Phylicia Rashād
Phylicia Rashad (née Ayers-Allen; born June 19, 1948) is an American actress. She was most recently dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University before her three-year contract ended in May 2024. Known for her roles on stage and screen, she has received two Tony Awards as well as nominations for six Primetime Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
She is best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the NBC sitcom The Cosby Show (1984–1992) which earned her two Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series nominations in 1985 and 1986. She also played Ruth Lucas on Cosby (1996–2000), and Brenda Glover in Little Bill (1999–2004). She was also Emmy-nominated for her roles in A Raisin in the Sun (2008) and This Is Us (2019–2021).
On stage, Rashad became the first Black actress to win the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play, for a revival of A Raisin in the Sun (2004). She won her second Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for Dominique Morisseau's Skeleton Crew (2022). Her other Broadway credits include Into the Woods (1988), Jelly's Last Jam (1993), Gem of the Ocean (2004), and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (2008).
She has appeared in various films such as For Colored Girls (2010), Good Deeds (2012), Creed (2015), Creed II (2018), Creed III (2023), and The Beekeeper (2024). She lent her voice to the Disney-Pixar animated film Soul (2020).
In the 21st century, she has directed revivals of three plays by August Wilson, in major theaters in Seattle, Princeton, New Jersey; and Los Angeles. She also directed Purpose (play) in its 2024-2025 run at the Helen Hayes Theater on Broadway.
Known for
Grey's Anatomy
Nell Timms
Psych
Winnifred Guster
This Is Us
Carol Clarke
Station 19
Pilar
The Cosby Show
Clair Huxtable
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Jane Goodfellow (voice)
The Good Fight
Renetta Clark
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter
Just Wright
Ella McKnight
Everybody Hates Chris
The Beekeeper
Eloise Parker
Touched by an Angel
Elizabeth Jessup
Sofia the First
Mountain Witch (voice)
Creed
Mary Anne Creed
Intimate Portrait
Self
A Different World
Clair Huxtable
Soul
Libba Gardner (voice)
The Gilded Age
Elizabeth Kirkland
Blossom
Creed III
Mary-Anne Creed
Creed II
Mary Anne Creed
Our Son
Maya
Steel Magnolias
Clairee
Emily & Tim
Emily (Segment 5)
Black Box
Lillian
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
Lady Fulton (voice)
Good Deeds
Wilimena Deeds
David's Mother
Gladys Johnson
Curses!
Georgia (voice)
Bull
In the House
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
Self
Reading Rainbow
Narrator (voice)
The Visit
Dr. Coles
Jailbirds
Janice Grant
Hallelujah
Mayor Turner
Cosby
Ruth Lucas
Ruth & Boaz
Naomi
Tour de Pharmacy
Victoria Young
Little America
Margaret Jean the Queen
For Colored Girls
Gilda
Show of Titles
"There's No Business Like Show Business" Performer
A Raisin in the Sun
Lena Younger
Change of Plans
Dorothy
Polly
Aunt Polly
Being Mary Tyler Moore
Self (voice)
We're Fighting Back
JFK: The Lost Inaugural Gala
Self - Host
Little Bill
Brenda Glover (voice)
Jean-Claude Van Johnson
Jane
Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist
Self
Heaven Down Here
Nancy
The Babysitter's Seduction
Kate Jacobs
Gods Behaving Badly
Demeter
Free of Eden
Desiree
Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man
Cassandra Hawkins
tick, tick... BOOM!
"Sunday" Legend #12
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Eliza
The Emmy Awards
Self
False Witness
Lynne Jacobi
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
Grandmother Journey
The Possession of Michael D.
Dr. Marion Hale (Psychiatrist)
A Fall from Grace
Sarah
Between the World and Me
Self
A Different World
Clair Huxtable
The Old Settler
Elizabeth Barney
Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous
Anna Campbell
Polly: Comin' Home!
Aunt Polly
Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored
Ma Ponk
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
David Makes Man
Dr. Woods-Trap
Do No Harm
Dr. Vanessa Young
The Broad Coalition
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
Self
Bob Hope's Four-Star Christmas Fiesta from San Antonio
Self
Diarra from Detroit
Vonda
The Earth Day Special
Clair Huxtable
Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
Narrator (voice)
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
Self - Actress
Frankie & Alice
Edna
Mickey's 60th Birthday
Disneyland Cleaning Lady
The Cosby Show: A Look Back
Self / Clair Huxtable (archive footage)
NBC 75th Anniversary Special
Self
Coretta Scott
Self - Narrator (voice)
Dinosaur - Preshow
Dr Helen Marsh
Charlie's Place
Narrator (voice)
Sherri
Self - Guest
Tamron Hall
Self - Guest
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
Self - Guest