Phylicia Rashād is an American Tony Award-winning actress and singer, best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the long-running NBC sitcom The Cosby Show. In 2004, Rashād became the first African-American actress to win the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, for her role in the revival of A Raisin in the Sun. She resumed the role in the 2008 television adaptation of A Raisin in the Sun, which earned her the 2009 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special. Rashād was dubbed "the mother" of... the African-American community at the 42nd NAACP Image Awards. Rashād was born in Houston, Texas. Her mother, Vivian Ayers , was a Pulitzer-prize nominated artist, poet, playwright, scholar, and publisher. Her father, Andrew Arthur Allen , was an orthodontist and dentist. Rashād's siblings are jazz-musician brother Tex , sister Debbie Allen , an actress, choreographer, and director, and brother Hugh Allen .
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