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Phylicia Rashād
Actor, ProducerBorn June 19, 1948 (77 years)
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.
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.
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Phylicia Rashād Filmography
| 2025 | Park Avenue · as Mrs. Walsh |
| 2025 | Ruth & Boaz · as Naomi |
| 2024 | Diarra from Detroit (TV Series) · as Vonda |
| 2024 | The Beekeeper · as Eloise Parker |
| 2023 | Heaven Down Here · as Nancy |
| 2023 | Our Son · as Maya |
| 2023 | Curses! (TV Series) · as Georgia (voice) |
| 2023 | The Crossover (TV Series) · as Barbara |
| 2023 | Creed III · as Mary-Anne Creed |
| 2022 | Bill Cosby: Walking Free · as Cast |
| 2022 | The Gilded Age (TV Series) · as Elizabeth Kirkland |
| 2022 | Inside the Black Box (TV Series) |
| 2021 | tick, tick... BOOM! · as "sunday" Legend #12 |
| 2021 | Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority · as Narrator (voice) |
| 2020 | Soul · as Libba Gardner (voice) |
| 2020 | Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey · as Grandmother Journey |
| 2020 | Black Box · as Lillian |
| 2020 | Little America (TV Series) · as Margaret Jean The Queen |
| 2020 | A Fall from Grace · as Sarah |
| 2019 | The Rocketeer (TV Series) · as May |
| 2019 | David Makes Man (TV Series) · as Dr. Woods-Trap |
| 2018 | Creed II · as Mary Anne Creed |
| 2018 | Station 19 (TV Series) · as Pilar |
| 2018 | The Chi (TV Series) · as Renee |
| 2017 | Tour de Pharmacy · as Victoria Young |
| 2017 | 13 Reasons Why (TV Series) · as Pastor |
| 2017 | When We Rise (TV Series) · as Yvette Flunder |
| 2017 | The Good Fight (TV Series) · as Renetta Clark |
| 2016 | This Is Us (TV Series) · as Carol Clarke |
| 2016 | Jean-Claude Van Johnson (TV Series) · as Jane |
| 2015 | Creed · as Mary Anne Creed |
| 2015 | Emily & Tim · as Emily (segment 5) |
| 2015 | Empire (2015) (TV Series) · as Diana Dubois |
| 2015 | For Justice · as Georgina Howe |
| 2013 | Gods Behaving Badly · as Demeter |
| 2013 | The Education of Harvey Gantt · as Narrator |
| 2013 | Do No Harm (TV Series) · as Dr. Vanessa Young |
| 2012 | Sofia the First (TV Series) · as Mountain Witch (voice) |
| 2012 | Steel Magnolias · as Clairee |
| 2012 | Good Deeds · as Wilimena Deeds |
| 2011 | Change of Plans · as Dorothy |
| 2010 | Frankie & Alice · as Edna |
| 2010 | For Colored Girls · as Gilda |
| 2010 | Just Wright · as Ella Mcknight |
| 2009 | The Cleveland Show (TV Series) · as Dee Dee Tubbs |
| 2008 | The Life & Times of Tim (TV Series) · as The Boss's Wife |
| 2008 | A Raisin in the Sun · as Lena Younger |
| 2006 | Psych (TV Series) · as Winnifred Guster |
| 2005 | Everybody Hates Chris (TV Series) |
| 2005 | Grey's Anatomy (TV Series) · as Nell Timms |
| 2001 | Little Bill: Big Little Bill · as Brenda Glover |
| 2001 | Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man · as Cassandra Hawkins |
| 2001 | The Old Settler · as Elizabeth Barney |
| 2000 | The Visit · as Dr. Coles |
| 2000 | Bull (TV Series) |
| 2000 | Ennis' Gift · as Claire Huxtable |
| 1999 | Little Bill (TV Series) · as Brenda Glover (voice) |
| 1999 | Loving Jezebel · as Alice Melville |
| 1998 | Free of Eden · as Desiree |
| 1998 | Linc's (TV Series) · as Lucinda |
| 1996 | Cosby (TV Series) · as Ruth Lucas |
| 1996 | The Babysitter's Seduction · as Kate Jacobs |
| 1995 | Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored · as Ma Ponk |
| 1995 | The Possession of Michael D. · as Dr. Marion Hale (psychiatrist) |
| 1995 | In the House (TV Series) |
| 1995 | Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (TV Series) · as Lady Fulton (voice) |
| 1994 | The Cosby Mysteries (TV Series) · as Hadley Roebuck |
| 1994 | Touched by an Angel (TV Series) · as Elizabeth Jessup |
| 1994 | David's Mother · as Gladys Johnson |
| 1992 | Ghostwriter (1992) (TV Series) · as Phylicia Rashad |
| 1991 | Jailbirds · as Janice Grant |
| 1990 | Polly: Comin' Home! · as Aunt Polly |
| 1990 | Blossom (TV Series) |
| 1990 | The Earth Day Special · as Clair Huxtable |
| 1989 | Polly · as Aunt Polly |
| 1989 | False Witness · as Lynne Jacobi |
| 1988 | Mickey's 60th Birthday · as Disneyland Cleaning Lady |
| 1987 | Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV Series) · as Jane Goodfellow (voice) |
| 1987 | A Different World (TV Series) · as Clair Huxtable |
| 1987 | A Different World · as Clair Huxtable |
| 1987 | Uncle Tom's Cabin · as Eliza |
| 1987 | Biography (TV Series) · as Narrator |
| 1985 | American Masters (TV Series) · as Aunt Ester |
| 1984 | The Cosby Show (TV Series) · as Clair Huxtable |
| 1984 | Santa Barbara (TV Series) · as Felicia Dalton |
| 1983 | The Wiz · as Munchkin |
| 1983 | Reading Rainbow (TV Series) · as Narrator (voice) |
| 1981 | |
| 1980 | American Playhouse (TV Series) · as Mayor Turner |
| 1977 | The Love Boat (TV Series) · as Lonette Becker |
| 1976 | Delvecchio (TV Series) · as Venita Ray |
| 1969 | Sesame Street (TV Series) · as Cast |
| 1968 | One Life to Live (TV Series) · as Courtney Wright |
| 1954 | Disneyland (TV Series) · as Aunt Polly |