Phylicia Rashad Movies
A talented Broadway actress who shot to fame with her portrayal of loving mother-of-five and high-powered attorney Claire Huxtable in television's The Cosby Show, Phylicia Rashad's strong television presence has lent itself to numerous dramatic roles in the years since her role as the member of one of the most famous families in television history.Born the daughter of a dentist in Texas in 1948, Rashad's (born Phylicia Allen) continual focus on her potential as an actress has attracted her to roles of integrity and honesty, with generally family friendly fare that can be enjoyed by young and old alike. After making her television debut in the 1978 production of The Wiz, Rashad appeared in such soap operas as One Life to Live and Santa Barbara before settling into an eight-year run as mother to one of television history's most beloved families (during which period she would also star with television daughter Keshia Knight Pulliam in a pair of television movies based on the popular children's character Polly). Married to Village People member Victor Willis in 1975, Rashad would later wed former Minnesota Viking and sports announcer Ahmad Rashad (who extravagantly proposed to her during a televised football game) in 1985. Continuing her television career following the end of The Cosby Show's run, Rashad would also turn up in such made-for-television thrillers as The Possession of Michael D. and The Babysitter's Seduction (both 1995) before once again joining television husband Bill Cosby in 1996's Cosby. A well-known member of numerous charities including the Diabetes Association African-American Program and the Educational Teacher's Association, Rashad has strived to bring social issues to the small screen with roles in such thoughtful productions as Uncle Tom's Cabin (1985) and Once Upon a Time...When We Were Colored (1996). Though many female actors lament the glass ceiling that prevents them from obtaining roles in their later years, Rashad's maturity brings a distinctive presence to her roles in such dramatic television productions as Free of Eden (1999) and The Old Settler (2001). Over the next several years, Rashad would prove as consistent a force on screen as ever, appearing in movies like For Colored Girls and Good Deeds, as well as on TV series like Psych and Everybody Hates Chris. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
An upstanding businessman finds his upcoming marriage thrown into question when his connection with a down-on-her-luck cleaning woman turns unexpectedly romantic. Wesley Deeds (Tyler Perry) is a prominent businessman who has successfully taken the reins of the family business. He displays commendable patience while dealing with his insubordinate brother and strives to give his demanding fiancée, Natalie (Gabrielle Union), a happy, stable future. Up until now, Wesley's life has been comfortable, but the moment he meets Lindsey (Thandie Newton), everything starts to change. A proud single mother who has just gotten evicted and now struggles to give her daughter some much-needed stability, Lindsey never asked for a handout in her life. But when Wesley offers to lend the outspoken custodian the help that she needs to get her life back together, their friendly bond quickly develops into something much deeper. Now, with his heart and his head pulling in different directions, Wesley realizes that his entire future may not be as predictable as he once thought. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tyler Perry, Thandie Newton, (more)
- 2012
Two New Yorkers (Alicia Silverstone and Ebon Moss-Bachrach) stumble upon a group of Greek Gods living it up on Earth in this comedy from Marc Turtletaub. Christopher Walken and John Turturro head up the cast of immortals, whose ranks also include Sharon Stone, Phylicia Rashad, Edie Falco, Oliver Platt, and Rosie Perez. ~ Jeremy Wheeler, Rovi
- Starring:
- Christopher Walken
Ntozake Shange's Obie Award-winning play exploring the plight of black women makes the leap from stage to screen with this ensemble drama directed by Tyler Perry, and starring Janet Jackson, Loretta Devine, Hill Harper, Thandie Newton, Whoopi Goldberg, Kerry Washington, and Macy Gray. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kimberly Elise, Janet Jackson, (more)
When NBA All-Star Scott McKnight (Common) suffers a debilitating injury, tough-talking physical therapist Leslie Wright (Queen Latifah) pulls out all the stops to get him back on his game. But their professional relationship turns personal when Leslie finds herself falling for Scott, and discovers the feeling may be mutual. Paula Patton co-stars in a romantic comedy penned by Michael Elliot and directed by Sanaa Hamri. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Common, Queen Latifah, (more)
- 2010
- R
As directed by Geoffrey Sax and co-scripted by a team of writers that includes Cheryl Edwards, Marko King, Mary King, and Anna Waterhouse, this earnest psychological drama relays the real-life story of Frankie Murdoch (here portrayed by Halle Berry), a troubled young woman suffering from multiple personality disorder in early '70s Los Angeles. Phylicia Rashad and Chandra Wilson co-star. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi
- Starring:
- Halle Berry, Stellan Skarsgård, (more)
