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.

Filmography

• 2025Ruth & Boaz — Naomi
• Diarra from Detroit — Vonda
• 2024The Beekeeper — Eloise Parker
• 2023Creed III — Mary-Anne Creed
• Curses! — Georgia (voice)
• 2023Heaven Down Here — Nancy
• 2023Our Son — Maya
• Inside the Black Box
• The Gilded Age — Elizabeth Kirkland
• 2021Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous — Anna Campbell
• 2021Show of Titles — "There's No Business Like Show Business" Performer
• 2021Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority — Narrator (voice)
• 2021tick, tick... BOOM! — "Sunday" Legend #12
• 2020A Fall from Grace — Sarah
• 2020Black Box — Lillian
• 2020Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey — Grandmother Journey
• Little America — Margaret Jean the Queen
• 2020Soul — Libba Gardner (voice)
• David Makes Man — Dr. Woods-Trap
• 2018Charlie's Place — Narrator (voice)
• 2018Creed II — Mary Anne Creed
• Station 19 — Pilar
• The Good Fight — Renetta Clark
• 2017Tour de Pharmacy — Victoria Young
• Jean-Claude Van Johnson — Jane
• This Is Us — Carol Clarke
• 2016VH1 Hip Hop Honors: All Hail the Queens
• 2015Creed — Mary Anne Creed
• 2015Emily & Tim — Emily (Segment 5)
• Empire — Diana DuBois
• Do No Harm — Dr. Vanessa Young
• 2013Gods Behaving Badly — Demeter
• Sofia the First — Mountain Witch (voice)
• 2012Good Deeds — Wilimena Deeds
• 2012Steel Magnolias — Clairee
• 2011Change of Plans — Dorothy
• 2010For Colored Girls — Gilda
• 2010Frankie & Alice — Edna
• 2010Just Wright — Ella McKnight
• 2008A Raisin in the Sun — Lena Younger
• Psych — Winnifred Guster
• Everybody Hates Chris
• Grey's Anatomy — Nell Timms, Director
• 2001Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man — Cassandra Hawkins
• 2001The Old Settler — Elizabeth Barney
• 2001The Visit — Dr. Coles
• Bull
• 1999Free of Eden — Desiree
• Little Bill — Brenda Glover (voice)
• 1998Dinosaur - Preshow — Dr Helen Marsh
• Cosby — Ruth Lucas
• 1996Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored — Ma Ponk
• 1996The Babysitter's Seduction — Kate Jacobs
• Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child — Lady Fulton (voice)
• In the House
• 1995The Possession of Michael D. — Dr. Marion Hale (Psychiatrist)
• 1994David's Mother — Gladys Johnson
• Touched by an Angel — Elizabeth Jessup
• 1993Hallelujah — Mayor Turner
• 1991Jailbirds — Janice Grant
• Blossom
• 1990Polly: Comin' Home! — Aunt Polly
• 1990The Earth Day Special — Clair Huxtable
• 1989False Witness — Lynne Jacobi
• 1989Polly — Aunt Polly
• 1988Mickey's 60th Birthday — Disneyland Cleaning Lady
• A Different World — Clair Huxtable
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles — Jane Goodfellow (voice)
• 1987Uncle Tom's Cabin — Eliza
• 1986Nell Carter... Never Too Old to Dream
• The Cosby Show — Clair Huxtable
• Reading Rainbow — Narrator (voice)
• American Playhouse — Mayor Turner
• 1981We're Fighting Back
• 1972The Broad Coalition
• Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
• Alone
• Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Affair — Judge Elaine Carter

Appearances as themselves (21)

• 2023Being Mary Tyler Moore — Self (voice)
• Sherri — Self - Guest
• 2021Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist — Self
• 2020Between the World and Me — Self
• 2020Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King — Self - Actress
• The Tamron Hall Show — Self - Guest
• 2017JFK: The Lost Inaugural Gala — Self - Host
• 2015August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand — Self
• 2014Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee — Self
• 2008Dreams Worth While: The Journey of "A Raisin in the Sun" — Self
• 2003God and the Inner City — Self (voice)
• 2002NBC 75th Anniversary Special — Self
• 2002The Cosby Show: A Look Back — Self / Clair Huxtable (archive footage)
• The Rosie O'Donnell Show — Self - Guest
• Intimate Portrait — Self
• 1992Bob Hope's Four-Star Christmas Fiesta from San Antonio — Self
• 1989The Debbie Allen Special — Self
• 1987Superstars and their Moms — Self
• Tony Awards — Self - Presenter
• The Emmy Awards — Self
• Coretta Scott — Self - Narrator (voice)