‘Cosby Show’ actress says Bill Cosby assaulted her in dressing room

The list of women accusing comedian Bill Cosby of sexual assault grew Wednesday as two actresses and a former airline attendant added to the lurid allegations.

Standing before television cameras, Eden Tirl, who appeared on “The Cosby Show;” 1970s movie actress Linda Ridgeway and former American Airlines flight attendant Colleen Hughes joined three dozen other women who have accused Cosby of wrongdoing over several decades.

Tirl said she gained the courage to come forward because other women had. She said she was locked in a dressing room with Cosby during a taping of his show in 1989 when he assaulted her.

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Ridgeway, who appeared with the late actor Charles Bronson in the 1972 film “The Mechanic,” said Cosby assaulted her in an office as he interviewed her for a part.

“I felt Cosby’s left hand gently grab my long hair behind my head, his giant frame blocked the door,” she told reporters at a news conference with her attorney Gloria Allred. “His penis was out of his pants and he shoved it into my mouth.”

The new accusations come as the Los Angeles Police Department continues to investigate Cosby for an alleged 2008 assault. He is scheduled to be deposed in October as part of a lawsuit filed by Judy Huth, who accused him of sexually assaulting her in 1974.

Cosby has repeatedly denied that he assaulted any women.

The legendary actor and comedian admitted under oath during a 2005 deposition that he obtained the drug Quaalude in the 1970s to give to women during sex he described as consensual. His attorneys have said that he never sexual assaulted women.

Hughes said she met Cosby on a flight to Los Angeles in the 1970s. She said she was at a hotel room when he gave her champagne after pouring it into her Gucci shoe. Hughes alleged that she woke up several hours later, with Cosby gone.

“I felt semen in the small of my back and all over,” she said.

She said sometime later she again encountered Cosby on a flight. Hughes said he did not recognize her until she said she confronted him.

Allred, who is representing 21 alleged victims, is taking Cosby’s deposition in the Huth suit. The attorney said the deposition will be a chance to get answers about all the victims.

“We would like to inquire about allegations of other accusers,” Allred said, adding that the three latest women would not be the last to come forward.

To follow Southern California crime on Twitter: @lacrimes and @veronicarochala

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