My Time with Bill Cosby: All World Hockey: T Michael Travers

He used to be called Bill, then he became "The Cos" then "Dr. Cosby" then, according to his accusers, he became just plain evil.


In Toronto, from the 1960s to the 1980s, Lou Myles Disegnatore was the place to go if you wanted a fine-quality, made-to-measure suit.

He opened his Yonge at Gerrard St. store in 1960. But, the competition was fierce with Disney Men’s Wear (no relation to the Hollywood animation genius) near Lou downtown and Mitty’s Men’s Wear, on Bloor, in west Toronto. Once he was up and running news of his workmanship and classic designs spread quickly. Before Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger, there was Lou Myles.

In the early 1960s, comedian Bill Cosby started his career at the Hungry i in San Francisco and a short time later found himself at a Toronto nightclub across the street from the King Edward Hotel for a one-night stand.

There were lots of comedians making their mark in show business at the time but Richard Prior and Bill Cosby separated themselves from the rest and would eventually become the most popular Vegas Strip headlining acts.

His first Toronto gig was a huge success. So much so that the owner booked him for a two-week stay. But Cosby was just starting out and only had one suit. The day after his Toronto debut he wandered Yonge St. killing time. Then fate or good fortune stepped in. He was mesmerized by the Lou Myles suit display window and couldn't walk past. Lou stepped outside and introduced himself. Long story short, Lou made a suit for Cosby in record time at no cost. You might say Toronto's Lou Myles helped kick-start Bill Cosby's career.

Cosby never forgot Lou's kindness and, you might say, he helped launch Lou Myles' career.

As decades passed and Cosby's popularity went off the charts, he always had his suits made by Lou. Additionally, he recommended Sinatra and Ali, and most of Hollywood to do the same. Lou's customer list expanded to also include Bobby Orr and Derek Sanderson and our Prime Minister at the time, Trudeau. Even mafia boss, John Gotti ... was buried in a Lou Myles suit.

If you know anything about Cosby, you know by 1965 his career was in full flight. I Spy, commercial work, Tonight Show appearances, and a variety of TV work, Jello Pudding Pops followed.

And then, one of the most successful TV shows in history, The Bill Cosby Show in the mid-'80's. His dad's character was the guy we all wanted to be like.

At the height of his show's popularity, I got a call from a close friend who, remarkably, was a pal of Bill Cosby's. "We're going to New York to see Cos".

"What?"

Cosby was appearing at Radio City Music Hall and (we) were invited to not only the concert but dinner 

with Cosby and his family at his favourite Italian restaurant in the village following the show.

What?

Bill Cosby was a favourite of mine. I had all his records. My wife and I had dinner parties in the '60s and put his albums on the stereo for post-dinner entertainment.

I watched every episode of I Spy.

I included many of the show's catchphrases in my own daily jargon. I was a super fan.

And now I get this invite ... we are going to his show and having dinner with him.

What?

The night of the concert, on the Avenue of the Americas, outside Radio City the atmosphere was electrifying. Everyone was in such a great mood. We couldn't wait to get inside. The Radio City Music Hall is a gigantic theatre. It's built like a 747 airplane hanger. But, you can't judge its size from the outside. From there it looks like your local movie theatre.

Once inside we were taken to Row 5, center. The actor John Amos, from the epic series, Roots, was in the row behind us. What a buzz. The place was packed.

Cosby walked to the center stage and owned the room. Everybody loved him. He meandered through each of his stories and made it feel like he was just talking to you. He didn't tell jokes but poked fun at everyday situations. Never about religion or colour or politics and especially never about sex.

His fans marvelled at how he was able to see the fun in just about everything -- without ever using profanities or off-colour phrases. Each of his stories that night was better than the last.

He killed.

It was over too soon. He walked off stage following his final, hilarious, monologue. The crowd went crazy. They screamed for an encore. They wanted more. I found out later, that "Cos" never does encore. Off the stage, out the door, in the limo ... gone. It didn't matter. We were having dinner with him in the village at his favourite Italian restaurant, Ennio, and Michael, with his family. We later learned how much he liked the place when he included the name in the dialogue with his stage wife on The Cosby Show, "Hey, let's have dinner tonight at Ennio and Michael". The Italian beanery couldn't afford the type of promotion and exposure he gave them by simply mentioning the restaurant's name.

A limo delivered us to an unlikely place.

Do you remember the restaurant when The Godfather's Michael Corleone shot the police chief? Ya, like that. Not sure if it was the same place as in the film but the inside looked exactly like it.  We had a table for four next to the Cosby family. Ennis was there. He was just a teen. Tragically, he would be murdered on a highway in LA in 1997 while fixing a flat tire.

His daughter, Ensa, also a Cosby teen, was there and would die in 2018 at 44 years after battling a rare disease.

When we were seated the thing that caught my attention was that the place was full but nobody paid any attention to the elephant-in-the-room -- the biggest star on TV. 1980s movie star Jessica Lang sat at a table behind me and looked uncomfortable and out of place. Who were these other people in the room if they didn't make a fuss over Bill Cosby?

Actually, at one point, an adjoining table was celebrating a birthday. "Cos" invited himself in to sing along. Everyone at the table seemed annoyed that he did. They clearly didn't want him to be part of the celebration.

