Ghost Dad is a 1990 American fantasy comedy film directed by Sidney Poitier (in his final directorial effort) and starring Bill Cosby, in which a widower's spirit is able to communicate with his children after his death.

[3] Elliot Hopper (Bill Cosby) is a workaholic widower who is about to land the deal of a lifetime at work, which he hopes will win him a promotion and a company car.

After being persuaded to give the car to his daughter early, Elliot must hail a taxi from work, which is driven by Satanist Curtis Burch (Raynor Scheine), who drives erratically and is out of control.

In the excitement to find Elliot's body to reunite his spirit with it, Diane trips on a pair of skates that her little sister, Amanda, left on the stairs; she falls and is seriously injured.

Badham and Martin left the project for unknown reasons, and Universal hired Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby to be their respective replacements.

[4][5] As part of the publicity for the movie, a Ghost Dad novelization written by Mel Cebulash was released the year of the film's debut.

The site's critics consensus states: "A startlingly misconceived effort from director Sidney Poitier and star Bill Cosby, Ghost Dad is a listless, glacially-paced comedy that's alternately schmaltzy and incomprehensible.

[8] Rating the movie half a star out of four, Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert characterized it as "a desperately unfunny film—a strained, contrived construction that left me shaking my head in amazement [ .

[9] Vincent Canby of The New York Times called it "unctuous, flat and phony, a farce that has the pace of a Broadway bus at rush hour.

In the video game Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden, published in January 2008, the protagonist is required to fight and slay "Ghost Dad", who has been terrorizing the ruins of Proto-Neo-New York, in order to lift the fog bank that prevents passage to the Spalding Building.