Phylicia Rashād : Role: Clair Olivia Huxtable
Birthday : 19th June 1948
Birthplace : Houston, Texas, USA
Recent Role : Herself on Today
Birth Name : Phylicia Ayers-Allen
Height : 5′ 6″ (1.68 m)
Gender : Female

Phylicia Rashad

Phylicia Rashād was born as the daughter of Andrew Arthur Allen and Vivian Ayers. Her father was a dentist as well as an orthodontist while her mother was an artist, poet, playwright, and publisher who had received a nomination to the prestigious Pulitzer-prize. She has three siblings including an elder brother named Andrew Arthur Allen Jr., who is a jazz musician, a younger sister named Debbie Allen, who is an actress, choreographer and director, and another younger brother named Hugh Allen, who is a real estate banker.

During her growing up years, Rashad spend some years with her family in Mexico. As such she picked up the Spanish language, which she still speaks quite fluently. She is a graduate of the Howard University, where she became a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. She later returned to the university to teach drama there.

She received the honor of Woman of the Year from Harvard Black Men’s Forum in 2003. In 2005, the Brown University bestowed on her an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree. Most recently, in 2009, she received an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University. She is a member of the largest regional theatre of Southeastern United States named GA’s Alliance Theatre Company.

Rashad has married thrice till now and her first marriage was to a dentist named William Lancelot Bowles, Jr., in 1972. The couple had one son named William Lancelot Bowles III, who was born in 1973. However, the marriage did not last long and the couple divorced in 1975.

Three years later, Rashad re-married the lead singer for The Village People, Victor Willis. However, the couple divorced only two years later in 1980, and the reason for the divorce was stated to be Willis’ addiction to cocaine drug. The couple did not have any children together.

Rashad’s married her third husband, sportscaster and former NFL wide receiver Ahmed Rashad in December 1985. Ahmad had earlier proposed to Phylicia on national TV during the halftime of the game between the Detroit Lions and the New York Jet that was aired on NBC on Thanksgiving Day. The couple divorced in 2001. They had a daughter together who was born in 1986 and whom they named Condola Phyleia Rashād.

Rashad started her career as a theatre artist and was noticed for her great performances in a series of Broadway productions including Dreamgirls, The Wiz, A Raisin in the Sun, Intimate Apparel, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof and August: Osage County to name just a few.

Besides being a well known theatre actress, Rashad has also made a name for herself on both the small screen. Her first major appearance on television was on the soap opera One Life to Live in 1983. Since then she has worked in over thirty other shows where she has portrayed a wide range of characters. Her most prominent shows on television include Santa Barbara, A Different World, The Cosby Show, Little Bill, Cosby, Touched by an Angel, Psych and The Life & Times of Tim etc.

Rashad has won millions of hearts through her wonderful portrayals of various characters on the big screen. Although she has not worked in many movies, she is remembered her roles in the few she has been a part of. Rashad’s big screen appearances have been in the movies The Broad Coalition, Once Upon a Time…When We Were Colored, Loving Jezebel and The Visit. Her upcoming movies include Frankie and Alice that is currently in under post-production, Just Wright that is currently being filmed and The Middle of Nowhere that is still in pre-production.

During her esteemed career, Rashad has won five prestigious awards besides having been nominated for twelve other awards. She has won the Image Award thrice, in 1988, 1997 and 2009. For the first and second time, she won this award under the category of Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for The Cosby Show and Cosby respectively. Recently she won the award under the category of Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special for A Raisin in the Sun.

In addition, she has also won two People’s Choice Awards in 1985 and 1989 under the categories of Favorite Female Performer in a New TV Program and Favorite Female TV Performer respectively.

Rashad has been nominated for one each of AFI TV Award, Black Reel Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards and TV Guide Awards. She has also been nominated for two Satellite Awards, three Image Awards as well as three Emmy Awards.

Phylicia Rashad

Role In The Cosby Show

In The Cosby Show, Rashad plays the role of Clair Huxtable, the matriarch of the Huxtable family. Besides being very persuasive and graceful, Clair also comes across as a playful and silly but still very assertive person. Although her character was initially meant to be that of a housewife, she was finally shown portrayed as a lawyer. Even though Cliff has the impression of being in charge of his household, it is actually Clair who has full control over the family. She not only disciplines her children, but also acts a disciplinarian to Cliff, especially in matters concerning to his healthful diet and monitoring his intake of junk food. Her character is loosely based on comedian Bill Cosby’s wife Camille Cosby.