Camille Cosby

Camille Cosby
File:Camille Cosby.jpg Camille Cosby at the Peabody Awards, 2000
Born	Camille Olivia Hanks (1944-03-20) March 20, 1944 Washington, D.C.
Nationality	American
Other names	Camille O. Cosby, Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby
Alma mater	University of Maryland University of Massachusetts (PhD)
Occupation	Television producer
Known for	Philanthropy
Spouse(s)	Bill Cosby (m. 1964)
Children	5, including Erika Cosby and Ennis Cosby
Parent(s)	Guy A. Hanks, Sr. Catherine C. Hanks
Awards	1992 Candance Award

Camille Cosby (born Camille Olivia Hanks; March 20, 1944) is an American television producer, author, philanthropist, and the wife of comedian Bill Cosby. The character of Clair Huxtable from The Cosby Show was based on her.

Early life

Camille was born Camille Olivia Hanks on March 20, 1944, in Washington D.C., to Guy A. Hanks, Sr. and Catherine C. Hanks (b. 1922). She grew up in Norbeck, Maryland, just outside Washington. She is the oldest of four children and a descendant of Nancy Hanks Lincoln, mother of United States President Abraham Lincoln. Cosby's father was a chemist at Walter Reed General Hospital and her mother worked at a nursery. Both of Cosby's parents had college educations, with her father earning a graduate degree from Fisk University and her mother earning an undergraduate degree from Howard University.

Following high school, Cosby studied psychology at the University of Maryland. While a student there, she went on a blind date during her sophomore year with 26-year-old Bill Cosby, seven years her senior. Engaged shortly after they started dating, the pair married on January 25, 1964.

Following their marriage, Cosby and her husband had five children: Erika, Erinn, Ennis, Ensa, and Evin. Ennis was murdered in 1997 at age 27.

Career and education

Cosby acts as manager for her husband and has been depicted as a "shrewd businesswoman." During an interview with Ebony Magazine, Bill Cosby stated, "People would rather deal with me than with Camille. She's rough to deal with when it comes to my business." She also "helps in the development of her husband's material", including suggestions for The Cosby Show, suggesting the Huxtable family be middle- rather than working-class.

Cosby has been a supporter of African American literature, writing forewords for several authors. In 1993, she wrote the foreword for Thelma Williams' Our Family Table: Recipes And Food Memories From African-american Life Models. In 2009, Cosby wrote the foreword for Dear Success Seeker: Wisdom from Outstanding Women by Dr. Michele R. Wright. In 2014, she did the foreword for The Man from Essence: Creating a Magazine for Black Women, a book by Edward Lewis of Essence.

In 1994, Cosby released Television's Imageable Influences: The Self-Perception of Young African-Americans, a book that "dramatically charts the damaging impact of derogatory images of African Americans produced in our media establishments." The book was originally intended to be the subject of her thesis for her doctorate degree.

In 2001, Cosby worked with David C. Driskell for his book The Other Side of Color: African American Art in the Collection of Camille O. and William H. Cosby Jr., which focused on the Cosby's art collection.

Together, Cosby and Renee Poussaint edited A Wealth of Wisdom: Legendary African American Elders Speak in 2004.

Cosby was co-producer for the Broadway play Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years, based on the book Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years by Sarah "Sadie" L. Delany and A. Elizabeth "Bessie" Delany with Amy Hill Hearth. Following the success of the show, Cosby acquired the film, stage and television rights to the story and later acted as executive producer for the 1999 made-for-television movie of the same name.

In 1987, Howard University in Washington, D.C., presented Cosby with a Doctor of Humane Letters, an honorary doctoral degree.

In 1990, Cosby earned a master's degree from the University of Massachusetts, followed by a Ph.D. in 1992. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Cosby stated, "I became keenly aware of myself in my mid-thirties. I went through a transition. I decided to go back to school, because I had dropped out of college to marry Bill when I was 19. I had five children, and I decided to go back. I didn't feel fulfilled educationally. I dropped out of school at the end of my sophomore year. So I went back, and when I did, my self-esteem grew. I got my master's, then decided to get my doctoral degree. Education helped me to come out of myself."

Despite the recent flood of accusations claiming her husband has been committing crimes of a sexual nature for decades, with some claims even going back as far as the 1960s, Camille has been a staunch defender of her husband. She admits that he is a philanderer and cheater, but not a rapist.

Philanthropy

Cosby's history of philanthropy includes donations to schools and educational foundations. Her philanthropic memberships include Operation PUSH, The United Negro College Fund, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the National Council of Negro Women, and Jesse Jackson's National Rainbow Coalition. Beginning in the early 1980s, Cosby and her husband donated $100,000 to Central State University, a historically black university in Ohio, with gift of $325,000 following in 1987. In 1989, CSU held the "Camille and Bill Cosby Cleveland Football Classic" in honor of their contributions to the school.

In 1987, the Cosbys donated $1.3 million to Fisk University. In 1988, they donated $20 million to Atlanta's Spelman College, a women's college with a predominantly Black enrollment. According to the New York Times, the gift was the largest donation to a black college in American history. The college has since named the five-story 92,000 square foot Camille Olivia Hanks Cosby Academic Center after Cosby.

A few months after the Spellman donation, Cosby and her husband donated $800,000 to Meharry Medical College as well as $750,000 to Bethune-Cookman University.

During a 1992 gala held at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Coalition of 100 Black Women awarded Cosby the Candance Award, a recognition of minority women that have made valuable contributions to their communities.

In 2005, Cosby donated $2 million to Saint Frances Academy of Baltimore High School. Because of the donation, the school was able to endow 16 scholarships in Cosby's name.

Filmography

Year	Title	Credit	Notes
2014	OMG Insider	Self	Archive footage - December 16, 2014 episode
2014	CNN Newsroom	Self	Archive footage - November 21, 2014 episode
2014	Extra	Self	Archive footage - Episode #21.55
2010-2012	Obkb	Executive Producer	38 episodes
2010	Queen Victoria's Wedding	Special thanks	Film short
2004	Fat Albert	Executive Producer
2004	Fatherhood	Special thanks
2002	Sylvia's Path	Executive Producer	TV movie
2001	Essence Awards	Self
2000	Ennis' Gift	Executive Producer	Documentary film
2000	The Oprah Winfrey Show	Self	Episode November 27, 2000
1999	Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years	Executive Producer	TV movie
1997	10th Anniversary Essence Awards	Self
1996	Bill Cosby: Mr. Sapolsky, with Love	Co-Executive Producer
1994	The American Experience	Special funding	Episode: Malcolm X: Make It Plain
1994	No Dreams Deferred	Executive producer
1987	Bill Cosby: 49	Director
1986	The Cosby Show	Extra (uncredited)	Episode: Off to the Races