Phylicia Rashād

Phylicia Rashād née AyersAllen June 19 1948 is an American Tony Awardwinning actress and singer best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the longrunning NBC sitcom The Cosby Show which earned her Emmy Award nominations in 1985 and 1986 She reprised her role on the sitcom A Different World Shes also known for her roles as Eloise Parker in The Beekeeper Mary Anne Creed in the Creed film trilogy Dr WoodsTrap on OWNs David Makes Man Dr Vanessa Young on the drama series Do No Harm Clairee in the remake of Steel Magnolias 2012 Wilimena Deeds in Tyler Perrys Good Deeds Edna in Frankie Alice Gilda in For Colored Girls Ella McKnight in Just Wright Lena Younger in the remake of A Raisin in the Sun and Ruth Lucas on the sitcom Cosby 19962000 She also voiced Libba Gardner in the animated movie Soul and Brenda Glover in Nickelodeons animated series Little Bill She has had recurring roles as Renetta Clark on The Good Fight Carol Clarke on Thus is Us Pastor on 13 Reasons Why Diana Dubois on Empire Jane on JeanClaude Van Johnson Winnifred Guster on Psych and voice of Dee Dee Tubbs on The Cleveland Show Shes had guest roles on Station 19 Greys Anatomy Everybody Hates Chris Touched by an Angel Blossom The Love Boat Santa Barbara and One Life to Live In 2004 she became the first AfricanAmerican actress to win the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her role as Lena Younger in the revival of A Raisin in the Sun She reprised her role in the 2008 television adaption of A Raisin in the Sun which earned her the 2009 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie MiniSeries or Dramatic Special In 2022 she won her second Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance in Dominique Morisseaus Skeleton Crew Her other Broadway credits include Into the Woods 1988 Jellys Last Jam 1993 Gem of the Ocean 2004 and Cat on a Hot Tin Roof 2008 She has directed revivals of three plays by August Wilson in major theaters in Seattle Princeton New Jersey and Los Angeles She was dubbed the mother of the AfricanAmerican community at the 42nd NAACP Image Awards She is dean of the College of Fine Arts at Howard University Her sister is actress Debbie Allen Her first marriage 19721975 was to dentist William Lancelot Bowles Jr they had one son William Lancelot Bowles III Her second marriage 19781982 was to Victor Willis original lead singer of the Village People they met during the run of The Wiz Her third marriage 19852001 was to Ahmad Rashad a former NFL wide receiver and sportscaster they had a daughter Condola Phylea Rashād She has retained the surname Rashad Some info above is from Wikipedia the free encyclopedia