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. Some info above is from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Known For
Credits
- 2025 · Ruth & Boaz as Naomi
- 2024 · Diarra from Detroit as Vonda
- 2024 · The Beekeeper as Eloise Parker
- 2023 · Heaven Down Here as Nancy
- 2023 · Curses! as Georgia (voice)
- 2023 · Our Son as Maya
- 2023 · Being Mary Tyler Moore as Self (voice)
- 2023 · Creed III as Mary-Anne Creed
- 2022 · Sherri as Self - Guest
- 2022 · The Gilded Age as Elizabeth Kirkland
- 2022 · Inside the Black Box as
- 2021 · tick, tick... BOOM! as "Sunday" Legend #12
- 2021 · Show of Titles as "There's No Business Like Show Business" Performer
- 2021 · Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist as Self
- 2021 · Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous as Anna Campbell
- 2021 · Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority as Narrator (voice)
- 2020 · Soul as Libba Gardner (voice)
- 2020 · Between the World and Me as Self
- 2020 · Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey as Grandmother Journey
- 2020 · Black Box as Lillian
- 2020 · Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King as Self - Actress
- 2020 · Little America as Margaret Jean the Queen
- 2020 · A Fall from Grace as Sarah
- 2019 · Tamron Hall as Self - Guest
- 2019 · David Makes Man as Dr. Woods-Trap
- 2018 · Creed II as Mary Anne Creed
- 2018 · Charlie's Place as Narrator (voice)
- 2018 · Station 19 as Pilar
- 2017 · Tour de Pharmacy as Victoria Young
- 2017 · JFK: The Lost Inaugural Gala as Self - Host
- 2017 · The Good Fight as Renetta Clark
- 2016 · This Is Us as Carol Clarke
- 2016 · Jean-Claude Van Johnson as Jane
- 2015 · Creed as Mary Anne Creed
- 2015 · Emily & Tim as Emily (Segment 5)
- 2015 · August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand as Self
- 2014 · Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee as Self
- 2013 · Gods Behaving Badly as Demeter
- 2013 · Do No Harm as Dr. Vanessa Young
- 2013 · Sofia the First 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
- 2008 · A Raisin in the Sun as Lena Younger
- 2006 · Psych as Winnifred Guster
- 2005 · Everybody Hates Chris as
- 2005 · Grey's Anatomy as Nell Timms
- 2002 · The Cosby Show: A Look Back as Self / Clair Huxtable (archive footage)
- 2002 · NBC 75th Anniversary Special as Self
- 2001 · Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man as Cassandra Hawkins
- 2001 · The Old Settler as Elizabeth Barney
- 2001 · The Visit as Dr. Coles
- 2000 · Bull as
- 1999 · Little Bill as Brenda Glover (voice)
- 1999 · Free of Eden as Desiree
- 1996 · Cosby as Ruth Lucas
- 1996 · The Rosie O'Donnell Show as Self - Guest
- 1996 · Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored as Ma Ponk
- 1996 · The Babysitter's Seduction as Kate Jacobs
- 1995 · The Possession of Michael D. as Dr. Marion Hale (Psychiatrist)
- 1995 · In the House as
- 1995 · Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child as Lady Fulton (voice)
- 1994 · Touched by an Angel as Elizabeth Jessup
- 1994 · David's Mother as Gladys Johnson
- 1993 · Hallelujah as Mayor Turner
- 1993 · Intimate Portrait as Self
- 1991 · Jailbirds as Janice Grant
- 1990 · Polly: Comin' Home! as Aunt Polly
- 1990 · Blossom as
- 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 as Jane Goodfellow (voice)
- 1987 · A Different World as Clair Huxtable
- 1987 · A Different World as Clair Huxtable
- 1987 · Uncle Tom's Cabin as Eliza
- 1984 · The Cosby Show as Clair Huxtable
- 1983 · Reading Rainbow as Narrator (voice)
- 1981 · We're Fighting Back as
- 1972 · The Broad Coalition as
- 1956 · Tony Awards as Self - Presenter
- Future · Coretta Scott as Self - Narrator (voice)