William Thomas Jr. (November 8, 1947 – November 14, 2020) was an American actor.
From 1991 to 1992, he played Vanessa Huxtable's fiancé Dabnis Brickey on the
NBC sitcom ''
The Cosby Show'', during the eighth and final season.
Prior to his work on ''The Cosby Show'', Thomas portrayed Cool Charles on the critically acclaimed but short-lived 1987-1988
CBS comedy-drama
Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...
''
Frank's Place'', which starred
Tim Reid and his wife
Daphne Maxwell Reid
Daphne Etta Maxwell Reid (née Maxwell; July 13, 1948) is an American actress, comedian, designer and former model. She is best known for her role as the second Vivian Banks on the NBC sitcom ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' from 1993 to 1996.
...
. He also portrayed Det. William Donald Potts on
Steven Bochco
Steven Ronald Bochco Masterson (December 16, 1943 – April 1, 2018) was an American television writer and producer. He developed a number of television series, including ''Hill Street Blues'', ''L.A. Law'', ''Doogie Howser, M.D.'', ''Cop Rock'' ...
's widely panned 1990
ABC musical-drama ''
Cop Rock''. He also played Mr. Laskin on the "My Big Brother" episode of "Family Matters".
Before coming to Hollywood, he appeared on Broadway in ''
Godspell'', ''Your Arms Are Too Short to Box with God'', and as Jacob in the original production of ''
La Cage aux Folles''.
Thomas also appeared on ''
The Bold and the Beautiful'' in 2005 as an INS agent. Movie credits include ''
Mambo Kings
''The Mambo Kings'' is a 1992 musical drama film based on the 1989 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel '' The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love'' by Oscar Hijuelos. The film was directed and produced by Arne Glimcher, and stars Armand Assante, Antonio Ba ...
'', ''
Bruce Almighty
''Bruce Almighty'' is a 2003 American fantasy comedy film directed by Tom Shadyac and written by Steve Koren, Mark O'Keefe and Steve Oedekerk. The film stars Jim Carrey as Bruce Nolan, a down-on-his-luck television reporter who complains to God ...
'', and ''
Christmas with the Kranks''.
References
External links
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1947 births
2020 deaths
African-American male actors
American evangelists
American male television actors
Male actors from Columbus, Ohio
20th-century African-American people
21st-century African-American people
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