The former child star was just as dynamic behind the camera as he was on-screen. In 1989, Malcolm-Jamal Warner made his directing debut with music videos for New Edition’s “N.E. Heart Break” and Special Ed’s “I’m The Magnificent.”
He brought his talents home to The Cosby Show, where he directed five episodes, including the iconic “Off to See the Wretched” episode. We all probably know it as the “big fun” moment.
Warner went on to nurture the next generation of rising stars as a director on shows like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Kenan & Kel, and All That. He continued to pull double duty as both the star and producer on 44 episodes of the hit comedy show with Eddie Griffin, Malcolm & Eddie, and 27 episodes of the blended family sitcom with Tracee Ellis Ross, Reed Between The Lines.
Meeting The Real Malcolm-Jamal Warner Through Poetry & Podcasts
Crediting his parents’ support since childhood, Warner’s creativity knew no bounds. He was an accomplished poet who won a Grammy for Best Traditional R&B performance in 2015 for his poem dedicated to victims of the Sandy Hook school shooting on “Jesus Children,” a Robert Glasper and Lalah Hathaway remake of the Stevie Wonder classic.
Warner won the first-ever Grammy for Best Spoken Word Poetry Album in 2022 for Hiding in Plain View. For more than 20 years, he has been a regular performer at the National Black Theatre Festival.
In 2003, he also formally launched a music career with The Miles Long Mixtape. The follow-up to that jazz-funk fusion came in 2007 with Love & Other Social Issues. For the 54-year-old, the music didn’t stop after that. He continued jamming as a bass player for the Biological Misfits, with an appearance at the 2024 Indy Jazz Fest.
Last year, Warner took his deep thoughts and conversations to a new platform with the Not All Hood (NAH), co-hosted by Candace O.Kelley and Weusi Baraka. The podcast gave fans a deeper, more vulnerable look at the star as the hosts explored the complexities of the Black community.
“When we talk about the Black community, we tend to speak of it as a monolith when the reality is there are so many different facets of the Black community, and we wanted to have a space where we can really explore, discuss, and acknowledge all of those different aspects,” Warner told PEOPLE.
The friend disagreed with separate categories in the first place when their service as soldiers should’ve mattered most. However, Warner reflected on the history of military segregation, discrimination, and withheld benefits for Black veterans. Given this country’s past and present, the indicator of “Black” became more than a subset in Warner’s mind.
“For the first time it made me thing of Black excellence in a different way. Black excellence now is attributed to fame and money, so that’s been my issue with it. But now when I’m looking into the story, Black survival in of itself is Black excellence,” he said.
“Everything that we have to muster, all of our resources — whether it be spiritual, whether it be relational, whether it be political to whatever extent — everything that we have had to muster just to play on this playing field is what makes us rich as Black people, as Black culture,” Warner continued.
Watch Malcom-Jamal Warner’s final episode of Not All Hood (NAH) featuring Tameka “Georgia Me” Harper below.
Check out more Malcolm-Jamal Warner performances to watch after the flip.
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