Zara Cully - wikipedia Zara Cully Zara Cully Cully ( right ) as Mother Jefferson on the CBS sitcom The Jeffersons, 1975. Zara Frances Cully ( 1892 - 01 - 26 ) January 26, 1892 Worcester, Massachusetts, U.S. February 28, 1978 ( 1978 - 02 - 28 ) ( aged 86 ) Los Angeles, California, U.S. Cause of death Lung cancer Resting place Forest Lawn Memorial Park ( Hollywood, California ) Other names Zara Cully -- Brown Occupation Actress Years active 1919 -- 1978 Known for Mother Jefferson -- The Jeffersons Spouse ( s ) James M. Brown, Sr. ( m. 1914 ; d. 1968 ) Children Zara Frances Cully ( January 26, 1892 -- February 28, 1978 ) was an American actress. Cully was best known for her role as Olivia `` Mother Jefferson '' Jefferson on the CBS sitcom The Jeffersons, which she portrayed from the series beginning in 1975 until her death in 1978. Contents 1 Early life and career 2 The Jeffersons 3 Death 4 References 5 External links Early Life and career Born in Worcester, Massachusetts, on January 26, 1892, Cully was one of ten siblings. She graduated from the Worcester School of Speech and Music, and was one of the oldest performers active in television at the time of her death. In 1940, after an appearance in New York City she became known as `` one of the world 's greatest elocutionists ''. After moving to Jacksonville, Florida, she began producing, writing, directing, and acting in numerous plays. For 15 years she was a drama teacher at her own studio as well as at Edward Waters College, and had become known as Florida 's `` Dean of Drama '' before her inability or unwillingness to adapt to the then - prevailing social customs in the South directed her decision to leave for Hollywood, where she became a regular performer at the Ebony Showcase Theatre. By the time she acquired the role of ' Mother ' Jefferson, she had accumulated a long list of acting credentials spanning a half - century, including such movies as The Liberation of L.B. Jones ( 1970 ), a starring role in Brother John ( 1971 ), and the Blaxploitation films Sugar Hill ( 1974 ) and Darktown Strutters ( 1975 ). Her TV career went back to what critics call ' the golden age of television ' including appearances on the highly acclaimed Playhouse 90 series. Aside from The Jeffersons, her television credits included The People Next Door ( CBS Playhouse ), Run for Your Life ( NBC Matinee Theater ), Cowboy in Africa, The Name of the Game, Mod Squad, Night Gallery, and All in the Family ( in a 1974 appearance in which she originated the `` Mother Jefferson '' role, which she then carried over to The Jeffersons, when that show spun off ). The Jeffersons Cully 's first appearance as ' Mother ' Olivia Jefferson was in a guest appearance on an episode of All in the Family entitled `` Lionel 's Engagement '' which aired February 9, 1974. She was 82 years old at the time. All three actors who portrayed Tom, Helen, and Jenny Willis on that episode were replaced with different actors by the time The Jeffersons became a spin - off on January 18, 1975, but Cully was kept on as Mother Jefferson. During the first 17 episodes of the third season of The Jeffersons, she was absent due to a severe case of pneumonia caused by a collapsed lung. Upon her recovery she returned to the show. Her last credited performance was an appearance in the ninth episode of the fourth season entitled `` The Last Leaf '', which aired November 12, 1977, three months before her death. No special episode was created to center on her death, but it was addressed in the second episode of the fifth season entitled `` Homecoming ( pt 1 ) '', which aired September 27, 1978, seven months after her actual death. Death Cully died at the Cedars - Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on February 28, 1978 from lung cancer, aged 86. Services were held on March 2, 1978 at the Church of Christian Fellowship, in Los Angeles. She was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park ( Glendale ) in the Freedom Mausoleum, Columbarium of Victory. In attendance were the cast and crew of The Jeffersons, including show producer Norman Lear. She was survived by a brother, Wendell Cully ; two surviving children : Mrs. Mary Gale `` Polly '' Buggs ( wife of John A. Buggs, then - Deputy Director of the U.S. Civil Rights Commission, 1917 - 2005 ) and Emerson T. Brown, ( 1925 - 1980 ), as well as four grandchildren and two great grandchildren. She was preceded in death by her husband of 54 years, James M. Brown, Jr., ( 1888 - 1968 ), and two children, James M. Brown III, ( 1915 - 1972 ), and a baby daughter ( who died in 1919 ). She was posthumously awarded an NAACP special Image Award on June 9, 1978, at the 11th Annual NAACP Award ceremony. References Jump up ^ St. Petersburg Times, March 1, 1978, pg. 11B Jump up ^ Jet Magazine, March 16, 1978, pg. 54 Jump up ^ Los Angeles Times, June 22, 1956, pg. 23 Jump up ^ Ebony Magazine, January, 1976, pg. 115. Jump up ^ Sarasota Herald - Tribune, March 1, 1978, pg. 12 - A. Jump up ^ The Milwaukee Journal, February 6, 1977, pg. 6 Jump up ^ Ocala Star - Banner, February 24, 1977, pg. 6A Jump up ^ Zara Cully ( 1892 - 1978 ) Find A Grave Memorial Jump up ^ Sepia, Volume 27, Issues 7 -- 12, 1978, pg. 12 Jump up ^ The Afro American, March 11, 1978, pg. 11 Jump up ^ The Schenectady Gazette, March 1, 1978, pg. 26 Jump up ^ Jet Magazine, June 8, 1978, pg. 60 External links Zara Cully on IMDb Zara Cully at Find a Grave ISNI : 0000 0000 4351 9436 VIAF : 34025162 Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zara_Cully&oldid=845337456 '' Categories : 1892 births 1978 deaths African - American actresses American stage actresses American film actresses American television actresses Actresses from Worcester, Massachusetts Actresses from Jacksonville, Florida Deaths from cancer in California Deaths from lung cancer Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park ( Glendale ) 20th - century American actresses Hidden categories : Use mdy dates from June 2013 Articles with hCards Find a Grave template with ID same as Wikidata Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français Italiano Edit links This page was last edited on 11 June 2018, at 03 : 43 ( UTC ). 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Question: who played florence's mother on the jeffersons
Answer: Zara Frances Cully