In a moving interview, the actor talked to PEOPLE about his mother’s impact on him:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/Malcolm-Jamal-Warner-with-his-mother-Pamela-Warner-at-the-12th-annual-Mark-Twain-Prize-072125-69afe10fe00d4feb9d503d89785d2f14.jpg)
Malcolm-Jamal Warner held onto words of wisdom from his mother throughout his career.
One year before his tragic death, the actor spoke with PEOPLE about how his mom, Pamela Warner, “really made the most impact” on him starting from his early acting days on The Cosby Show.
“I think probably the biggest influence — and I talk about this all the time, and I will probably continue to talk about this until my dying day — my mother. I think she really made the most impact on me,” he shared.
He learned just how wise his mother, who also served as his manager at that time, was when the success of the beloved sitcom first began.
“When The Cosby Show first hit and, out the box, it was this phenomenon… I was 14 years old, and my mother sat me down and said, ‘Listen baby, it’s great that this show is the phenomenon that it is, but at some point this show is going to be over. This show could be over next year. What are you going to do when this show is over?'” he recalled.:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc():focal(749x0:751x2):format(webp)/cast-of-the-cosby-show-072125-f9531f2867ca4263b6ab080bcc6a6110.jpg)
Pamela explained to her son that while she had skills to fall back on, he had to think about “longevity” as it pertained to acting and beyond.
“She pointed out, ‘If you look at anyone in this business who’s had longevity, they’ve had periods where they were hot and periods they were not.’ She said, ‘If longevity is what you want in this business, then you have to decide what you’re going to do during those times when you’re not hot, so you’re not out there making desperate career choices.'”
Following The Cosby Show‘s conclusion, Warner and Eddie Griffin led the sitcom Malcolm & Eddie from 1996 to 2000, and Warner was also well known for his role as Alex Reed on Reed Between the Lines, which he starred in alongside Tracee Ellis Ross from 2011 to 2015.
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Malcolm-Jamal Warner.
Randy Shropshire/Variety/Getty
More recently Warner had starred in Major Crimes as Chuck Cooper, as Julius Rowe in Suits and as AJ Austin in The Resident. 9-1-1 and Alert: Missing Persons Unit.
On Monday, July 21, a source confirmed to PEOPLE that the actor had died while on a family trip in Costa Rica. He was 54.
Costa Rican National Police confirmed that Warner drowned off the coast on Sunday, July 20, ABC News reported. His death was ruled to be a result of asphyxia, police told the outlet.
