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.
Filmography · 89
Grey's Anatomy
2005 · Nell Timms
Psych
2006 · Winnifred Guster
Tony Awards
1956 · Self - Presenter
This Is Us
2016 · Carol Clarke
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
1987 · Jane Goodfellow (voice...
The Cosby Show
1984 · Clair Huxtable
Sherri
2022 · Self - Guest
Station 19
2018 · Pilar
The Good Fight
2017 · Renetta Clark
Empire
2015 · Diana DuBois
Touched by an Angel
1994 · Elizabeth Jessup
The Gilded Age
2022 · Elizabeth Kirkland
Tamron Hall
2019 · Self - Guest
American Playhouse
1982 · Mayor Turner
Everybody Hates Chris
2005
Blossom
1990
Intimate Portrait
1993 · Self
Sofia the First
2013 · Mountain Witch (voice)
A Different World
1987 · Clair Huxtable
Soul
2020 · Libba Gardner (voice)
The Beekeeper
2024 · Eloise Parker
Cosby
1996 · Ruth Lucas
Reading Rainbow
1983 · Narrator (voice)
Diarra from Detroit
2024 · Vonda
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
1995 · Lady Fulton (voice)
Creed
2015 · Mary Anne Creed
Creed II
2018 · Mary Anne Creed
Creed III
2023 · Mary-Anne Creed
Little America
2020 · Margaret Jean the Quee...
Curses!
2023 · Georgia (voice)
In the House
1995
Little Bill
1999 · Brenda Glover (voice)
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
1948
Bull
2000
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
1996 · Self - Guest
tick, tick... BOOM!
2021 · "Sunday" Legend #12
The Emmy Awards
1949 · Self
David Makes Man
2019 · Dr. Woods-Trap
Jean-Claude Van Johnson
2016 · Jane
Ruth & Boaz
2025 · Naomi
Tour de Pharmacy
2017 · Victoria Young
Emily & Tim
2015 · Emily (Segment 5)
A Fall from Grace
2020 · Sarah
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
2020 · Grandmother Journey
Do No Harm
2013 · Dr. Vanessa Young
Our Son
2023 · Maya
Just Wright
2010 · Ella McKnight
The Babysitter's Seduction
1996 · Kate Jacobs
Black Box
2020 · Lillian
The Earth Day Special
1990 · Clair Huxtable
For Colored Girls
2010 · Gilda
The Broad Coalition
1972
NBC 75th Anniversary Special
2002 · Self
Being Mary Tyler Moore
2023 · Self (voice)
Inside the Black Box
2022
Good Deeds
2012 · Wilimena Deeds
Between the World and Me
2020 · Self
False Witness
1989 · Lynne Jacobi
Steel Magnolias
2012 · Clairee
Frankie & Alice
2010 · Edna
Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man
2001 · Cassandra Hawkins
The Cosby Show: A Look Back
2002 · Self / Clair Huxtable...
Gods Behaving Badly
2013 · Demeter
A Raisin in the Sun
2008 · Lena Younger
The Possession of Michael D.
1995 · Dr. Marion Hale (Psych...
Uncle Tom's Cabin
1987 · Eliza
Polly
1989 · Aunt Polly
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
2020 · Self - Actress
Show of Titles
2021 · "There's No Business L...
Mickey's 60th Birthday
1988 · Disneyland Cleaning La...
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
2014 · Self
Heaven Down Here
2023 · Nancy
Polly: Comin' Home!
1990 · Aunt Polly
VH1 Hip Hop Honors: All Hail the Queens
2016
Dreams Worth While: The Journey of "A Raisin in the Sun"
2008 · Self
The Visit
2001 · Dr. Coles
David's Mother
1994 · Gladys Johnson
God and the Inner City
2003 · Self (voice)
We're Fighting Back
1981
Free of Eden
1999 · Desiree
Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous
2021 · Anna Campbell
Jailbirds
1991 · Janice Grant
Change of Plans
2011 · Dorothy
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
2015 · Self
Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist
2021 · Self
Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored
1996 · Ma Ponk
Dinosaur - Preshow
1998 · Dr Helen Marsh
Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
2021 · Narrator (voice)
Bob Hope's Four-Star Christmas Fiesta from San Antonio
1992 · Self