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

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sitcom ''

The Cosby Show ''The Cosby Show'' is an American television sitcom co-created by and starring Bill Cosby, which aired Thursday nights for eight seasons on NBC between September 20, 1984, until April 30, 1992. The show focuses on an upper middle-class African- ...

'', 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 CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

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 ''Frank's Place'' is an American comedy-drama series that aired on CBS for 22 episodes during the 1987-1988 television season. The series was created by Hugh Wilson and executive produced by Wilson and series star and fellow ''WKRP in Cincinna ...

'', which starred

Tim Reid Timothy Lee Reid (born December 19, 1944) is an American actor, comedian and film director best known for his roles in prime time American television programs, such as Venus Flytrap on ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978–82), Marcel "Downtown" Brown ...

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

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musical-drama ''

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''. He also played Mr. Laskin on the "My Big Brother" episode of "Family Matters". Before coming to Hollywood, he appeared on Broadway in ''

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical composed by Stephen Schwartz with book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set to lyrics from traditional hymn ...

'', ''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 ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''The Yo ...

'' in 2005 as an INS agent. Movie credits include '' Mambo Kings'', ''

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 ''Christmas with the Kranks'' is a 2004 American Christmas comedy film based on the 2001 novel ''Skipping Christmas'' by John Grisham. It was directed by Joe Roth, written and produced by Chris Columbus, and starring Tim Allen, Jamie Lee Curtis, D ...

''.

References

External links

* 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 {{US-tv-actor-stub