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
Ruth & Boaz
Naomi
Reading Rainbow
Narrator (voice)
Psych
Winnifred Guster
This Is Us
Carol Clarke
Tony Awards
Self - Presenter
Station 19
Pilar
The Good Fight
Renetta Clark
The Cosby Show
Clair Huxtable
The Beekeeper
Eloise Parker
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Jane Goodfellow (voice)
Everybody Hates Chris
Touched by an Angel
Elizabeth Jessup
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
Lady Fulton (voice)
The Gilded Age
Elizabeth Kirkland
A Different World
Clair Huxtable
Sofia the First
Mountain Witch (voice)
Intimate Portrait
Self
Soul
Libba Gardner (voice)
Blossom
Creed
Mary Anne Creed
Creed II
Mary Anne Creed
Creed III
Mary-Anne Creed
Little America
Margaret Jean the Queen
Curses!
Georgia (voice)
Being Mary Tyler Moore
Self (voice)
In the House
Black Box
Lillian
Cosby
Ruth Lucas
A Raisin in the Sun
Lena Younger
Emily & Tim
Emily (Segment 5)
Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
Narrator (voice)
Steel Magnolias
Clairee
Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist
Self
David's Mother
Gladys Johnson
Between the World and Me
Self
Gods Behaving Badly
Demeter
Tour de Pharmacy
Victoria Young
Little Bill
Brenda Glover (voice)
Hallelujah
Mayor Turner
Just Wright
Ella McKnight
We're Fighting Back
Bull
Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored
Ma Ponk
A Different World
Clair Huxtable
tick, tick... BOOM!
"Sunday" Legend #12
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
Self
The Broad Coalition
Change of Plans
Dorothy
Jean-Claude Van Johnson
Jane
Good Deeds
Wilimena Deeds
Frankie & Alice
Edna
For Colored Girls
Gilda
The Emmy Awards
Self
David Makes Man
Dr. Woods-Trap
Jailbirds
Janice Grant
The Old Settler
Elizabeth Barney
Our Son
Maya
Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous
Anna Campbell
Polly
Aunt Polly
The Visit
Dr. Coles
A Fall from Grace
Sarah
The Possession of Michael D.
Dr. Marion Hale (Psychiatrist)
Diarra from Detroit
Vonda
Do No Harm
Dr. Vanessa Young
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
Grandmother Journey
Uncle Tom's Cabin
Eliza
The Babysitter's Seduction
Kate Jacobs
Polly: Comin' Home!
Aunt Polly
Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man
Cassandra Hawkins
The Earth Day Special
Clair Huxtable
NBC 75th Anniversary Special
Self
Show of Titles
"There's No Business Like Show Business" Performer
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
Self - Actress
False Witness
Lynne Jacobi
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
Self
Heaven Down Here
Nancy
Free of Eden
Desiree
Mickey's 60th Birthday
Disneyland Cleaning Lady
Coretta Scott
Self - Narrator (voice)
The Cosby Show: A Look Back
Self / Clair Huxtable (archive footage)
JFK: The Lost Inaugural Gala
Self - Host
Sherri
Self - Guest
Tamron Hall
Self - Guest
Charlie's Place
Narrator (voice)
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
Self - Guest