Bill Cosby was an all-time great comedian, but was he also a great family man?

His family members would know more than us.

Maxwell Bartholomew wrote:

I mean, it was the whole premise of his show: finding the comedy in being a firm and loving dad. True or not?

I don't think he was a great comedian, either. At the time, his mild, nonthreatening and unoffensive comedy was the only thing white America would accept from a black man. By time that changed with Richard Prior and Eddie Murphy, Cosby was well established in the mild, kid friendly comedy arena. And it paid well. And it wasn't funny.

OJ Simpson was an all-time great football player and actor, but was he also a great family man?

I was friends with Bill's nephew, Ken in high school. He is Russell Cosby's son. I never got the sense that Bill saw Russell and his family that much. But this was back when Bill had the Cosby Show and was at the height of his stardom. So, I doubt Bill would just be able to jump on a plane and come to Atlanta to hang out at the mall with his brother and his niece and nephew. As best I could tell, Bill was kind of aloof with the kids, but more in the way of being a strong father figure. That seems consistent with Bill's embrace of respectability politics.

I loved Bill's comedy albums when I was a kid. I think his "Noah" routine and some others still hold up. Bill was just as much of a ground breaker as was Richard Pryor. The Fat Albert cartoon was a huge hit and was about black kids living in the projects. Cosby Show was the first prime time show about a black upper middle class family. It was also a huge hit. Bill Cosby showed that you could have comedies about black people that could appeal to everyone without having to share the stage with white characters.

It sucks that Bill had such a horrible dark side. I really want to play his comedy albums for my kids, but do not know how to deal with all the terrible things he did. It is also very sad that the entertainment business was so incredibly awful back then that Bill was able to rape young women over and over without anyone doing anything.

Oh Please wrote:

Maxwell Bartholomew wrote:

I mean, it was the whole premise of his show: finding the comedy in being a firm and loving dad. True or not?

I don't think he was a great comedian, either. At the time, his mild, nonthreatening and unoffensive comedy was the only thing white America would accept from a black man. By time that changed with Richard Prior and Eddie Murphy, Cosby was well established in the mild, kid friendly comedy arena. And it paid well. And it wasn't funny.

His story telling style as a stand up comedian was funny. Maybe not top 10 of all time but funny enough to listen to. But that was the 60s and 70s. By the time he hit the Cosby show of the 80s, he was pretty bland.

I know a few people that worked with him (creatively) and a few that dealt with him (in business and publicity) . They all agreed that he was an @$$#ole.

He wasn't very kind to Eddie Murphy after he got famous.

Yes, he was a good family man.

He assaulted members of many different families.

Oh Please wrote:

Maxwell Bartholomew wrote:

I mean, it was the whole premise of his show: finding the comedy in being a firm and loving dad. True or not?

I don't think he was a great comedian, either. At the time, his mild, nonthreatening and unoffensive comedy was the only thing white America would accept from a black man. By time that changed with Richard Prior and Eddie Murphy, Cosby was well established in the mild, kid friendly comedy arena. And it paid well. And it wasn't funny.

I liked him in I Spy but never cared for his comedy or any of his later roles, especially The Cosby Show.

As far as comedy, he is an all time great. I can remember listening to tapes of his comedy as a kid with my parents and laughing hysterically. As far as passing judgement on his behavior, I am cautious because it is disingenuous to look at the past with today's overly sensitive values and without recent evidence. For the party scene of the 70s, 80s and 90s, I don't think his behavior was all that uncommon. I think a lot of his alleged victims were more than willing participants and are just seizing on the economic opportunity years later. There is no way to know thirty years or more after the fact how willing a participant many of the alleged victims were, that is why statutes of limitation exist and why courts care about things like evidence.

Heck, where do you think the songs Funky Cold Medina and Love Potion Number Nine came from? Values are different today than they were then. Young women are just as likely as young men to binge drink and abuse alcohol and are more likely to abuse anti-anxiety drugs and sleep medication like Quaaludes. If our collective mindset on drinking changes in the future, then there is the potential for any woman that was ever given a drink at a party or bought a drink at a bar could bring charges against any man in the future (even if they sought it out).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dFHKdqo7k1M

"To Russel, My Brother, Whom I Slept With" is the funniest comedy album I ever heard, especially for the 26-minute title track... and especially for people who grew up sharing a room with a brother. It was first released in 1968. I never watched his sitcoms because I basically don't watch sitcoms, especially warmhearted family ones. But his records, also including "Why Is There Air," are pretty hilarious.

His comedy was hilarious. Met him on a few occasions.

He was a good family man to me. What little I saw. I think we all have multiple sides to us and he hid his well.

What was peculiar was he liked his windows closed and curtains drawn at all times. It'd be the best weather day ever with everyone else outside and windows open and he'd be a hermit. Weird