In 2004, Rashād became the first African-American actress to win the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play, for her role in the revival of A Raisin in the Sun.
She resumed the role in the 2008 television adaption of A Raisin in the Sun, which earned her the 2009 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special.
Rashād was born in Houston, Texas. Her mother, Vivian Elizabeth Ayers (for whom the mother in The Fresh Prince of Bel Air was named), was a Pulitzer-prize nominated artist, poet, playwright, scholar, and publisher. Her father, Andrew Arthur Allen (d. 1984), was an orthodontist and dentist. Rashād's siblings are jazz-musician brother Tex (Andrew Arthur Allen, Jr., born 1945), sister Debbie Allen (1950), an actress, choreographer, and director, and brother Hugh Allen (a real estate banker in North Carolina). While Rashād was growing up, her family moved to Mexico, and as a result, Rashād speaks Spanish fluently.
Rashād's first marriage, in 1972, was to dentist William Lancelot Bowles, Jr. They had one son, William Lancelot Bowles III, who was born the following year. The marriage ended in 1975. Rashād then married Victor Willis (original lead singer of the Village People) in 1978. Their divorce was finalized in 1982.
She married former NFL wide receiver and sportscaster Ahmad Rashād on December 14, 1985. It was a third marriage for both of them and she took his last name. They were married after he proposed to her during a pregame show for a nationally televised Thanksgiving Dayfootball game between the New York Jets and the Detroit Lions on November 28, 1985. Their daughter, Condola Phyleia Rashād,was born on December 11, 1986 in New York City. Along with her son, William, Rashād also has three stepchildren (Ahmad's from a previous marriage): daughters Keva (born in 1970) and Maiysha (born in 1974), and son Ahmad Jr. (born in 1978). The couple divorced in early 2001, but she kept the name Rashād.
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