Known for Acting
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.
Born
June 19, 1948 (age 78)
Birthplace
Houston, Texas, USA
Filmography
61 films, 36 shows


Ruth & Boaz
2025 · 1h 33m
country: United States
A talented singer leaves the Atlanta music scene and starts over in small-town Tennessee, where she finds love and new purpose but can't escape the past.


The Beekeeper
2024 · 1h 46m
country: United Kingdom
One man's campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as Beekeepers.


Heaven Down Here
2023 · 1h 24m
country: Canada
Inspired by Mickey Guyton’s song of the same name, “Heaven Down Here” tells the story of four disparate people who find themselves stranded in a local diner on Christmas Eve when a snowstorm hits the town.


Our Son
2023 · 1h 44m
country: United States
When his husband Gabriel files for divorce, Nicky fights for custody of their 8-year-old son Owen, as he struggles to come to terms with what it means to love someone and what it means to be a father.


Being Mary Tyler Moore
2023 · 1h 59m
country: United States
With unprecedented access to the Mary Tyler Moore Estate, friends, family, and colleagues, Being Mary Tyler Moore constructs an intimate mosaic of Mary's sixty-year career in show business.


Creed III
2023 · 1h 56m
country: United States
After dominating the boxing world, Adonis Creed has thrived in his career and family life. When a childhood friend and former boxing prodigy, Damian Anderson, resurfaces after serving a long sentence in prison, he is eager to prove that he deserves his shot in the ring. The face-off between former friends is more than just a fight. To settle the score, Adonis must put his future on the line to battle Damian — a fighter with nothing to lose.


tick, tick... BOOM!
2021 · 2h
country: United States
On the brink of turning 30, a promising theater composer navigates love, friendship and the pressure to create something great before time runs out.


Show of Titles
2021 · 1h 24m
country: United States
An evening of celebrated stars performing the titles songs from Broadway’s best.


Chadwick Boseman: Portrait of an Artist
2021 · 21m
country: United States
An intimate look at the Oscar-nominated actor’s incomparable artistry, and the acting process which informed his transformative performances. Viola Davis, Denzel Washington, Spike Lee, George C. Wolfe, Branford Marsalis, Phylicia Rashad and more take us behind the scenes to explore Boseman's extraordinary commitment to his craft.


Angry, Raucous, and Shamelessly Gorgeous
2021 · 1h 23m
country: United States
Anna Campbell, now 65, sparked controversy when she bared it all on stage years ago. When a theatre festival asks to re-stage the work with a younger actress in her role, dramatic and comic fireworks ensue.


Twenty Pearls: The Story of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority
2021 · 1h 31m
country: Unknown
"Twenty Pearls" tells a powerful story of sisterhood. In 1908, nine Black women enrolled at Howard University made one decision that would change the course of history. These college students created Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.


Soul
2020 · 1h 41m
country: United States
Joe Gardner is a middle school teacher with a love for jazz music. After a successful audition at the Half Note Club, he suddenly gets into an accident that separates his soul from his body and is transported to the You Seminar, a center in which souls develop and gain passions before being transported to a newborn child. Joe must enlist help from the other souls-in-training, like 22, a soul who has spent eons in the You Seminar, in order to get back to Earth.


Between the World and Me
2020 · 1h 25m
country: United States
Based on Ta-Nehisi Coates’ #1 New York Times bestseller and originally adapted and staged by the Apollo Theater, this special combines elements of that production - including powerful readings from Coates’ book - with documentary footage from the actors’ home life, archival footage, and animation.


Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey
2020 · 2h 2m
country: United States
An imaginary world comes to life in a holiday tale of an eccentric toymaker, his adventurous granddaughter, and a magical invention that has the power to change their lives forever.


Black Box
2020 · 1h 40m
country: United States
After losing his wife and his memory in a car accident, a single father undergoes an experimental treatment that causes him to question who he really is.


Chadwick Boseman: A Tribute for a King
2020 · 40m
country: United States
A tribute to Chadwick Boseman, celebrating his life and legacy.


