Bill Cosby finally breaks his silence with Interview “From Inmate to Boss.”

1. (E. Fresh): Mr. Cosby, thank you for agreeing to do this interview with From Inmate To Boss. How are you doing?

(Bill Cosby): I’m doing well, and I’m excited to be around people like yourself who are passionate about success.

2. (E. Fresh): What was your life like growing up in Philadelphia?

(Bill Cosby): I was born in 1937 at Germantown Hospital. I moved to a two-story house on Stuart Street near Ridge Avenue, and the house had no running hot water. My mother had to heat the cold water up to make it warm enough for my younger brother, James Roosevelt Cosby, and I to wash us up. You can see how young we both were that my mother bathed us together and put us in a crib together. I remember having the pajamas with the feet included (smiling). I don’t remember seeing much of my younger brother, James, when I was younger. James was often sick. He spent most of his life in the hospital until he passed away. I attended Reynold’s Elementary School for kindergarten when we lived on Stuart Street. Later, my mother and I moved to Richard Allen Projects. I credit this to being the best time of my childhood life. My mother was really the foundation. She was a small woman at about four foot eleven inches (4’11”) 120 IBS. But she was a very BRIGHT woman. My mother attended Girls High School when she was younger. However, she was pulled out of school by her stepmother and father. I can remember three Christmas when I was younger that involved Santa Claus. We were poor, we had no money, and no presents for Christmas except for those three years. I don’t remember seeing much of my father. My father had a drinking problem that caused a downward spiral in the relationship between him and my mother.

3. (E. Fresh): At what age did you discover that you wanted to act and become a writer? Also, who and what helped to mold these great talents of yours?

(Bill Cosby): Fast forward to Temple University. I was given a full scholarship for track by Garvin White. Now Garvin is a white man who is and always has been a VERY GOOD FRIEND. I was given a scholarship from him, but my test scores were not high enough. I was put in remedial everything as a freshman. It was in Remedial English that I was given the assignment to write by my professor. I wrote in my composition book about how I pulled my first tooth. This was the first time I dove seriously into anything. My T.A. (Teacher’s Assistant) read my writing assignment to the class. My professor told everyone in attendance that my writing was the kind of material he was looking for. I realized that I had a message to get out, and I didn’t want to fail. I was given books to reads, like The Catcher In The Rye, but those books I was given to read didn’t tell our stories. I wanted to write about my own experiences and tell stories that related to me. I wrote all my stories on a yellow legal tablet. Everything I knew about writing was because of my mother. She read to me every night when I was younger. This is how I was able to put verbs together so well.

4. (E. Fresh): To date, what would would be your favorite and most memorable movie or television series that you acted in or wrote? And why is that?

(Bill Cosby): I think there are many memorable movies of mine. I wrote and starred in “Bill Cosby On Prejudice.” This was a remarkable strong piece with a great message dealing with racial issues done for television. Another strong story piece done for television is called “Lost, Strayed, and Stolen.” I did not write this, but I was in it, and it was powerful.

5. (E. Fresh): Mr. Cosby, you have done a great deal to advance the African American community. You’ve provided scholarships to minorities, given them access to higher education. In addition to that, you played a huge role in the financing of the “Malcolm X” movie. Plus, you gave us a positive image of Black family that was shown to the world on television. These shows have stood the test of time, to the point others have tried to copy your format. Can you please shed some light on the importance to you of the aforementioned accomplishments?

(Bill Cosby): It has always been important to me to reach and give back. My wife and I donated millions to Spellman College for education. They have been trying for years to get my secret format, and guess what? They won’t get it. The people in charge don’t want to see this. For instance, there is a movie called “Hidden Figures” about a Black woman who helped men at NASA reach Mars. Others cultures who are successful know their history and own their history. We (African Americans) don’t own our history. “The Huxtable’s” and “A Different World” don’t exist because we don’t have the courage about going about our way of knowing who we are. We must know our history! If you look at the school system in Philadelphia, it is mostly Black. The demand in the school system should be Black people should have their own history. Our people should be taught how the slaves got on the slave ships. Our kids don’t know about our history. Mainly because we don’t know about African history and the pride of those men and women. Our kids should be taught about our history BEFORE, DURING, and AFTER slavery. Who really knows the six degrees of separation about us? There are some good books available. The People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, The History of the Negro by Herbert Apptaker, and writings by a historian named John Hope Franklin.

6. (E. Fresh): Do you have any advice for those who may be incarcerated trying to break into Hollywood, assuming they have a television show concept or movie script and have joined the Writer’s Guild?

(Bill Cosby): Forget Hollywood! If you want to be a writer and write movies, them study movie scripts. Read books on writing plays. Don’t try to follow white people. Study people like Tyler Perry and Robert Townsend to see how they did it and became successful.

7. (E. Fresh): In your opinion, what are the keys to being successful?

(Bill Cosby): Using your imagination and your inventive mind. Listen to yourself but not the lazy part of you. Write the stories that you are passionate about. I always became excited about what I was doing.

8. (E. Fresh): It has truly been an honor and my pleasure to conduct this interview with you. I thank you again for your time and sitting down with “From Inmate To Boss.”

(Bill Cosby): I thank you for following through and staying with this interview. You didn’t get discouraged with all the setbacks and roadblocks placed in front of you. I’m thankful for this opportunity with you. I’m motivated to see you motivated for success. I would tell all the writers out there to write the stories that you want to read or see and believe in yourself.

(This interview was conducted at SCI Phoenix in the prison library on May 17, 2019 at 1:30pm) (Except from “Cosby: Down But Not Out.” If you would like to be entertained and read more of the exclusive interviews and controversial discussions with Cosby. Then please purchase a copy of ” Cosby Down But Not Out, By: E. Fresh” available from Amazon.com) (Please feel free to share your comments at email@frominmatetoboss.com). Please subscribe to the blog at www.FromInmateToBoss.com. (The author gives free permission to repost this story as long as credit is given to www.FromInmateToBoss.com