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| Birth Name(s) : Phylicia Ayers-Allen |
Date of Birth: N/A |
| Status:
Single
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Partner:
William Lancelot Bowles, Jr. (1972-1975) |
| Profession:
N/A |
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Full Phylicia Rashad Biography
Rashād was born in Harris County, Texas, to Andrew Arthur Allen and Vivian Ayers. She has one younger sister, famed choreographer/actor/director Debbie Allen. Her family spent one year in Mexico growing up, and consequently Rashād speaks both English and Spanish fluently, as well as Portuguese.
She graduated from Howard University (where she later taught drama), and is a prominent member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., the oldest historically Black collegiate sorority. Rashād first became notable on the stage with a string of Broadway credits, including roles in the companies of the Tony Award-winning musical Dreamgirls and in The Wiz (in which she played a munchkin). In 1978, she released the album Josephine Superstar, a concept record which told the lifestory of the pioneering entertainer and civil rights activist Josephine Baker through disco songs. The album was mainly written and produced by Jacques Morali and one-time husband Victor Willis. Morali's disco creations Village People and The Ritchie Family contributed backing vocals. She credited her 1983 break on the ABC soap opera One Life to Live "to the presence of God within me."
She is most famous for her role Clair Huxtable on the NBC television show, The Cosby Show, which she had stated is a decent portrayal of an African-American family. Clair is a lawyer married to obstetrician Cliff Huxtable and is the mother of five children; Rashād received two Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series during the show's run. In a Mother's Day survey, the character of Clair Huxtable was named "TV mom closest to your own mom in spirit."
When Bill Cosby returned to TV comedy in 1996 with CBS's Cosby, he again called on Rashād to play Ruth Lucas, his character's wife. Originally, the part had been cast with Telma Hopkins in mind, but Hopkins was fired early in the production process and Rashad hired on. The sitcom lasted 4 years-from 1996 to 2000. In 2000, Cosby asked her to work on his animated television series Little Bill, in which Rashād voiced Bill's mother, Brenda. She voiced Brenda until the show's end in 2002.
In 2004, she became the first African-American actress to win the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, winning for her role in the revival of the play A Raisin in the Sun.
Phylicia married former NFL wide receiver and current sportscaster Ahmad Rashād on December 14, 1985, after he proposed to her during a pregame on a nationally televised Thanksgiving Day game between the New York Jets and the Detroit Lions on November 28, 1985. (Despite the macron on the last "A" in her last name, it is pronounced like "Rashad", not "Rashade".) Their daughter, Condola Phylea Rashād, was born on December 11, 1986 in New York City. Along with her son, William, Rashād also has three step-children (Ahmad's children from a previous marriage): daughters Keva (born in 1970), Maiysha (born in 1974) and son Ahmad Jr. (born in 1978). The couple divorced in 2001. |
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