As we perused the menu, our waiter interrupted to say that "Mr. Cosby has chosen a special dinner with the chef just for you". Of course, he did. He was Bill Cosby and we were his valued guests from Canada who may not know a lot about Italian food.

My friend and I retired to the men's room in the basement. The cigarette machine in the hallway was helping a guy stay upright as he leaned on it for support. Our conversation with him revealed he was from Toronto ... he was really, really drunk and he was the Cosby chauffeur.

The drive home must have been interesting.

But, back to the dining room. The fabulous off-the-menu Cosby special dinner arrived. I wouldn't be overstating it if I said it was awful. All of it. When "Cos" was just starting out, he probably couldn't afford a good Italian restaurant in Toronto so he doesn't know it was home to more than 500,000 food-loving Italians. For me, Toronto has better Italian restaurants than Rome.

New York's Ennio and Michael would be on the bottom rung of the city's Italian eateries in Toronto.

While the four of us sat at the table reserved by Mr. Cosby, we were considered to be celebrities by association. The waiters couldn't do enough - they hovered over us. No request would be denied. In fact, most requests were handled before we had a chance to ask. We were celebrities. Until I motioned to one of the waiters. He promptly dashed to our table expecting another off-the-menu request in keeping with Mr. Cosby's modus operandi.

"Do you think I could take one of the Ennio-Michael ash-trays with me as a keepsake"? I asked. That request helped to set the wait staff straight in terms of who they were dealing with.

Following dinner, I spent some time with Bill. He confirmed the Lou Myles story you just read and the great affection he had for Lou and his fondness for one of his career launch pads, Toronto.

And then the bill came -- remember it was the 1980s. Our table had a drink each and a dreadful dinner and his table was just him and his wife and their teenagers. The bill was $900. I heard him say to the waiter ... "Did I buy this place?" The world's best comedian wasn't making a joke.

We had an evening sitting up-front with one of the most famous entertainers in the world, had dinner with him, and wrapped up the evening with a fabulous photo with our group.

What a bucket-list item!

But in 2019, things closed in on him.

He can't refer to himself as Dr. Cosby anymore even though he'd received honorary doctorate degrees from more than 25 universities including Boston College and Yale. They all, including his alma mater, refuse to acknowledge they even know him.



The Jello's of the advertising world wished they'd never heard of him. The proposed return of the Bill Cosby Show is on permanent hiatus potentially putting hundreds of show people out of work and the actors who played his TV family have been very quiet.

There have been so many accusations in the media, for a while, it seemed like another famous person was the lead story every day. The Czars of industry, entertainment, business, religion and sports have fallen hard, mostly on the say-so of a single complainant.

Bill Cosby had 59 complaints.

In the first trial, it was revealed that Bill Cosby had paid more than $3 million to Ms. Andrea Constad, his most recent complainant.

I'm really not sure how to end this piece about one of the world's greatest entertainers and my time with him. Rightly or wrongly, his legal defence introduced his son's murder more than 20 years ago as a possible reason for his state of mind.

I found it very interesting given what he's been accused of, that the media coverage I’d seen didn’t pick up on two potentially lethal storylines. Bill Cosby was the house comedian for Hugh Hefner's Playboy Club Mansion in LA for 25 years. And, in the mid-'70s, he recorded a bit on one of his comedy albums titled "Spanish Fly”.

In September 2018, he was sentenced to 10 years in prison with eligibility for parole in 3 years. One of the world's great comedians is now just Inmate # NN7687. At 80+ years of age, he’s in poor health and legally blind. He may not survive to face his parole board.

Good Luck, Bill Cosby, and Cliff Huxtable. It appears you are going to need it. There was a time when you were two of our favourite people.

PRISON UPDATE: According to Aug./2019 reports, Cosby must attend counselling classes in prison for his criminal behaviour in order to be considered for parole. He has refused to attend stating that he did nothing wrong. He told his wife and children not to visit him in prison because he doesn't want them to see him in prison overalls - they have not visited.

In Nov./2019 legal experts say that sex offenders typically have to show remorse to be considered for payroll ... as of this date, Cosby indicated he's prepared to serve his 10-year sentence rather than show remorse for his crime.

On May 11, 2021, Cosby petitioned for parole and that would have allowed him to be released in September 2021 - 7 years early. However, his parole was denied because he refused a therapy program for sexually violent predators.

Wednesday, June 30, 2021, Bill Cosby was released from prison after the appeal of the charges.

However, it appears the saga of Bill Cosby just won't go away. Today, June 21, 2022 -- a year after his prison release, a California jury found that Bill Cosby sexually assaulted a 16-year-old girl in 1975 at the Hefner mansion. She was awarded $500,000 in damages following 4 days of testimony.

And, in November 2022, a new law took effect ... The Adult Survivor Act ... 5 women have now levelled new charges of sexual assault. Cosby has formally denied the charges.

And, the "hits" just keep coming.

In June 2023,  Nevada passed a law eliminating the statute of limitations in sexual abuse cases. 9 women promptly filed lawsuits against Cosby for sexual abuse. Every one of them was identified by name.