A Fall from Grace
2020 · 2h
country: United States
When a law-abiding woman gets indicted for murdering her husband, her lawyer soon realizes that a larger conspiracy may be at work.


Creed II
2018 · 2h 10m
country: United States
Between personal obligations and training for his next big fight against an opponent with ties to his family's past, Adonis Creed is up against the challenge of his life.
Charlie's Place
Charlie's Place
2018 · 26m
country: United States
The story of an African American nightclub in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina that was a significant stop on the Chitlin’ Circuit in the segregated South. The owner, Charlie Fitzgerald, welcomed blacks and whites to his club. From the 1930s to the 1960s, many of the greatest black musicians played there, including Billie Holiday, Ray Charles, Ruth Brown and Little Richard.


Tour de Pharmacy
2017 · 40m
country: United States
A mockumentary that chronicles the prevalence of doping in the world of professional cycling.
JFK: The Lost Inaugural Gala
JFK: The Lost Inaugural Gala
2017 · 55m
country: Germany
Documentary about the star-studded pre-inaugural gala that took place on January 19, 1961 to celebrate John F. Kennedy's election.


VH1 Hip Hop Honors: All Hail the Queens
2016 · 1h 24m
country: Unknown
We knew the return of Hip-Hop Honors after a six-year hiatus would be huge, but with a surprise from Diddy and some major beef getting squashed, this year was bigger than ever.


Creed
2015 · 2h 13m
country: United States
The former World Heavyweight Champion Rocky Balboa serves as a trainer and mentor to Adonis Johnson, the son of his late friend and former rival Apollo Creed.


Emily & Tim
2015 · 1h 28m
country: United States
The movie is comprised of six vignettes. A look at the tumultuous marriage of Tim and Emily Hanratty over half a century.


August Wilson: The Ground on Which I Stand
2015 · 1h 30m
country: United States
Unprecedented access to Wilson’s theatrical archives, rarely seen interviews and new dramatic readings bring to life his seminal 10-play cycle chronicling a century of African-American life. Wilson won two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama.


Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
2014 · 1h 30m
country: United States
In this open-letter style documentary, Ruby Dee & Ossie Davis' rich lives guide their grandson on his personal quest to master lasting love, conscious art, and undying activism.


Gods Behaving Badly
2013 · 1h 30m
country: United States
Greek gods living in modern-day New York intervene in the lives of a young couple.


Steel Magnolias
2012 · 1h 30m
country: United States
In an updated contemporary version of the beloved stage play and 1989 film, "Steel Magnolias" chronicles the lives and friendship of six women in Louisiana. Supporting each other through their triumphs and tragedies, they congregate at Truvy’s beauty shop to ponder the mysteries of life and death, husbands and children - and hair and nails - all the important topics that truly unite and celebrate women.


Good Deeds
2012 · 2h 9m
country: United States
For all his life, wealthy businessman Wesley Deeds has done what's expected of him and has settled into a predictable routine. His scripted life begins to change, however, when he meets Lindsey Wakefield, a struggling single mother who works as a night janitor for his corporation and has just been evicted. He offers to help Lindsey get back on her feet and, though he's already engaged, romantic sparks begin to fly. Suddenly, he finds himself torn between what is expected of him and what he really wants.


Change of Plans
2011 · 1h 30m
country: Canada
Sally and Jason Danville's life are turned upside down when a tragic accident suddenly names them the caretakers of four young children.


Frankie & Alice
2010 · 1h 41m
country: Canada
A drama centered on a go-go dancer with multiple personality disorder who struggles to remain her true self and begins working with a psychotherapist to uncover the mystery of the inner ghosts that haunt her.


For Colored Girls
2010 · 2h 14m
country: United States
A film about existence from the perspective of 20 nameless black females. Each of the women portray one of the characters represented in the collection of twenty poems, revealing different issues that impact women in general and women of color in particular.


Just Wright
2010 · 1h 41m
country: United States
Physical therapist Leslie Wright lands the dream job of working with basketball superstar Scott McKnight, helping him recover from a career-threatening injury. All goes well and soon Leslie finds herself falling in love with him. Just as their friendship deepens, however, Scott focuses his attention back on his tenuous relationship with his ex-fiancé Morgan, Leslie's gorgeous godsister, who would love to be the basketball player's trophy wife.


