PHYLICIA RASHAD is a native of Houston, Texas. Ms. Rashad graduated magna cum laude with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theatre from Howard University. Broadway credits include: The Roundabout Theatre’s productions of Blue, Jelly’s Last Jam, Into the Woods, Dreamgirls, the Wiz and Ain’t Suppose to die a Natural Death. Off-Broadway credits include Helen directed by Tony Kushner and Thulani Davis’ Everybody’s Ruby at the NYSF Public theatre. The Negro Ensemble Company productions of Puppet Play, Zooman and The Sign, Son’s and Fathers of Sons; In An Upstate Motel, Weep Not For Me and the Great Mac Daddy; Lincoln Center’s production of Ed Bullins’ The Duplex and The Sirens at The Manhattan Theatre Club. In regional theatre, she has performed as Euripides’ Medea and in Blues for an Alabama Sky, both under the direction of Kenny Leon at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia. Other regional theatre’s she has performed at are The Arena Stage in Washington, DC and The Huntington Theatre in Boston. Best known for her role as “Claire Huxtable’ on The Cosby Show and as ‘Ruth Lucas’ on the CBS sitcom Cosby. She received the NAACP Image Award for “Best Actress in a Comedy Series” for both of these roles. She has also been nominated for two Emmy Awards and has received two People’s Choice Awards. Feature film credits include: Once Upon A Time When We Were Colored, directed by Tim Reid, Free of Eden (opposite Sydney Poitier), Loving Jezebel, directed by Kwlyn Bader and The Visit, directed by Jordon Walker Pearlman. Television Film credits include The Old Settler directed by Debbie Allen, David’s Mother, False Witness, Jailbirds, and Polly-Comin Home! Other television appearances include Touched By An Angel, Blossom and A Different World. An active participant in charitable and non-profit organizations, Phylicia supports the work of the PRASAD Project, and international charitable organization. She is also committed to the mission of CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL, which provides premium pediatric health care and services to children in the District of Columbia, and to RNT – Recruiting New Teachers. In addition to supporting these organizations, Ms. Rashad is dedicated to communicating the importance of The Fine Arts in education. Phylicia has received honorary doctorates from Providence College in Rhode Island, Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Clark University, and Barber- Scotia College and is a recipient of the Harvard University Foundation Award. In 1999 she was the recipient of the Dorothy I Height Dreamaker Award sponsored by the National Council of Negro Women Inc. in association with Aunt Jemima/The Quaker Oats Company. In December of 2001, Ms. Rashad was honored by the Board of Directors of New York Women in film and Television with The Muse Award for Outstanding Vision and Achievement.

	Production	Theatre	Opened	Credit
1	A Midsummer Night's Dream	Delacorte Theater	07/31/2017	Titania
2	Head of Passes	Joseph Papp Public Theater/ Newman Theater	03/28/2016	Shelah
3	Bernarda Alba	Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater	03/06/2006	Bernarda Alba
4	The Story	Joseph Papp Public Theater/ Anspacher Theater	12/10/2003	Pat
5	Helen	Joseph Papp Public Theater/ Martinson Hall	04/08/2002	Athena
6	Blue	Gramercy Theatre	06/28/2001	Peggy Clark
7	The Vagina Monologues	Westside Theatre/ Downstairs	10/03/1999	N/A	REPLACEMENT
8	Everybody's Ruby	Joseph Papp Public Theater/ Anspacher Theater	02/23/1999	Zora Neale Hurston
9	Puppetplay1	Theater Four	11/23/1983	Woman Two
10	Sons and Fathers of Sons1	Theater Four	01/28/1983	Vickie/Melanie
11	In an Upstate Motel1	Theater Four	04/04/1981	Female Shadow
12	Weep Not for Me1	Theater Four	01/27/1981	Janet Adams
13	Zooman and the Sign1	Theater Four	12/07/1980	Rachel Tate/Grace Georges (Understudy)
14	The Great Macdaddy1	St. Mark's Playhouse	02/12/1974	N/A

	Production	Theatre	Opened	Credit
1	Our Lady of 121st Street	Pershing Square Signature Center/ Irene Diamond Stage	05/20/2018	Director

		Award	Production	Function
1	WON	2016 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play	Head of Passes	Actor
2	NOMINATED	2016 AUDELCO Award, Lead Actress	Head of Passes	Actor
3	NOMINATED	2016 Drama League Award, Distinguished Performance	Head of Passes	Actor
4	NOMINATED	2002 Lucille Lortel Award, Outstanding Lead Actress	Blue	Actor