The mother of all mothers celebrates her birthday today! Phylicia “you will always be Mrs. Huxtable to us” Allen-Rashad is 64 today. This Houston, Texas native is an accomplished actress on both the television and stage. She is fluent in Spanish, a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha (AKA), and is a former drama teacher at her alma mater, Howard University. The Allen family is quite an accomplished bunch; Phylicia’s dad was a dentist and her mother a Pulitzer-nominated poet, so it is no wonder that the creative gene was passed along. In fact, Phylicia’s daughter, Condola is also a stage actress. Among her many accomplishments, Phylicia is the first black woman to win a Tony for Best (Play) Actress in 2004, which is different from winning for Best (Musical) Actress.

We salute Mrs. Huxtable and hope she has “big fun with The Retched” on her special day!