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Bill Cosby's 'beautiful and beloved' daughter Ensa dies aged 44

Ensa was one of Bill's five children with wife Camille Olivia Hanks

bill cosby daughter ensa dies
Hanna Fillingham
US Managing Editor
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Ensa Cosby, daughter of American comedian Bill Cosby and Camille Olivia Hanks, has died at the age of 44. It was revealed by family spokesman Andrew Wyatt, that Ensa had died from a kidney disease on Friday while awaiting a kidney transplant. A statement on Bill Cosby's official Facebook page was released on Monday, which read: "The Cosby Family thank many people for their prayers for their beloved and beautiful Ensa, who died from renal disease. Andrew Wyatt Publicist for Bill Cosby and The Cosby Family."

bill cosby daughter dies statement

Bill Cosby's daughter Ensa died aged just 44

The tragic news of Ensa's untimely death comes just 20 years after Bill and Camille's only son, Ennis, was killed, at the age of just 27. Ennis was shot to death in 1997 in a failed robbery attempt in Los Angeles. "He was my hero," Bill simply said at the time. Following Ennis's death, Bill plunged himself back into comedy. He said: "You can turn painful situations around through laughter. If you can find humour in anything, even poverty, you can survive it."

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bill cosby daughter ensa died

Bill's only son Ennis was killed in 1997

Along with her parents and husband Martin McLean, Ensa leaves behind a child and three surviving siblings – sisters Evin, Errin and Erika. She was a yoga instructor, and kept out of the limelight, although appeared on one episode of her dad's sitcom The Cosby Show, which ran from 1984-1992. Ensa was also the inspiration behind the show's character Vanessa Huxtable.

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Ensa also spoke out in 2017 during her father's sexual assault trial to defend him against accusations. She said: "I'm a very private person and I've chosen to live my life with my family quietly but for my child, my niece and my nephew, and my father, I can't sit quietly anymore," Ensa said. "The man portrayed in the media today is not who my father is."