Character

Clair Olivia Hanks Huxtable

Clair Olivia Hanks Huxtable in The Cosby Show (1984), played by Phylicia Rashad.

Clair Huxtable is a partner at a Brooklyn law firm and the sharp-tongued anchor of the Huxtable household, mother to five children and wife to Cliff. She runs the house with wit, warmth, and zero patience for foolishness, delivering discipline and affection in the same breath while never missing a beat at work.

Rashad plays Clair with an effortless authority that never curdles into stiffness — she can dismantle a child's excuse or a husband's joke with the same arched eyebrow. The writing lets her be brilliant, funny, and tender without choosing between them, and Rashad's precise comic timing made that balance look completely natural.

Played by

Appears in

The Cosby Show1984