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