
Phylicia Rashād
Biography
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.
Acting (50 movies)

A Raisin in the Sun
2008

Our Son
2023

tick, tick... BOOM!
2021

Just Wright
2010

Good Deeds
2012

For Colored Girls
2010

The Babysitter's Seduction
1996

The Broad Coalition
1972

Frankie & Alice
2010

Polly
1989

Being Mary Tyler Moore
2023

Change of Plans
2011

Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored
1996

Steel Magnolias
2012

Free of Eden
1999

Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man
2001

Heaven Down Here
2023

The Beekeeper
2024

David's Mother
1994

Polly: Comin' Home!
1990

Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
2021

NBC 75th Anniversary Special
2002

Jailbirds
1991

We're Fighting Back
1981

Uncle Tom's Cabin
1987

Emily & Tim
2015

Creed
2015

The Possession of Michael D.
1995

August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
2015

Mickey's 60th Birthday
1988

Tour de Pharmacy
2017

False Witness
1989

Creed II
2018

Soul
2020

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
2020

A Fall from Grace
2020

Creed III
2023

Black Box
2020

Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
2014

Between the World and Me
2020

Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
2020

Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist
2021

Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous
2021

The Cosby Show: A Look Back
2002

The Earth Day Special
1990

Ruth & Boaz
2025

Show of Titles
2021

Gods Behaving Badly
2013

A Different World
1987

Dinosaur - Preshow
1998
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