School's Elm Street lot or the Skenandoa Golf Club and take the free shuttle to the Field House as parking on campus will be limited.
Cosby was born in 1937 and grew up in a Philadelphia ghetto. He often neglected his studies for athletics, and after repeating the 10th grade, he left school to join the Navy. He finished high school via a correspondence course while still in the service. When he was discharged, he enrolled at Temple University on an athletic scholarship.
To support himself during college, Cosby tended bar at night, where he found a ready-made audience for his brand of home-grown humor. His first stage appearance was at a nightspot called "The Underground." The beatniks were in at that time in New York's Greenwich Village and word of Cosby's comedy spread from Philadelphia. A club called "The Gaslight" booked him for $60 a week and he was on his way.
His routines wowed audiences with laughter at the top clubs around the country. Many of his expressions became part of the jargon of this generation, like his fatuous drawn-out "riiiiiiiiight." Cosby also immortalized his Wisler Elementary School classmates -- Fat Albert, Old Weird Harold, Dumb Dona1d, Rudy, Nolan and Weasel.
During Cosby's nightclub-circuit period Carl Reiner saw his act in Pittsburgh and introduced Cosby to producer Sheldon Leonard, who signed him to co-star in the "I Spy" TV series with Robert Culp. The series, about two spies disguised as tennis bums, was an instant hit. Cosby's role as co-star broke the racial barrier of television, and before the series ended, he had won three Emmy Awards.
"The Bill Cosby Show" followed on NBC in 1971, and in September 1976, Cosby hosted another variety show called "Cos," on ABC. This was followed by the 1984-92 run of "The Cosby Show" on NBC, where Cosby played Dr. Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable. In 1994, Cosby starred in the NBC series "The Cosby Mysteries," and the CBS television movie "I Spy Returns," co-starring his original partner, Robert Culp.
Cosby also has been successful in the recording industry. A comedy album on Geffen Records, "Those of You With or Without Children, You'll Understand," sold close to a million copies. His most recent productions include the release of a jazz album, "My Appreciation," and a comedy album, "Oh, Baby." Eight Cosby albums have been certified Gold Records by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and Cosby has won five Grammy Awards for "Best Comedy Album."
Cosby made his motion picture debut in the film "Man and Boy," which was set in the post-Civil War era. He teamed with his "I Spy" partner, Robert Culp, for "Hickey and Boggs," and he co-starred with Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafonte in "Uptown Saturday Night" and in the sequel, "Let's Do It Again." Cosby also starred in an animated film "Aesop's Fables." Cosby and Poitier rejoined to co-star in "A Piece of the Action," and Cosby then teamed with Richard Pryor in a starring role in "California Suite." More recently, he appeared in "Jack" with Robin Williams.
Cosby also has filmed numerous television specials, starred in NBC TV's Children's Theater and PBS- TV's The Electric Company (the latter created by the Sesame Street Children's Television Workshop) and has written, directed and produced educational TV shows ("Concern," dealing with his concern for school children, and "Prejudice," an irreverent spoof of prejudice).
Cosby has been a crusader throughout his career for a better world and for better understanding between people. Besides his involvement with a host of charity organizations, Cosby is an active trustee of his alma mater, Temple University. As philanthropists, Bill and Camille Cosby have made substantial gifts in support of education (most notably to predominantly black colleges) and to various social service and civil rights organizations.
Cosby earned his master's degree in 1972 and his doctorate in education (Ed. D) in 1977 from the University of Massachusetts.
In the publishing world, Bill Cosby has shattered records with each of his books. Fatherhood (Doubleday/Dolphin,1986) became the fastest-selling hardcover book of all time. His next book, Time Flies, had the largest single first printing in publishing history --1.75 million copies. One of his latest books, Childhood (Putnam, 1991), deals with the predicaments of growing up and coming of age, combining stories of his legendary childhood with comic insights about children of today.
Exercising his concern with projecting positive images of African-Americans, Cosby, together with partners, Tom Werner and Marcy Carsey, produced "A Different World" on NBC for seven years. They also produced "Here and Now" for NBC and the revival of the classic Groucho Marx show, "You Bet Your Life," for first-run syndication.
The Sacerdote Series is named in recognition of a significant gift from the family of Alex Sacerdote, a 1994 Hamilton graduate. A November survey of the Hamilton community was a key factor in selecting Cosby as the next speaker in the series.
Previous Great Names at Hamilton speakers include Rudy Giuliani, Madeleine Albright, Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Lady Margaret Thatcher, Colin Powell, Mary Matalin and James Carville, Elie Wiesel and F.W. deKlerk. In 1998, jazz and blues singer/musician B.B. King was the first artist to appear as part of the series.
