Beloved TV star Malcolm-Jamal Warner — best known for playing Theo Huxtable for all eight seasons of The Cosby Show from 1984 to 1992 — accidentally drowned at age 54 during a family vacation in Costa Rica,

In this piece, HuffPost culture reporter Njera Perkins interviewed actor Nadji Jeter, who co-starred opposite late actor Malcolm-Jamal Warner in BET’s “Reed Between the Lines.” Jeter shares a touching story about his relationship with Warner, who died earlier this month. This as-told-to interview has been edited for clarity.