Dreams Worth While: The Journey of "A Raisin in the Sun"
2008
country: Unknown
Cast and crew discuss making "A Raisin in the Sun" for television.


A Raisin in the Sun
2008 · 2h 11m
country: United States
Walter Lee Younger is a young man struggling with his station in life. Sharing a tiny apartment with his wife, son, sister and mother, he seems like an imprisoned man. Until, that is, the family gets an unexpected financial windfall.


God and the Inner City
2003 · 57m
country: Unknown
In 2001 President Bush created the Office of Faith-Based and Community Initiatives. Beyond issues of separation of church and state, do these initiatives really work better than secular, government-run programs? This program follows the efforts of the leaders of two initiatives with differing approaches: the non-proselytizing style of the Reverend Gene Rivers of Baker House in Dorchester near Boston and Pastor Mike Zello, director of Teen Challenge, a drug rehabilitation program premised on Christianity. Also profiled is the Amachi Program for children of incarcerated parents in Philadelphia.


The Cosby Show: A Look Back
2002 · 1h 30m
country: United States
A retrospective of the phenomenally popular 1984-1992 situation comedy, "The Cosby Show," complete with memorable clips, bloopers and comments from series stars, producers and Bill Cosby himself.


NBC 75th Anniversary Special
2002 · 3h
country: United States
A celebration of NBC's 75 year history, featuring clips of special moments.


Murder, She Wrote: The Last Free Man
2001 · 1h 45m
country: United States
Jessica Fletcher discovers a shocking old family secret that leads her on a journey to the deep South to bring to light the mysterious details surrounding the death of a slave owned by one of her long dead ancestors in the mid-1800s.
The Old Settler
The Old Settler
2001 · 1h 27m
country: United States
The Old Settler is the story of two middle-aged sisters, Elizabeth and Quilly, who share an apartment in Harlem in 1943. The sisters quarrel amiably, but they share a wounded history that becomes revealed as the tale unfolds. An earnest but unworldly young man named Husband travels up from the South to board with the sisters while he searches for his beloved Lou Bessie, who left their small town a few years back to find a new life. Husband would like to bring Lou Bessie back home, but she's enamored with the excitement of the city, and her plans are more complicated. In time, Elizabeth and Husband begin a courtship that may or may not overcome their considerable age difference, while Quilly reacts disapprovingly.


The Visit
2001 · 1h 47m
country: United States
A young man dying in prison brings his family together for a fateful visit, and proceeds to put his life back together.


Free of Eden
1999 · 1h 38m
country: United States
Story about Will Cleamons, a former teacher-turned-businessman who agrees to tutor 18-year-old high school dropout, Nicole Turner. Much to his surprise, their relationship not only helps Nicole build a future, but helps Cleamons put his personal life back together.


Dinosaur - Preshow
1998 · 8m
country: Unknown
A paleontologist recruits you for a secret mission to bring a 3.5-ton Iguanodon back to the present. There’s just one problem—the giant meteor that wiped out life on Earth is on the way! Board a rugged Time Rover vehicle and set off on a thrilling adventure through a primeval forest filled with life-like dinosaurs


Once Upon a Time... When We Were Colored
1996 · 1h 55m
country: United States
A narrator tells the story of his childhood years in a tightly knit Afro-American community in the deep south under racial segregation.


The Babysitter's Seduction
1996 · 1h 26m
country: United States
The mother of the family for which Michelle baby-sits dies unexpectedly. Michelle is asked to take over looking after the children and is gradually "seduced" by the father.


The Possession of Michael D.
1995 · 1h 45m
country: Canada
When a dark force begins to destroy a couple's happiness, they decide to turn to a parapsychologist who discovers that the husband is possessed by a demon.


