Free Press wire report

LOS ANGELES

Earle Hyman, a veteran actor of stage and screen who was widely known for playing the father of Bill Cosby’s character on “The Cosby Show,” has died.

Jordan Strohl, a representative for The Actors Fund, said Mr. Hyman died Friday, Nov. 17, 2017, at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, N.J. He was 91.

A North Carolina native, Mr. Hyman made his Broadway debut as a teenager in 1943. He would go on to become a charter member of the American Shakespeare Theater. In 1980, Mr. Hyman received a Tony nomination for “The Lady From Dubuque.”

Mr. Hyman is best known, however, for “The Cosby Show” where he played Russell Huxtable, the father to Mr. Cosby’s character Cliff Huxtable, even though Mr. Hyman was only 11 years older than Mr. Cosby.

He earned a guest performer Emmy nomination for the role in 1986.