On this day in 1937, a legendary actor and a profound comedian was born who crossed all the boundaries of being a true professional. William Henry Cosby Jr., also known as Bill Cosby is an African-American actor, stand-up comedian, author, and musician. Cosby is the main guy behind popular TV shows ‘I Spy’, ‘Fat Albert’ and ‘The Cosby Show’ and got overnight popularity due to his superb performance in all the three programs. But unfortunately, his legendary status got all tarnished because of numerous allegations caused by sexual assaults.

Bill Cosby was born on July 12, 1937, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Cosby is the eldest of all the four boys born and brought up in the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia. His family had a stable monetary background, but it eventually slipped away as soon as his father started drinking heavily. After his father had got an opportunity in U.S. Navy, Cosby was the one to look after his family as a father. His mother worked and used to clean the house. Life was going well until his younger brother James died and left the family in big trauma.

Cosby was known for his jolly nature and used to tell jokes in his class. He loved to make people laugh and watched different comedy specials very often. He was a star athlete when he was in high school but then due to some reasons dropped out and joined the U.S. Navy in the year 1956. He always had the dream to fulfill his education and did his diploma from Temple University on a scholarship while remaining in the Navy services.

While he was still in college, Cosby started working as a bartender at a famous Coffee shop and from there only started his career as a standup comedian. This little effort made him begin national tours and soon to hit his comedy album and various Grammy awards. Besides starring in two of his famous and hit TV series, Bill Cosby produced a popular cartoon series ‘Fat Albert’ and also acted in various films. He also wrote and released a best-selling book ‘Fatherhood’. Cosby has received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2009 and also got Bob Hope Humanitarian Award in 2003 for his services as a comedian and humanitarian.

Unfortunately, Bill Cosby’s famous and legendary status got all in trouble due to numerous allegations of sexual misconduct in 2014. He went through various trials of indecent assault but got away from punishment when the judge declared him clear and penned it as a mistrial.

Source Articles:

https://www.biography.com/people/bill-cosby-9258468

http://www.bet.com/news/national/2013/07/12/this-day-in-black-history-july-12-1937.html