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.
Available on CineVibes
Full Filmography
All Credits (88)
Ruth & Boaz
as Naomi
Diarra from Detroit
as Vonda
Heaven Down Here
as Nancy
Curses!
as Georgia (voice)
Our Son
as Maya
Being Mary Tyler Moore
as Self (voice)
Creed III
as Mary-Anne Creed
Sherri
as Self - Guest
The Gilded Age
as Elizabeth Kirkland
Inside the Black Box
as Unknown
tick, tick... BOOM!
as "Sunday" Legend #12
Show of Titles
as "There's No Business Like Show Business" Performer
Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist
as Self
Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous
as Anna Campbell
Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
as Narrator (voice)
Between the World and Me
as Self
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
as Grandmother Journey
Black Box
as Lillian
Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
as Self - Actress
A Fall from Grace
as Sarah
Little America
as Margaret Jean the Queen
The Tamron Hall Show
as Self - Guest
David Makes Man
as Dr. Woods-Trap
Creed II
as Mary Anne Creed
Station 19
as Pilar
Tour de Pharmacy
as Victoria Young
The Good Fight
as Renetta Clark
This Is Us
as Carol Clarke
Jean-Claude Van Johnson
as Jane
VH1 Hip Hop Honors: All Hail the Queens
as Unknown
Creed
as Mary Anne Creed
Emily & Tim
as Emily (Segment 5)
August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
as Self
Empire
as Diana DuBois
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
as Self
Gods Behaving Badly
as Demeter
Do No Harm
as Dr. Vanessa Young
Sofia the First
as Mountain Witch (voice)
Steel Magnolias
as Clairee
Good Deeds
as Wilimena Deeds
Change of Plans
as Dorothy
Frankie & Alice
as Edna
For Colored Girls
as Gilda
Just Wright
as Ella McKnight
Dreams Worth While: The Journey of "A Raisin in the Sun"
as Self
A Raisin in the Sun
as Lena Younger
Psych
as Winnifred Guster
Everybody Hates Chris
as Unknown
Grey's Anatomy
as Nell Timms
God and the Inner City
as Self (voice)
The Cosby Show: A Look Back
as Self / Clair Huxtable (archive footage)
NBC 75th Anniversary Special
as Self
Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man
as Cassandra Hawkins
The Old Settler
as Elizabeth Barney
The Visit
as Dr. Coles
Bull
as Unknown
Little Bill
as Brenda Glover (voice)
Free of Eden
as Desiree
Dinosaur - Preshow
as Dr Helen Marsh
Cosby
as Ruth Lucas
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
as Self - Guest
Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored
as Ma Ponk
The Babysitter's Seduction
as Kate Jacobs
The Possession of Michael D.
as Dr. Marion Hale (Psychiatrist)
In the House
as Unknown
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
as Lady Fulton (voice)
Touched by an Angel
as Elizabeth Jessup
David's Mother
as Gladys Johnson
Intimate Portrait
as Self
Bob Hope's Four-Star Christmas Fiesta from San Antonio
as Self
Jailbirds
as Janice Grant
Polly: Comin' Home!
as Aunt Polly
Blossom
as Unknown
The Earth Day Special
as Clair Huxtable
Polly
as Aunt Polly
False Witness
as Lynne Jacobi
Mickey's 60th Birthday
as Disneyland Cleaning Lady
A Different World
as Clair Huxtable
Uncle Tom's Cabin
as Eliza
Superstars and their Moms
as Self
The Cosby Show
as Clair Huxtable
Reading Rainbow
as Narrator (voice)
American Playhouse
as Mayor Turner
We're Fighting Back
as Unknown
The Broad Coalition
as Unknown
Tony Awards
as Self - Presenter
The Emmy Awards
as Self
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
as Unknown