Biography for
Phylicia Rashad More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

19 June 1948, Houston, Texas, USA

Birth Name

Phylicia Ayers-Allen

Height

5' 6" (1.68 m)

Mini Biography

Born to dentist, Andrew Arthur Allen, and poet, Vivian Ayers, in Harris County, TX. As a child, Phylicia, her older brother Andrew (called Tex) and younger sister, Debbie Allen, lived in Mexico to escape US racism. She also has another brother, Hugh Allen (a real estate banker in North Carolina).

Their mother, Vivian Ayers, decided to live there to give the Allen children a brief experience of not having to endure the chronic racism and segregation that was typical of Texas during the 1950s. From this, Phylicia and Debbie are fluent in Spanish.

Phylicia graduated from Howard University and later taught drama there.

With younger sister, Debbie Allen, she has production company "D.A.D." which stood for "Doctor Allen's Daughters". Her Pulitzer-nominated poet mother, Vivian, is the artistic and free spirit that has influenced and encouraged the remarkable creativity that so marks Allen as a performer.

IMDb Mini Biography By: lilkunta

Spouse

Ahmad Rashad	(14 December 1985 - February 2001) (divorced) 1 child
Victor Willis	(28 April 1978 - 1980) (divorced)
William Lancelot Bowles Jr.	(13 May 1972 - 1975) (divorced) 1 child

Trivia

Daughter of dentist Arthur Allen and Pulitzer-prize nominated Vivan Ayers ( artist, poet, playwright, and publisher). Older siblings are jazz musician brother Tex (Andrew Arthur Allen Jr, born 1945), younger sister Debbie Allen(1950), and brother Hugh Allen (real estate banker in North Carolina).

Her father and first husband were both dentists.

Phylicia and Debbie both speak Spanish fluently from living in Mexico as children.

Her ex-husband, Victor Willis, was a lead singer for The Village People. The two divorced because of Willis' cocaine drug addiction. Sister-in-law of Norman Nixon.

Sits on the Board of Directors of Atlanta, GA's Alliance Theatre Company, the largest regional theatre in the Southeastern United States.

Ahmad Rashad proposed to her on national TV during the halftime show of NBC's Thanksgiving Day broadcast of the game between the Detroit Lions and the New York Jets. Earlier in the day, she had worked NBC's Macy's Thanksgiving Day telecast. Within minutes of hearing Ahmad's request, she came on NBC's "NFL Live" halftime set and accepted his proposal live on TV. O.J. Simpson was best-man at her 1985 wedding to Ahmad Rashad.

Appears in the video pre-show of the "Dinosaur" ride at Disney's Animal Kingdom theme park.

Is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

Wears a size 9 shoe.

Phylicia's "The Cosby Show" (1984) matriarch, Claire Huxtable, was voted "TV mom closest to your own mom in spirit" by an Opinion Research Corporation poll in April of 2004.

Her mother Dr Vivian Elizabeth Ayers attended Brainerd Institute, Barber Scotia College and Bennett College. Vivian was the first poet in the state of Texas to receive the Pulitzer Prize Award nomination in 1952. Vivian was often called the "Poet Laureate of Texas." In the late 50's, her poetry, "Hawk," attracted the attention of NASA and for twenty years was the only poetry celebrated by NASA. She worked as an apprentice librarian at the Fondren Library of Rice University and was accorded faculty status in 1965, becoming the first African American to be so qualified. During her years at Rice, she organized and published The Adept Quarterly, an important contribution to the small publications movement of the time.

Nominated for a 2004 Outer Critics Circle Award for Best Actress in a play for "A Raisin in the Sun" on Broadway.

Tied for the 2004 Drama Desk award for Best Actress in a play for "A Raisin in the Sun" with Viola Davis for "Intimate Apparel".

Became the first African-American actress to win the Best Actress (Play) Tony Award for her 2004 performance as Lena Younger in a revival of Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun". Several Black women have won in the Best Actress (Musical) category, including the late Virginia Capers, who won in 1973 for her portrayal of Lena in the musical adaptation of Hansberry's play called "Raisin."

In 1972, her mom Vivian's work, "Workshops in Open Fields," was hailed and recommended to the nation as a "prototype of grass roots programming" by the director of NEA. Vivian established the Adept New American Museum--a museum for art and history of the American Southwest; which features "Juneteenth" Black Cowboys, American Indian Sand Painting, seminars on the Emancipation Proclamation and Mayan studies-- in Mt Vernon NY. She is known as a leader in the arts community in New York area.

She and her sister were partly raised in Mexico, which is why they both speak Spanish so fluently.

Recorded the Narration for Epcot's Candlelight Processional Soundtrack, sold all over Walt Disney World during Christmas.

Children: Son Billy (born in 1973 - Father: William Lancelot Bowles Jr.), Daughter Condola Phylea (born December 11, 1986 - Father: Ahmad Rashad), 3 stepchildren (Ahmad's children): daughter Keva (born in 1970), daughter Maiysha (born in 1974) and son Ahmad Jr. (born in 1978).

Shares a birthday with comic-strip feline "Garfield" who made his newspaper premiere on June 19, 1978, making Phylica Rashad exactly 30 years older than Garfield.

Daughter Condola Phylea - with Ahmad Rashad - was born on December 11, 1986; 3 days before the Rashads' first wedding anniversary.

Aunt of Norman Nixon Jr. and Vivian Nixon.

Nominated for the 2005 Tony Award (New York City) for Actress in a Drama for "Gem of the Ocean".

Received an honorary doctorate in Fine Arts from Carnegie Mellon University in 2009.

Where Are They Now

(July 2004) In the east coast premiere of August Wilson's play "Gem of the Ocean" in Boston. Production is moving to Broadway in October 2004.

(April 2007) Directing "Gem of the Ocean" at the Seattle Repertory Theatre.

(2009) Doing a Jenny Craig commercial.

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