Who plays Mrs. Kirkland on The Gilded Age, and where have you seen her before?

Mrs. Kirkland on The Gilded Age is played by Phylicia Rashad (often searched as “Felicia Rashad”), the two-time Tony winner and Emmy-nominated actor best known worldwide as Clair Huxtable on The Cosby Show and for film/voice turns including the Creed series and Pixar’s Soul.

The Gilded Age, created by Julian Fellowes, streams Sundays on HBO and Max in the U.S., with new episodes at 9 p.m. ET. In Season 3, Mrs. Kirkland arrives as a formidable Newport matriarch from a long-established Black elite family. She is the mother of Dr. William Kirkland (Jordan Donica) and the wife of Frederick Kirkland (Brian Stokes Mitchell), a respected pastor.

Who portrays Mrs. Kirkland & why does she look familiar

Mrs. Kirkland is portrayed by Phylicia Rashad (also commonly typed as Felicia Rashad), a Houston-born star (born June 19, 1948) and Howard University alumna. She is 77.

Rashad’s landmark TV role was Clair Huxtable (1984–92), followed by recent screen work in Creed (2015), Creed II (2018), Creed III (2023), This Is Us, Empire, and The Good Fight. On stage, she is a two-time Tony Award winner and one of Broadway’s most honored actors.

Personal background: As per a people report dated March 10, 2024, Rashad has two children, William Lancelot Bowles III (born in 1973) and Condola Rashad (born in 1986). Phylicia Rashad was previously married to William Lancelot Bowles Jr., Victor Willis, and Ahmad Rashad.

Colleagues often note Rashad’s grounding presence. As per a Vulture interview (August 4, 2025), Jordan Donica stated,

“Phylicia was great because she feels like all of our mothers.”

As per IMDb, her birth name is Phylicia Ayers-Allen, and she stands 5′6″. She comes from a creative family: her mother, Vivian Elizabeth Ayers, is a Pulitzer-nominated poet and art director, and her father, Andrew Arthur Allen, was an orthodontist.

With older brother Andrew (“Tex”), sister Debbie Allen, and brother Hugh Allen, she spent part of her childhood in Mexico, where the family moved so the children could avoid the segregation prevalent in 1950s Texas.

As a result, Phylicia and Debbie speak Spanish fluently. A Howard University graduate, she later returned to teach drama there. Debbie founded the production company D.A.D. (Doctor Allen’s Daughters).

A memorable public moment came when Ahmad Rashad proposed to her on live television during an NFL Thanksgiving halftime broadcast; she accepted on air, later marrying O.J. Simpson as best man and Bill Cosby escorting her. Former spouse Victor Willis was the lead singer of The Village People.

Mrs. Kirkland’s role in Season 3: plot, episodes, collaborators

Introduced in Newport society in Season 3, Mrs Kirkland is positioned as a gatekeeper within the Black elite- “essentially the Mrs Astor of this community,” as coverage of Episode 3 explained, setting high expectations for her son’s marriage. Her husband, Frederick Kirkland, is a prominent pastor, and her son, Dr. William Kirkland, courts Peggy Scott.

The tension centers on class, colorism, and activism: Mrs Kirkland, descended from generations of free Black Northerners, disapproves of Peggy’s heritage and public campaigning; when she learns of Peggy’s relinquished child, she tries to end the match.

Cast connections amplify the storyline’s weight: the Newport dinner that brings the families together pairs Broadway legends Audra McDonald and Brian Stokes Mitchell, reuniting decades after Ragtime.

Season 3 explicitly explores colorism within Black high society. As per a TV Insider report (July 7, 2025), Denée Benton stated,

"If you’re watching Black films, I do think that it’s something within our community you can’t ignore because it’s just something that’s in the texture of everything, but to see it in this context I think is really interesting,"

More about The Gilded Age

Created by Julian Fellowes, The Gilded Age dramatizes the clash between entrenched “old money” and assertive “new money,” while weaving in documented figures and events. Season 3 broadens that tapestry to Newport’s Black bourgeoisie.

In the U.S., new episodes air Sundays at 9 p.m. ET on HBO and stream on Max. Season 3 premiered on June 22, 2025. The Season 3 finale is scheduled for Sunday, August 10, 2025 (9 p.m. ET) on HBO/Max.

Key producers/directors (Season 3): Creator/writer/EP Julian Fellowes. EPs Gareth Neame, David Crockett, Michael Engler, Salli Richardson-Whitfield, Sonja Warfield, and Bob Greenblatt, with Engler and Richardson-Whitfield among the principal directors.

Stay tuned for more updates.