[1] Smyrl next moved to California, where he was hired as a writer for the ABC television sitcom, Benson, for which he won a People's Choice Award.
[1][2] Smyrl then joined The Cosby Show, both as a gag writer and actor, playing a general contractor named Sam Lucas for a five-episode recurring role.
Northern Calloway, who played David, then took over the store, but he left the show in 1989 with psychiatric issues, from which he ultimately passed.
[1] An accomplished voice actor, Smyrl narrated commercials for Canada Dry, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines, Levi Strauss & Co. 501 jeans, GMC, McDonald's, Pepsi, and Texaco.
[2] David Smyrl died from lung cancer at Lankenau Medical Center in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, on March 22, 2016, at the age of 80.