Sean Combs, Phylicia Rashad, Audra McDonald, Sanaa Lathan, and John Stamos all return to reprise the roles they originally played on Broadway in this made for television take on Lorraine Hansbury's timeless play about a 1950s-era Chicago family longing for a better life. Walter Lee has died, and now his widow Lena Younger (Rashad) is about to receive a $10,000 check from her late-husband's insurance company. Everyone in the family dreams about the ways their lives will be changed with the arrival of the money, family matriarch Lena - who longs to retire from her job as a domestic servant for a wealthy white family - in particular. Having lived in a one room tenement apartment ever since she and her late husband originally married, Lena is eager to purchase a house of her own and provide her family with a real home. Lena's son Walter Lee, Jr. (Combs), currently employed as a chauffer, and has recently become taken with the idea of purchasing a liquor store as a means of solving his family's financial woes. Like her mother-in-law, Walter's wife Ruth (McDonald) is also a domestic servant for a white family, and dreams of the day she can walk away from her job. While Walter's sister Beneatha (Lathan) strives to become a medical professional, tuition is expensive and she is currently being pursued by two men - wealthy but superficial George Murchison (Sean Patrick Thomas) and intellectual classmate Joseph Asagai (David Oyelowo). Much to everyone's surprise, Lena uses the lion's share of the money to purchase a home in the all-white residential neighborhood of Cllaybourne, splitting the remainder between Walter (for his entrepreneurial endeavor) and Beneatha (for tuition). Around the same time Walter loses his share of the inheritance to a smooth talking con man who claimed he could help finance the liquor store, the Claybourne "home improvement" association makes the discovery that the Youngers are black and sends emissary Mr. Lindner (John Stamos) to try prevent their neighborhood from becoming integrated by buying the house back. Now faced with the prospect of losing it all, Walter considers making a deal with Mr. Lindner in order to recover his losses. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sean Combs, Audra McDonald, (more)
- 2003
Organized by New York's Museum of Television and Radio, this impressively assembled tribute to the funny women boasts a stellar all-female cast, drawn from half a century's worth of video entertainment. Hosted by Megan Mullally (Will & Grace), the special uses rare film clips and interviews to pay homage to such iconic figures as Mary Tyler Moore, Carol Burnett, Bea Arthur, and especially the woman who started it all, Lucille Ball. A number of veteran comediennes are in attendance, along with the newer crop of "girls." Amidst the hilarity, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss (Seinfeld) offers a poignant paean to the late Gilda Radner. Great Women of Television and Comedy was originally broadcast by NBC -- which may explain the preponderance of guest stars from that network's then-current sitcom manifest. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2002
In this followup to the first-season episode "Tough Love", Phylicia Rashad and Erica Gimpel) return in the roles of journalist Elizabeth Jessup and Elizabeth's daughter Sydney (whose own daughter Beth, originally played by Melissa Lee Andrew, is here enacted by Lauren Robinson). Though Elizabeth had overcome her alcoholism with the help of angel Monica (Roma Downey) several years before, she has curiously chosen not to mention this life-altering experience in her memoirs. In fact, when Monica returns for a visit, Elizabeth is downright hostile. Ultimately, Angel of Death Andrew (John Dye) gently informs Elizabeth that she hasn't much time left to come to terms with her past--if not for herself, then at least for the sake of her loved ones. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 2001
The Harlem Renaissance of the 1940s serves as the backdrop for this small-screen adaptation of John Henry Redwood's play as directed by Debbie Allen. The aptly-named Husband (Bumper Robinson) has come to New York City from down South to find his old flame Lou Bessie (Crystal R. Fox), who has thrown off the shackles of her old life in favor of the pace and excitement of the city. Needing a place to stay, Husband boards with Elizabeth (Phylicia Rashad) and Quilly (Allen), two sisters from the South with family trauma in their past. As he realizes that Lou Bessie no longer has any use for her old life, Husband starts up a May-December romance with Elizabeth, much to the consternation of Quilly. The Old Settler was brought to director Allen's attention by her sister Rashad, who optioned the play and signed on as executive producer. It premiered as part of PBS' Hollywood Presents series in 2001. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Phylicia Rashad, Debbie Allen, (more)
