He sounds a little like me too, he liked to clown around............

Early life

Cosby, circa early 1960s

Cosby was born on July 12, 1937^[2] in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.^[3] He is one of four sons born to Anna Pearl (née Hite), a maid, and William Henry Cosby Sr., who served as a cook in the U.S. Navy.^[3][4] During much of Cosby's early childhood, his father was away in the U.S. armed forces, spending several years fighting in World War II. As a student, he described himself as a class clown. Cosby was the captain of both the baseball team and the track and field team at Mary Channing Wister Public School in Philadelphia, as well as the class president.^[5] Early on, though, teachers noted his propensity for clowning around rather than studying.^[6] At FitzSimons Junior High School, Cosby began acting in plays as well as continuing his devotion to playing sports.^[7] He went on to Philadelphia's Central High School, a magnet and university prep school.^[7] In addition, Cosby was working before and after school, selling produce, shining shoes, and stocking shelves at a supermarket to help out the family.^[7] He transferred to Germantown High School, but failed the tenth grade.^[8] Instead of repeating, he got a job as an apprentice at a shoe repair shop, which he liked, but could not see himself doing the rest of his life.^[7] Subsequently, he joined the Navy, serving at theMarine Corps Base Quantico, Virginia, Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland and at the Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland.^[9] During his four years in the Navy, Cosby served as aHospital Corpsman working in physical therapy with Navy and Marine Corps personnel injured during the Korean War.^[9]

He finished his equivalency diploma via correspondence courses^[10] and was awarded a track and field scholarship to Philadelphia's Temple University in 1961.^[11] There, he studied physical education while running track and playing fullback on the university's football team.^{[citation needed]}

As Cosby progressed through his undergraduate studies, he continued to hone his talent for humor, joking with fellow enlistees in the service and then with college friends. When he began bar tending at a Philadelphia club to earn money, he became more aware of his ability to make people laugh. After using humor on his customers and seeing his tips increase, he then took his talent to the stage.^[12]