Career
Born in Buckingham County, Virginia but raised in Harlem, New York, Taylor was best known for her recurring role on television on The Cosby Show as Doctor Heathcliff "Cliff" Huxtable"s (Bill Cosby) mother, Anna Huxtable. She was also a regular on Nurse, played Harriet on Sesame Street, and appeared as Grady"s cousin Emma on Sanford and Son. Taylor started working in the theatre—with the American Negro Theatre—at a time when there were few opportunities for African-American actors and comedians.
To support herself she followed in the footsteps of her father, Leon B. Taylor, Senior, and went to work for the United States. Post Office.
In the 1960s she got her big break that enabled her to act full-time. While working with the Nippon Electric Corporation she got her first offer of a movie role in Change of Mind (1969).
Her next film role was as Minnie in Otto Preminger"s Tell Maine That You Love Maine, Junie Moon (1970). In 1973, she brought a role she had pioneered off-Broadway to film, playing Gladys Brooks in Five on the Blackhand Side.
Her later films included Nothing Lasts Forever (1984), Sommersby (1993), and Smoke (1995).
Taylor appeared in The Wiz as Addaperle, the Good Witch of the North. Her most recent film appearance was a small role in Wayne Wang"s film Smoke. Clarice Taylor died in Englewood, New Jersey from congestive heart failure, aged 93.
She is survived by her two adopted sons, William and James Thomas, and extended family.