Russell & Anna Huxtable (Cliff's parents)

Russell Dean Huxtable and Anna Simmons Huxtable are Cliff's parents, who appear as recurring characters on The Cosby Show. The part of Russell Huxtable was played on the series by veteran actor Earle Hyman, while the part of Anna wass played by late veteran stage/TV/film actress Clarice Taylor.

About Cliff's parents
Anna and Russell were originally from North Carolina, before moving to Philadelphia and, later, New Jersey. Russell was a touring musician in the "Jazz Caravan", playing the trombone, earning the nickname "Slide" Huxtable. Anna is presumed to have been a housewife and mother, as Russell was on the road for many months out of the year. They, as well as Cliff and Clair, and Clair's parents, attended the civil rights March on Washington in 1963.

Russell apparently served in the Army, as evidenced in the portrait of him and Anna on their wedding day given to them on their anniversary. Russell is wearing an Army uniform. Also, Russell shares Army war stories along with his friends Homer Dobson and Boswell Stokes in the Season 3 episode "War Stories".

In the second and third seasons of the series, Cliff and his family organized "entertainment" for his parents' anniversaries, in the form of lip-sync and dance routines to Ray Charles's "The Night Time (Is the Right Time)" in Season 2, and James Brown's "I Got the Feeling" in Season 3. These are among the best-known, and most popular, episodes of the series, especially the first one. As Cliff's parents, the characters are also shown to take an authoritive role over him at times during their visits, especially his father, much to the amusement of the Huxtable children.

Russell and Anna are named after Bill Cosby's brother and mother. The parts of Russell and Anna, Clifford's parents, are played by veteran actor Earle Hyman and actress Clarice Taylor.