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Phylicia Rashād

Acting Born Jun 19, 1948 Houston, Texas, USA 24 credits

Biography

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.

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Known for

Grey's Anatomy

as Nell Timms

Psych

as Winnifred Guster

Sherri

as Self - Guest

The Gilded Age

as Elizabeth Kirkland
Film

Soul

as Libba Gardner (voice)
Film

The Beekeeper

as Eloise Parker

Full filmography

  • Grey's Anatomy (2005) as Nell Timms
  • Psych (2006) as Winnifred Guster
  • This Is Us (2016) as Carol Clarke
  • Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987) as Jane Goodfellow (voice)
  • The Cosby Show (1984) as Clair Huxtable
  • Tony Awards (1956) as Self - Presenter
  • Station 19 (2018) as Pilar
  • Empire (2015) as Diana DuBois
  • Sherri (2022) as Self - Guest
  • The Good Fight (2017) as Renetta Clark
  • Touched by an Angel (1994) as Elizabeth Jessup
  • Sofia the First (2013) as Mountain Witch (voice)
  • Tamron Hall (2019) as Self - Guest
  • Everybody Hates Chris (2005)
  • The Gilded Age (2022) as Elizabeth Kirkland
  • A Different World (1987) as Clair Huxtable
  • Intimate Portrait (1993) as Self
  • Soul (2020) as Libba Gardner (voice)
  • Reading Rainbow (1983) as Narrator (voice)
  • The Beekeeper (2024) as Eloise Parker
  • Blossom (1990)
  • Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child (1995) as Lady Fulton (voice)
  • Creed (2015) as Mary Anne Creed
  • Creed II (2018) as Mary Anne Creed