It's Alive. It's Alive: Claire Huxtable, Dr. Cosby's Monster.

Phylicia Rashad as Claire Huxtable

What can be said about Claire Huxtable, the iconic wife and mother of long-running, “The Cosby Show", played by Phylicia Rashad? She is gorgeous: a career woman who birthed five kids and in her 40s can still fit into a size 6 dress. She wakes up every morning with her face already made up and her hair already done. She cooks in designer clothes and cleans while wearing four-inch heels and pearls. Claire Huxtable is perfect. Her legacy as the first Black television mother to portray old-money lady-like charm and grace, without any hint of snudiness or pretention, has endured for almost thirty years. "The Cosby Show" is in mass syndication nearly three decades after its debut, and much of the show’s popularity can be attributed greatly to "Claire Huxtable."




But Claire Huxtable ins't real. She is a creation, based on and modeled after Dr. Cosby-not Bill, but Camille.



Few people know Camille Cosby; besides hearing her name in Alicia Keys' "Unbreakable", many have no point of reference for Camille. The reason for this illusiveness is that in the early stages of her husband's career, she elected to stay behind the scenes. After the family's financial manager ripped them off in the early 80s, Camille stepped in to become the family CEO and guide her husband's career.




Bill and Camille Cosby

 Perhaps her greatest touch can be found in Claire Huxtable. In the world of sit-coms, all characters come from "somewhere." The similarities between the two women are too much to be a coincidence. Camille Cosby is beautiful. So is Claire Huxtable. Camille's maiden name is Hanks. So is Claire Huxtable's. Camille is a triple-threat: mother/wife/career women. So is Claire Huxtable. Camille raised five kids-four daughters and one son. So did Claire Huxtable. Camille is married to Bill Cosby. So is Claire Huxtable.




To many of us, Claire Huxtable in the form of Phylicia Rashad is Bill Cosby's wife. Years ago, I myself was taken aback to learn that the two were not actually married. But in essence they are, as the very being of Camille Cosby was extracted from her real life and placed into the character.



It was important for Camille to be portrayed by an actress who could capture the image that the Cosby's hoped to project on the show. In an interview with Oprah in 2000, Camille Cosby said that people will identify with what they see on TV because it feels real to them. In the spirit of that realness, the Cosby's gave the Black viewing world a gift: a woman who lifted the thoughts of a nation. In a family, it is the woman who has the burden to impart culture and knowledge. As TV's first family for eight seasons, Claire Huxtable imparted to the nation knowledge of Black families that destroyed all stereotypes and culture that instilled pride. Claire Huxtable mothered the ideals of a generation, and thanks to syndication those ideals are still alive.



Now, in a time when women like Claire Huxtable only exist on Nick at Nite and TV Land, it is hard to imagine that such a woman could exist in real life. Well, such women do exist. If one were to ever need proof, just look up Camille Cosby.

James Jones






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