Empire

Season 3 FOX (*125) 21:00 Drama

Hip-hop-themed drama Empire (2015current) is adding a familiar face to its action: Phylicia Rashad plays wealthy New Yorker Diana Dubois, who isn’t happy that her councilman son Angelo Dubois (Taye Diggs) is hooking up with Cookie Lyon (Taraji P Henson). Not that family matters are new for Phylicia, who is best known as Clair Huxtable in the iconic Cosby Show (1984-1992).

The 68-year-old Texan grew up 1

in Mexico with her artist mom Vivian, orthodontist dad Andrew Allen, brothers Andrew Jr and Hugh and sister Debbie. She speaks Spanish fluently and says that her parents chose Mexico as they wanted their kids to grow up in a world without racism and segregation, which was present in Texas in the ’50s.

She doesn’t just act, Phylicia is a TV 2

producer too and owns production company DAD (Doctor Allen’s Daughters) with her actress sister Debbie, Dr Avery on medical drama show Grey’s Anatomy (2005-current) since 2011.

While she’s been lucky with work, 3

Phylicia’s love life hasn’t been as good. She’s been married three times, first to dentist William Lancelot Bowles Jr (from 1972 to 1975), then to Victor Willis, the lead singer of pop group The Village People, from 1978 to 1982. She married ex-NFL star and sports anchor Ahmad Rashad in 1985 after but they divorced in 2001.

Phylicia has two kids, son William 4

Lancelot Bowels III (43) and daughter Condola Rashad (29), who plays Kate on drama show Billions (2016-current).

She jokes that part of the reason 5

she was cast as Clair was because “I gave Theo (Malcolm Jamal-Warner) the perfect disapproving mom side-eye during the screen test and Bill [Cosby] hired me on the spot”.