COSBY Show actress Ethel Ayler has died at the age of 88.

The actress starred as Bill Cosby's mother-in-law Carrie Hanks, and acted in a number of Broadway productions.

She died on November 18 in California, but the news has just been shared by her family, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Other notable roles included in Eve's Bayou and To Sleep With Anger.

Ayler also appeared in the original 1987 production of August Wilson's Fences, which hit Broadway.

She first moved to Chicago in 1946 to pursue a singing career but got into acting when she won a role in a touring company of Porgy and Bess.

Eleven years later Ayler made her off-Broadway debut by starring in the Langston Hughes musical Simply Heavenly.

She went on to work on Broadway in The Cool World, Kwamina, Black Picture Show and The First Breeze of Summer.