David's Mother
1994 · 1h 30m
country: Unknown
Sally Goodson has been raising her autistic son David alone since her husband left many years ago. Now a social worker discovers that Sally has been dodging 'The System' to keep her son with her, instead of putting him in an institution. Each feels they know what's best for David. But their opinions are not the same. Sally's developing relationship with John Nils is caught in the middle.
Hallelujah
Hallelujah
1993 · 1h 22m
country: United States
As Christmas at the Messiah Church in Washington D.C. approaches, a young preacher and, later in the day, a mysterious pregnant girl arrive at the church doors looking to begin new lives. Reverend Oliver Crawford is not the judgmental committee's first choice; an unwed father of a teenage son, he is given only two days to prove his worth. Meanwhile, pregnant 16-year-old Katherine has arrived in the area fleeing an abusive home and seeking a grandfather she doesn't know. With the help of local homeless advocate 'Big' Willie Thorton, Crawford attempts to revive the spirit of the church and provide solace to the displaced girl.


Bob Hope's Four-Star Christmas Fiesta from San Antonio
1992 · 1h
country: United States
Bob Hope is in San Antonio, TX with Clint Black, Phylicia Rashad, Rita Rudner, wife Dolores and Texas governor Ann Richards for his annual Christmas show.


Jailbirds
1991 · 1h 36m
country: United States
Personalities clash when a city executive and a small town seamstress are thrown into jail for crimes they didn't commit and then escape, handcuffed together.


Polly: Comin' Home!
1990 · 1h 40m
country: United States
Broadway style songs are used to tell this interesting story of an ingenious orphan who gets involved in matchmaking and striving for inter-racial understanding in 1956 Alabama.


The Earth Day Special
1990 · 1h 39m
country: United States
The Earth Day Special is a television special revolving around Earth Day that aired on ABC on April 22, 1990. Sponsored by Time Warner, the special featured an all-star cast addressing concerns about global warming, deforestation, and other environmental ills.


Polly
1989 · 1h 40m
country: United States
An musical adaptation of the book "Pollyanna" set in the 1950's in which an orphan tries to use gladness to unite the people in a small southern town.


False Witness
1989 · 1h 40m
country: United States
An assistant district attorney's (Phylicia Rashad) co-worker lover (Philip Michael Thomas) plans to prove her wrong about a case.
The Debbie Allen Special
The Debbie Allen Special
1989 · 1h
country: Unknown
Debbie Allen stars in her own primetime variety special.


Mickey's 60th Birthday
1988 · 45m
country: United States
This film combines live action/original animation and library animation. Mickey steals a magic hat from a Sorcerer and is put under a spell by the angry magi so that no one will recognize him until he finds his own magic within. While Mickey is on his quest, network news teams around the country desperately try to find the famous, beloved mouse who has mysteriously disappeared. On his quest, Mickey pays a visit to the patrons of "Cheers", meets up with the Keatons from "Family Ties", and winds up on Disneyland's Main Street the night before his Birthday celebration is to take place. It is there that he finds he has all the magic inside him that he will ever need. The spell is broken and the Birthday bash commences as the whole World celebrates the beloved Mickey Mouse.


Uncle Tom's Cabin
1987 · 1h 50m
country: Unknown
The life of an aging black slave, Tom, and the people he interacts with.


Superstars and their Moms
1987 · 1h
country: United States
Mother's Day special in which celebrities appear with their mothers to relate incidents from their pasts, inspired by the book "Star Mothers" by Georgia Holt, Cher's mom.
Nell Carter... Never Too Old to Dream
Nell Carter... Never Too Old to Dream
1986 · 48m
country: Unknown
In her very own NBC TV special, Nell Carter performs alongside special guests Harry Anderson, Phylicia Rashad and the Four Tops.


We're Fighting Back
1981 · 1h 33m
country: United States
Inspired by the exploits of New York's Guardian Angels, which began as a band of streetwise young people who formed an anti-crime subway patrol and went on to gain a national reputation and units in major cities around the country, this film unites three New York City youths as leaders of a citizens' patrol tackling gangs terrorizing merchants and local citizens.


The Broad Coalition
1972 · 1h 31m
country: Unknown
A man becomes pregnant in a zany comedy.