A cast of distinguished veterans and promising newcomers headline this stark prison drama from first-time writer-director Jordan Walker-Pearlman. Hill Harper stars as embittered inmate Alex, sentenced to serve time for a rape he claims that he didn't commit. His link to the outside world is his upper-middle class bother Tony (Obba Babatunde), the only family member who's come to visit him in the half-decade he's been in jail. On his latest visit, Alex pleads with Tony to have the rest of the family visit him, admitting that he's in the final stages of his battle with AIDS. Through flashbacks, dream sequences, and real-time encounters, Alex interacts with the people who have shaped his life -- his parents (Marla Gibbs and Billy Dee Williams), his old friend (Rae Dawn Chong), and his therapist (Phylicia Rashad) -- and attempts to overcome the seething anger and resentment that have punctuated his time in prison. The Visit was greeted with much acclaim when it premiered at the 2000 Method Fest Independent Film Festival. ~ Michael Hastings, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hill Harper, Obba Babatunde, (more)
- 1999
Made especially for the Showtime cable network, this touching drama stars Sidney Poitier and his daughter Sydney Poitier, respectively, as a prominent New York businessman and the feisty, troubled teen he mentors. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Sidney Poitier, Sydney Poitier, (more)
- 1999
- R
- Add Loving Jezebel to Queue
Writer-director Kwyn Bader debuts with this romantic comedy about finding the right woman at the wrong time. Theodorus (Hill Harper) has a knack for falling for "Jezebels," women who are already involved with someone else. His romantic misadventures begin in Kindergarten and continue with a platonic relationship with beautiful acting student Frances (Nicole Ari Parker), a fling with a teddy bear-obsessed lass, and a passionate crush on fledgling poet and very married Samantha (Laurel Holloman). Loving Jezebel was screened at the 1999 Chicago Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Hill Harper, Nicole Ari Parker, (more)
- 1996
- PG
- Add Once Upon a Time...When We Were Colored to Queue Add Once Upon a Time...When We Were Colored to top of Queue
Actor Tim Reid (WKRP in Cincinnati) made his directorial debut with this filmed adaptation of Clifton L. Taulbert's autobiography. Set in an African-American community in the segregated South, Once Upon a Time...When We Were Colored follows a young Taulbert through three decades, beginning with his birth in a cotton field in 1946. As he grows up, Taulbert is faced with the harsh realities of being black in the mid-20th century: first from the lessons of his great-grandfather (Al Freeman Jr.), later in his trips to the local segregated library, and finally in 1962, when a 16-year-old Taulbert watches as his community deals with a racist white business owner trying to run a local black ice man out of town. Once Upon a Time...When We Were Colored was the recipient of the Audience Choice Award at the 1995 St. Louis International Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, Rovi
In this suspenseful drama, a babysitter learns that she may be marked for murder by her best employer, a man whose wife was recently killed. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Keri Russell, Stephen Collins, (more)
Kirstie Alley earned a Golden Globe nomination for her performance in this moving made-for-TV drama. She plays Sally Goodson, the devoted mother of autistic child David. Abandoned by her husband years before, Sally has sacrificed much for her son but has felt it in his best interest. One of the key things she accomplished was keeping her son out of the institution that the government feels is in his best interest. Unfortunately, she could not avoid "the System" forever and when a well-meaning social worker learns that the boy is still in Sally's care, a heated battle ensues. ~ Sandra Brennan, Rovi
- Starring:
- Kirstie Alley, Sam Waterston, (more)
- 1994
Monica (Roma Downey) assumes the role of personal assistant to Elizabeth Jessup (Phylicia Rashad), a celebrated journalist who is plagued with alcoholism. Though Elizabeth's excessive drinking has caused serious damage to her relationship with daughter Sydney (Erica Gimpel) and granddaugther Beth (Melissa Lee Andrew), she refuses to admit she has a problem, and is infuriated when Sydney arranges an intervention by Anita (Donna Bullock), a counselor at the New Hope Center. The situation deteriorates to the point that only a potential tragedy can reunite the family--and almost as if on cue, Beth is trapped in a fire caused by Elizabeth! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
The eighth and final season of The Cosby Show opens with a shocker for obstetrician Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) and his attorney wife, Clair (Phylicia Rashad). It seems that the couple's daughter Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe), who'd graduated from high school a year early and has been attending Lincoln University since the beginning of season seven, has for the past six months been engaged to the university's maintenance man Dabnis Brickley (William Thomas Jr.) -- who is a dozen years older than she! At first, Cliff and Clair are cold to Dabnis, suspecting his motives, but before long the level-headed working man wins their confidence and respect. In addition to William Thomas Jr., child actors Gary Gray and Jessica Vaughn join the cast as Nelson and Winnie Tibideaux, the twin children of Cliff and Clair's oldest daughter, Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf), and her husband, Elvin (Geoffrey Owens). (The twins had previously been played by other children in one-shot appearances; now they can qualify as "regulars.") Absent this season is Lisa Bonet as the Huxtables' daughter Denise, and (except for one episode) Joseph C. Phillips as her husband, Naval lieutenant Martin