What award did Phylicia Rashad win?”
Born Phylicia Ayers-Allen in Houston, TX, on June 19, 1948, Phylicia Rashad is best known for her role as Clair Huxtable, Bill Cosby’s on-screen wife, first in “The Cosby Show” and later in the series “Cosby.” Her other television credits include the role of Courtney Wright in the daytime soap opera One Life to Live. Her best-known film role was perhaps that of a munchkin in the musical The Wiz. The sister of actress, producer and choreographer Debbie Allen, Phylicia changed her name to Rashad in 1985 upon her marriage to sports announcer Ahmad Rashad, who proposed to her in front of millions of people during a nationally broadcast football game. The couple separated in 2001. After her work with Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad continued to work in television, film and theater. In June 2004, she made history when she became the first African-American woman to win a Tony award for her performance as Lena Younger, the matriarch in a revival of the play A Raisin in the Sun, which tells the sto
Phylicia Rashad: wins historic Tony Award to become the first African-American woman to win in lead actress category. ON a historic night of “amazing grace,” Broadway’s elite cemented the status of multitalented entertainer Phylicia Rashad as a leading actress. On that night, Rashad became the first African-American woman to win the Tony Award for best performance by a leading actress in a play. That she won the award playing the hardened matriarch Lena Younger in the revival of Lorraine Hansberry’s A Raisin in the Sun–a work that has transcended race, language and culture–undoubtedly made the recognition all the more sweet and satisfying. “Often I have wondered what does it take for this to happen,” Rashad said in her acceptance speech. “And now I know. It takes effort and grace–tremendous self-effort and amazing grace.” Rashad, 55, a mother of two children and sister of Debbie Allen, first gained national recognition playing Claire Huxtable on NBC’s classic sitcom, The Cosby Show,
