Bill Cosby has not died, but another recent celebrity death brought to mind the fact that Bill Cosby is 82 years old and may not be with us for many more years.
How should he be remembered when he dies?
As a rapist, obviously.
It’s like there are two Bill Cosbys: the one we “knew” before the revelations about his behavior came out, and the one after. I don’t think either one should be forgotten.
Comedian, who was mostly soft-edged (i.e. bland) but did somewhat expand opportunities for African-American actors, and a serial rapist. Maybe put rapist first.
Predatory serial rapist abusing icon level, celebrity and influence to evade detection for decades.
Yeah, he can’t escape his conviction. It will forever overshadow his comedic talent. As Thudlow said, there are two Bill Cosbys. I’d love to remember only the Cos that made me laugh my ass off with his stories of Fat Albert and his brother Russell, but I can’t.
For I Spy, being a funny guy (right!), Noah (ping!), Jello pudding, Fat Albert, the Cosby Show, The Brown Hornet, The Bill Cosby Show.
You people sure are hard core judgemental.
Sleepily?
There are two types of comedian, those who tell jokes (Take my wife, please!) and those who tell stories (I want you to build me an ark, Noah.) plus of course, those who can blend the two. I don’t find a well-told story bland. Not all can be Mort Sahl.
As a cautionary tale about the subversive power of celebrity. On several levels.
If he hadn’t been revealed as a rapist, his signature achievement was a smug sitcom that inspired a backlash of anti-Cosby sitcoms, including Married With Children, Roseanne and The Simpsons. He was a pioneering black TV star in the 1960s (I Spy and The Bill Cosby Show). In an era of black comedy “party records,” he made some that also appealed to children and white audiences. He was eclipsed pretty quickly by Richard Pryor in the 70s and Eddie Murphy in the 80s. His peers were the guys he hung out with at the Playboy Mansion, like OJ Simpson (who murdered his wife) and Robert Wagner (who might have murdered his, too). Yeah, I think the rapes would have inevitably have come out one way or another.
A very funny rapist.
You think it was celebrity that made him a rapist?
Why not a very rapey comedian?
Should? A convicted rapist.
Will be? No clue.
As a rapist who was also a successful comedian and TV actor Same way I remember OJ: a double murderer who played professional football and acted.
The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.
Every answer I try to put together for the OP keeps boiling down to that. At least his victims eventually got to confront him, got to see the effective end of his career, and got to see him behind bars. He is tasting at least some measure of justice. Not all recently deceased celebrities were held to such account.
About serial rape? Yeah, I think that warrants a certain amount of judgementalism.
I don’t see anybody arguing that, for example, the late Jeffrey Epstein ought to be remembered only for his notable acts of philanthropy, or the not-yet-late OJ Simpson only as a great football player. Why should Cosby’s history be artificially sanitized, any more than theirs?
All of the above?
I mean, it’s possible to acknowledge his cultural impact while also acknowledging his criminal behavior, right?
Being a celebrity did not make him a rapist. Being a celebrity certainly gave him access to victims and helped him get away with it for decades.