Kendall; it is explained that the Kendalls have moved to Singapore, where Martin has been stationed -- and that because of Navy rules and regulations, their daughter, Olivia (Raven-Symone), must stay behind with Cliff and Clair. Of the remaining Huxtable children, youngest daughter Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam) is still at home, and Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) is still attending college, living near campus. Also, the Huxtable household remains the temporary domicile of 18-year-old Pam Turner (Erika Alexander), Clair's second cousin once removed, who keeps in close contact with her friends from her old Bedford-Stuyvestant neighborhood, and is now contemplated a college career herself. The series' now-legendary final episode is an hour-long affair honoring Theo's graduation from college, ending with Cliff and Clair acknowledging the presence of the studio audience for the first (and last) time in The Cosby Show's eight-year history. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, (more)
- 1991
The made-for-TV Jailbirds is a distaff comedy variation on The Defiant Ones. Phylicia Rashad plays an important LA business executive, while Dyan Cannon portrays a trailer-trash babe from Louisiana. Both Rashad and Cannon are thrown into a dank Southern jail for crimes they didn't commit. While manacled together, the ladies escape, driving each other cuckoo as they elude their captors. Apparently, CBS had so little faith in Jailbirds that the network hardly bothered to advertise the film went it premiered May 16, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1991
Mother Goose is a favorite of parents and children alike. Actress Phylicia Rashad brings these nursery rhymes to life. The viewer watches a cast of children and animals perform such favorites as "Old Mother Hubbard", "This Little Pig", "Old King Cole", and "Three Little Kittens". Also, the work of the stage crew is shown, to help children understand that there is more to a play than what is seen from the audience. Composer Jason Miles provides music to accompany each of the 36 nursery rhymes. ~ Linda J. Shriver, Rovi
So here are the conditions that prevail as The Cosby Show enters its seventh season. Obstetrician Cliff Huxtable (Bill Cosby) and his attorney wife, Clair (Phylicia Rashad) are still happily married, still living in the upscale Brooklyn brownstone that also serves as Cliff's office. Their youngest daughter, Rudy (Keshia Knight Pulliam), is the only one of the couple's five children still living at home: both daughters Sondra (Sabrina Le Beauf) and Denise (Lisa Bonet) are married and raising families; son Theo (Malcolm-Jamal Warner) is attending New York College and living near campus in a tiny apartment; and daughter Vanessa (Tempestt Bledsoe) had graduated from high school a year earlier, and is about to start her freshman year at Lincoln University. This season, the series' humor, which has usually been at a gentle middle-American level, takes on a sharper and sometimes more caustic edge with the introduction of several new characters from the tough Bed-Stuy section of Brooklyn. In the episode "Period of Adjustment," 17-year-old Pam Turner (Erika Alexander), Clair Huxtable's second cousin once removed, moves out of her inner-city neighborhood when her mom leaves for California to take care of a sick relative, and moves into the Huxtable home. Also coming along for the ride -- at least on an occasional drop-in basis -- are Pam's neighborhood pals Slide (Mushond Lee), Charmaine (Karen Malina White), and Lance (Allen Payne). For the first time in five years, The Cosby Show was not America's top-rated series during season seven. However, it did manage a respectable fifth place -- ironically, just below its spin-off series, A Different World. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Bill Cosby, Phylicia Rashad, (more)
- 1990
In Mufaro's Beautiful Daughters, written by John Steptoe, two lovely women in Africa go before a king to see which will be chosen for a wife. Will it be the grumpy, ill-tempered one or the pleasant, mild-mannered one? This episode of the Reading Rainbow series features Phylicia Rashad as the guest reader, while host LeVar Burton gets lessons in how to play African instruments. The program highlights African culture, visits Central Park in New York, and watches a group known as "Forces of Nature" perform a lively dance number. ~ Alice Day, Rovi
- Starring:
- LeVar Burton
- 1990
This medical instructional video is produced by the American Red Cross. Taking the viewer first through a twenty-question test on proper procedures for life-threatening medical emergencies, with an included test score card, the video then shows the recommended medical procedures for each depicted Emergency. ~ Tana Hobart, Rovi
- 1990
Phylicia Rashad once again makes a "crossover" appearance from The Cosby Show in the role of Clair Huxtable, This time, Clair has arrived at Hillman College to videotape the students as they go through the motions of professional interviews and discuss their plans for the future. Skipping out of this project to focus on an archaeology assignment, Freddie (Cree Summer) learns a surprising (and life-altering) secret about Hillman when she stumbles upon a hidden room in the cellar. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
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