Phylicia Rashad facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Phylicia Rashad
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Rashad in 2025
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Phylicia Ayers-Allen
June 19, 1948 Houston, Texas, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Howard University (BFA) |
| Occupation | Actress, singer |
| Years active | 1972–present |
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| Children | 2, including Condola Rashad |
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Phylicia Rashad (born Phylicia Ayers-Allen on June 19, 1948) is a famous American actress and singer. She is well-known for her work in television, movies, and on stage. For three years, she served as the dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University, with her term ending in May 2024.
Many people know her as Clair Huxtable from the popular NBC TV show The Cosby Show (1984–1992). This role earned her two nominations for the Primetime Emmy Awards. She also starred in the TV shows Cosby (1996–2000) and the cartoon Little Bill (1999–2004).
Rashad is also a star on Broadway. In 2004, she made history by becoming the first Black actress to win the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. She won for her role in the play A Raisin in the Sun. She won a second Tony Award in 2022 for the play Skeleton Crew.
She has also appeared in many movies, including For Colored Girls (2010), the Creed series (2015–2023), and The Beekeeper (2024). She was the voice of the main character's mother in the Pixar animated movie Soul (2020).
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Early Life and School
Phylicia Ayers-Allen was born in Houston, Texas. Her mother, Vivian Ayers, was a talented artist, poet, and writer who was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. Her father, Andrew Arthur Allen, was an orthodontist, a dentist who straightens teeth.
Phylicia has three siblings. Her brother Tex is a jazz musician, and her sister Debbie Allen is a famous actress and dancer.
When Phylicia was six, her parents divorced. A few years later, she and her sister moved with their mother to Mexico City, Mexico. They moved to escape the unfair racial segregation that was happening in the United States at the time.
Later, Phylicia returned to the U.S. to attend Howard University. She graduated in 1970 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree.
Career Journey
Starting on Stage
Phylicia started her career in theater. She first appeared on Broadway in 1971. She was in several big shows, including Dreamgirls and The Wiz.
In 1978, she released a disco album called Josephine Superstar. The album told the life story of the famous performer Josephine Baker.
Television Stardom
In 1983, Rashad joined the cast of the soap opera One Life to Live. Her most famous role came in 1984 when she was cast as Clair Huxtable in The Cosby Show. The show was about a lawyer (Clair) and her doctor husband raising their five children. It was a huge success and ran for eight years.
From 1996 to 2000, she starred with Bill Cosby again in the TV show Cosby, playing his wife, Ruth Lucas. She also voiced the mother, Brenda, in the animated children's show Little Bill from 1999 to 2004.
Rashad has also been part of the magic at Walt Disney World. She was a narrator for the Candlelight Processional at Epcot and played a scientist in the pre-show for the Dinosaur ride at Animal Kingdom.
Return to the Stage and Movies
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In 2004, Rashad won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for A Raisin in the Sun. This was a historic win, as she was the first Black actress to receive this award. She was nominated for another Tony the next year for the play Gem of the Ocean.
She has also directed plays, including several by the famous playwright August Wilson. In 2008, she starred in a Broadway production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with James Earl Jones and Terrence Howard. Her sister, Debbie Allen, directed the play.
Rashad has appeared in many movies. She was in Tyler Perry's films For Colored Girls (2010) and Good Deeds (2012). She played Mary Anne Creed in the popular boxing movies Creed (2015), Creed II (2018), and Creed III (2023).
Recent Work
From 2019 to 2021, Rashad had a recurring role as Carol Clarke in the drama series This Is Us. This role earned her three Emmy nominations.
In 2020, she voiced Libba Gardner in the Pixar movie Soul. In 2022, she returned to Broadway in the play Skeleton Crew and won her second Tony Award, this time for Best Featured Actress in a Play. In 2024, she appeared in the action movie The Beekeeper.
Leadership and Legacy
In 2010, the NAACP Image Awards called her "The Mother of the Black Community" for her positive roles and influence.
In May 2021, Rashad was named the dean of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University, her former university. She served in this role until the end of the 2023–24 school year. She has also received several honorary doctorate degrees from universities for her contributions to the arts.
Personal Life
Rashad has been married three times. Her first marriage was to a dentist named William Lancelot Bowles Jr. in 1972. They have a son, William Lancelot Bowles III. They divorced in 1975.
She married her second husband, Victor Willis, in 1978. They met while working on the musical The Wiz. They divorced in 1982.
In 1985, she married former football player and sportscaster Ahmad Rashad. He proposed to her on live television during a Thanksgiving Day football game. They have a daughter, Condola Rashād, who is also an actress. Phylicia and Ahmad divorced in 2001. She has kept Rashad as her last name.
See also
In Spanish: Phylicia Rashād para niños
