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Phylicia Rashad Headshot

Phylicia Rashad

Also Credited As: Phylicia Ayers-Allen

Birth Place: Houston, TX, USA

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BIO

Phylicia Rashad made her Broadway directorial debut with Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ Purpose, which won the 2025 Tony Award for Best Play, Drama Desk Award (Outstanding Play), and New York Drama Critics Circle Award (Best Play). Other directing credits include: Our Lady of 121st Street, Blues for an Alabama Sky, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Joe Turner's Come and Gone, Fences, Gem of the Ocean, A Raisin in the Sun, The Roommate, and Four Little Girls. This marks her third time directing Immediate Family. Producing credits include the 2024 Tony nominated Broadway revival of Ossie Davis’s Purlie Victorious, and the PBS film The Old Settler.





Fondly remembered by television audiences for her portrayal of Claire Huxtable on The Cosby Show, Phylicia Rashad can be seen this season in recurring roles in hit TV series The Gilded Age and Lena Waithe’s The CHI. Film and television credits include: The Beekeeper, Jingle Jangle, Pixar’s Soul, Black Box, A Fall from Grace, Creed, Creed II, Creed III, For Colored Girls, This is Us, Diarra from Detroit, Little America, The Crossover, The Good Fight, David Makes Man, and Empire.



A Theater Hall of Fame inductee (2016) , Ms. Rashad received Tony and Drama Desk Awards for her performances as Faye in Skeleton Crew(2022) and as Lena Younger in A Raisin in the Sun (2004), the Lucille Lortel Award for her performance as Shelah in Tarrell Alvin McCraney’s Head of Passes (2016), and a Tony nomination for her portrayal of Aunt Ester in August Wilson’s Gem of the Ocean (2005).



Rashad, who serves as co-chair of the advisory council for the African American Cultural Heritage Fund, is Dean Emerita of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts at Howard University. She served as Inaugural Dean of the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts and Inaugural Toni Morrison Chair at Howard University. She was also the first recipient of the Denzel Washington Scholar Chair at Fordham University. She holds Honorary Doctorates from Bennett College, Barber -Scotia College, Clark-Atlanta University, Brown University, Providence College, Tuskegee University, Carnegie-Mellon University, Fordham University, Spelman College, Morris Brown College, St. Augustine College, University of South Carolina at Columbia, and Howard University.

Most recently, she directed Immediate Family at Blumenthal Arts.

Photos

STAGE CREDITS

Skeleton Crew Skeleton Crew
[Broadway]
Original Broadway Production, 2022
Faye
A Midsummer Night's Dream A Midsummer Night's Dream
[Off-Broadway]
Shakespeare in the Park Revival, 2017
Titania
Sunday in the Park with George Sunday in the Park with George
[New York]
New York City Center Concert Gala, 2016
Old Lady
Head of Passes Head of Passes
[Off-Broadway]
Public Theater New York Premiere, 2016
Shelah
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
[Broadway]
Broadway Revival, 2008
Big Mama
Cymbeline Cymbeline
[Broadway]
Lincoln Center Revival, 2007
Queen
Bernarda Alba
[Off-Broadway]
Original Off-Broadway Production, 2006
Bernarda Alba
A Wonderful Life
[Broadway]
Benefit Concert, 2005
Millie Bailey
Performer
Millie Bailey
Gem of the Ocean Gem of the Ocean
[Broadway]
Original Broadway Production, 2004
Aunt Ester
A Raisin in the Sun A Raisin in the Sun
[Broadway]
Broadway Revival, 2004
Lena Younger
The Story
[Off-Broadway]
2003
Pat
Helen
[Off-Broadway]
2002
Athena
Blue
[Off-Broadway]
2001
Peggy Clark
Blue
[Regional (US)]
World Premiere, 2000
The Vagina Monologues
[Off-Broadway]
Original Off-Broadway Production, 1999
Performer [Replacement]
[Replacement]
[Replacement]
[Replacement]
Everybody's Ruby
[Off-Broadway]
1999
Zora Neale Hurston
Jelly's Last Jam
[Broadway]
Original Broadway Production, 1992
Anita [Replacement]
[Replacement]
Into the Woods
[Broadway]
Original Broadway Production, 1987
Witch [Replacement]
[Replacement]

