Bill Cosby

American former comedian, actor, author, director, and producer Bill Cosby performed over a period of decades in film, television, and stand-up comedy. His longest-running live-action role was that of Cliff Huxtable in the sitcom The Cosby Show (1984-1992). Cosby began his career as a stand-up comic at the hungry i nightclub in San Francisco in 1961. Throughout the 1960s, Cosby released several standup comedy albums which consecutively earned him the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album from 1965 to 1970. He also had a starring role in the television secret-agent show I Spy (1965–1968) opposite Robert Culp, and made history when Cosby won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1966, making him the first African American to earn an Emmy Award for acting.