Phylicia Rashād

Known for ActingBorn 1948-06-19 (age 78)Houston, Texas, USA

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.Read more

Movies & web series

Dinosaur - Preshow

Superstars and their Moms

The Broad Coalition

Free of Eden

False Witness

Polly: Comin' Home!

Station 19

This Is Us

Soul

Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King

Grey's Anatomy

David's Mother

Reading Rainbow

Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist

Everybody Hates Chris

Between the World and Me

Polly

Psych

Heaven Down Here

The Gilded Age

The Visit

The Cosby Show: A Look Back

tick, tick... BOOM!

Ruth & Boaz

In the House

The Good Fight

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Jailbirds

Creed

The Beekeeper

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

The Emmy Awards

Sofia the First

Creed III

Empire

A Fall from Grace

Creed II

Touched by an Angel

A Different World

Steel Magnolias

Being Mary Tyler Moore

David Makes Man

Tour de Pharmacy

Uncle Tom's Cabin

For Colored Girls

Jean-Claude Van Johnson

The Cosby Show

Change of Plans