Productions

PurposePurpose
 
[Broadway, 2025]
Director
Our Lady of 121st StreetOur Lady of 121st Street
 
[Off-Broadway, 2018]
Director

Movies

Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored
[ 1995 ] Ma Ponk
Loving Jezebel
[ 1999 ] Alice Melville
The Visit
[ 2000 ] Dr. Coles
Rwanda Rising
[ 2007 ] Historical Narration
Frankie & Alice
[ 2010 ] Edna
Just Wright
[ 2010 ] Ella McKnight
For Colored Girls
[ 2010 ] Gilda
Good Deeds
[ 2012 ] Wilimena
Gods Behaving Badly
[ 2013 ] Demeter
Creed
[ 2015 ] Mary Anne Creed
Creed II
[ 2018 ] Mary Anne Creed
Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
[ 2020 ] Grandmother Journey
Soul
[ 2020 ] Libba
Black Box
[ 2020 ] Lillian
A Fall from Grace
[ 2020 ] Sarah
tick, tick... BOOM!
[ 2021 ] Sunday Legend #12
Creed III
[ 2023 ] Mary Anne Creed
The Beekeeper
[ 2024 ] Eloise Parker
Ruth & Boaz
[ 2025 ] Naomi

TV Shows

A Different World
Clair Huxtable
Cosby
Ruth Lucas
David Makes Man
Dr. Woods-Trap
Empire
Diana DuBois
Little Bill
Brenda, Brenda Glover
Psych
Winnifred Guster
The Cleveland Show
Dee Dee Tubbs
The Cosby Show
Clair Huxtable
This Is Us
Carol Clarke
Touched by an Angel
Elizabeth Jessup
Stranded
Mary
Curses!
[ 2023-2024 ] Georgia
Diarra from Detroit
Vonda
The Gilded Age
[ 2022-2025 ] Elizabeth Kirkland
The Chi
[ 2018-2025 ] Renee

Awards and Nominations

Outer Critics Circle Awards - 2025 - Outstanding Direction of a Play

Phylicia Rashad, Purpose

Drama Desk Awards - 2022 - Outstanding Actress in a Play

Phylicia Rashad, Skeleton Crew

Drama League Awards - 2022 - Distinguished Performance Awards

Phylicia Rashad, Skeleton Crew

Outer Critics Circle Awards - 2022 - Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play

Phylicia Rashad, Skeleton Crew


winner
Tony Awards - 2022 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play

Phylicia Rashad, Skeleton Crew

Drama League Awards - 2016 - Distinguished Performance Award

Phylicia Rashad, Head of Passes


winner
The Lortels - 2016 - Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play

Phylicia Rashad, Head of Passes

Helen Hayes Awards - 2011 - Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play

Phylicia Rashadevery tongue confess

Tony Awards - 2005 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Phylicia Rashad, Gem of the Ocean


winner
BroadwayWorld Awards - 2004 - Best Leading Actress in a Play

Phylicia Rashad, A Raisin In The Sun


winner
Drama Desk Awards - 2004 - Outstanding Actress - Play

Phylicia Rashad, A Raisin in the Sun

Outer Critics Circle Awards - 2004 - Outstanding Actress in a Play

Phylicia Rashad, A Raisin in the Sun


winner
Tony Awards - 2004 - Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

Phylicia Rashad, A Raisin in the Sun

The Lortels - 2002 - Outstanding Lead Actress

Phylicia Rashad, Blue

Helen Hayes Awards - 1997 - Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play

Phylicia RashadBlues for an Alabama Sky

Videos

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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How many Broadway shows has Phylicia Rashad been in?

Phylicia Rashad has appeared on Broadway in 8 shows.

How many West End shows has Phylicia Rashad been in?

Phylicia Rashad has not appeared in the West End.

What awards has Phylicia Rashad been nominated for?

Outstanding Direction of a Play (Outer Critics Circle Awards) for Purpose, Outstanding Actress in a Play (Drama Desk Awards) for Skeleton Crew, Distinguished Performance Awards (Drama League Awards) for Skeleton Crew, Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play (Outer Critics Circle Awards) for Skeleton Crew, Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play (Tony Awards) for Skeleton Crew, Distinguished Performance Award (Drama League Awards) for Head of Passes, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play (The Lortels) for Head of Passes, Outstanding Supporting Actress, Resident Play (Helen Hayes Awards) for every tongue confess, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play (Tony Awards) for Gem of the Ocean, Best Leading Actress in a Play (BroadwayWorld Awards) for A Raisin In The Sun, Outstanding Actress - Play (Drama Desk Awards) for A Raisin in the Sun, Outstanding Actress in a Play (Outer Critics Circle Awards) for A Raisin in the Sun, Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play (Tony Awards) for A Raisin in the Sun, Outstanding Lead Actress (The Lortels) for Blue and Outstanding Lead Actress, Resident Play (Helen Hayes Awards) for Blues for an Alabama Sky.

What awards has Phylicia Rashad won?

Phylicia Rashad has received several prestigious awards throughout her career. She won the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Role in a Play for Skeleton Crew. She earned the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play award from The Lortels for Head of Passes. Rashad also received the BroadwayWorld Award for Best Leading Actress in a Play for A Raisin In The Sun, along with the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Play for the same production. Additionally, she won the Tony Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play for A Raisin in the Sun.

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