
Phylicia Rashād
Born June 19, 1948 · 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.
Notable Appearances
Movies

The Beekeeper

Soul

Creed

Creed III

Creed II

tick, tick... BOOM!

A Fall from Grace

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey

Ruth & Boaz

Tour de Pharmacy

Being Mary Tyler Moore

Mickey's 60th Birthday

Just Wright

The Babysitter's Seduction

Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King

The Earth Day Special

Our Son

Black Box

Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man

NBC 75th Anniversary Special

For Colored Girls

Frankie & Alice

VH1 Hip Hop Honors: All Hail the Queens

A Raisin in the Sun

Emily & Tim

Between the World and Me

Uncle Tom's Cabin

Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist

Steel Magnolias

Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee

Good Deeds
TV Shows

Touched by an Angel

American Playhouse

The Tamron Hall Show

Tony Awards

Empire

Station 19

The Good Fight

The Cosby Show

A Different World

Intimate Portrait

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Everybody Hates Chris

Sofia the First

The Gilded Age

Blossom

Reading Rainbow

Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child

Curses!

In the House

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade

Little America

Bull

Cosby

The Rosie O'Donnell Show

The Emmy Awards

David Makes Man

Little Bill

Jean-Claude Van Johnson

Diarra from Detroit

Do No Harm

Inside the Black Box
More Movies

The Cosby Show: A Look Back

We're Fighting Back

August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand

Heaven Down Here

Show of Titles

Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored

The Possession of Michael D.

Superstars and their Moms

Dreams Worth While: The Journey of "A Raisin in the Sun"

Gods Behaving Badly

Polly

Change of Plans

David's Mother

Bob Hope's Four-Star Christmas Fiesta from San Antonio

Free of Eden

False Witness

Polly: Comin' Home!

Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous

The Visit

God and the Inner City

The Old Settler

The Broad Coalition

Jailbirds

Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority




