Cast
Phylicia RashÄd
Acting
Cast
Phylicia RashÄd
Known for
Acting
Born
1948-06-19
From
Houston, Texas, USA
Also known as Phylicia Ayers-Allen, Phylicia Rashad
Biography
Phylicia Rashad (nĂ©e 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 (1984â1992) 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 (1996â2000), and Brenda Glover in Little Bill (1999â2004). She was also Emmy-nominated for her roles in A Raisin in the Sun (2008) and This Is Us (2019â2021). 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.
The Beekeeper
as Eloise Parker
Soul
as Libba Gardner (voice)
Creed II
as Mary Anne Creed
Creed
as Mary Anne Creed
Creed III
as Mary-Anne Creed
Just Wright
as Ella McKnight
tick, tick... BOOM!
as "Sunday" Legend #12
A Fall from Grace
as Sarah
The Babysitter's Seduction
as Kate Jacobs
Ruth & Boaz
as Naomi
Frankie & Alice
as Edna
The Earth Day Special
as Clair Huxtable
Tour de Pharmacy
as Victoria Young
Black Box
as Lillian
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
as Grandmother Journey
Jailbirds
as Janice Grant
For Colored Girls
as Gilda
NBC 75th Anniversary Special
as Self
Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man
as Cassandra Hawkins
Show of Titles
as "There's No Business Like Show Business" Performer
Our Son
as Maya
Mickey's 60th Birthday
as Disneyland Cleaning Lady
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
as Self - Actress
Good Deeds
as Wilimena Deeds
Steel Magnolias
as Clairee
Gods Behaving Badly
as Demeter
Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored
as Ma Ponk
Uncle Tom's Cabin
as Eliza
Being Mary Tyler Moore
as Self (voice)
The Possession of Michael D.
as Dr. Marion Hale (Psychiatrist)
Hallelujah
as Mayor Turner
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
as Self
A Raisin in the Sun
as Lena Younger
Between the World and Me
as Self
Polly
as Aunt Polly
Emily & Tim
as Emily (Segment 5)
Free of Eden
as Desiree
We're Fighting Back
Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist
as Self
The Visit
as Dr. Coles
Polly: Comin' Home!
as Aunt Polly
False Witness
as Lynne Jacobi
The Old Settler
as Elizabeth Barney
VH1 Hip Hop Honors: All Hail the Queens
Heaven Down Here
as Nancy
David's Mother
as Gladys Johnson
Charlie's Place
as Narrator (voice)
Bob Hope's Four-Star Christmas Fiesta from San Antonio
as Self
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
as Self
JFK: The Lost Inaugural Gala
as Self - Host
The Cosby Show: A Look Back
as Self / Clair Huxtable (archive footage)
Change of Plans
as Dorothy
Dinosaur - Preshow
as Dr Helen Marsh
Tyler Perryâs Madeaâs Family Affair
as Judge Elaine Carter
The Broad Coalition
Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
as Narrator (voice)
Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous
as Anna Campbell
Coretta Scott
as Self - Narrator (voice)
Dreams Worth While: The Journey of "A Raisin in the Sun"
as Self
The Debbie Allen Special
as Self
God and the Inner City
as Self (voice)