Sunni Welles, Bill Cosby Accuser Who First Met Him as 'Little Girl', Dies at 72

Actress and singer Sunni Wells, who was one of around 60 women to accuse disgraced comedian Bill Cosby of sexual assault, died Monday at the age of 72.

Welles' son, Shaun O'Banion, announced the death of his mother on Twitter. O'Banion told Deadline on Tuesday that Welles died in Downey, California while receiving hospice care due to lung cancer. Welles made appearances on shows like Leave it to Beaver as a child, and danced in Las Vegas variety shows and sang in a jazz band as an adult. She had more recently worked as a spiritual medium and author.

"It is with profound sadness that I announce that my mother, Sunni Kay Welles, passed away today at the age of 72. If you have a moment, give a listen and think of her. She was an extraordinary woman," O'Banion tweeted on Monday alongside a recording of his mother performing "Rio de Janeiro Blue."

In lieu of a funeral service, the family has asked for donations to be made in Welles' memory to RAINN, an organization that works to support survivors of sexual assault.

Welles was born in Caracas, Venezuela as Nancy Kay Rihl. She emigrated to the U.S. with her parents at the age of three. Her father, Eugene, was a Pam Am Airlines executive, while her mother, Marykay, worked in the entertainment industry, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Welles was introduced to Cosby by her mother at an early age. Cosby had been considered a family friend before he allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted Welles on two separate occasions.

"I first met Bill Cosby as a little girl when my mother worked in Hollywood as a theatrical agent at a major talent agency," Welles said in a statement released by her attorney, Gloria Allred, in March 2015. "I thought Bill was a nice man who was funny... Suffice it to say, I once liked Bill Cosby very much but that has changed now."

Welles met Cosby again in the mid-1960s at the age of 17 while on the set of I-Spy at Paramount Studios, where her mother worked as a story editor. Cosby apparently invited her to a club soon after. Welles said in her statement that she had Coca-Cola at the club and woke up the next morning undressed in Cosby's apartment with little memory of what had happened.

Welles suspected she had been sexually assaulted but initially believed Cosby's explanation—that she did not remember drinking champagne, he had innocently taken her to the apartment and she had undressed herself. Welles cut communications with Cosby after she allegedly woke up undressed in the same apartment following a nearly identical night out.

"Now I know Bill Cosby took unfair advantage of me that night and I no longer think Bill Cosby is a nice man!" Welles said. "I believe that Bill Cosby is a sexual predator and a disgusting human being to not acknowledge what he has done to so many girls and women in his life."

Cosby was released from prison in June after successfully appealing his 2018 conviction for allegedly assaulting Andrea Constand, having served a little less than three years of his three to 10-year sentence. Most of the allegations against Cosby fell outside of the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution.

Newsweek reached out to Allred, who declined to comment.