# Roxie Roker

Roxie Albertha Roker (August 28, 1929 – December 2, 1995) was an American actress. She was best known for her portrayal of Helen Willis on the CBS sitcom The Jeffersons. In 1973, she performed as Mattie Williams in the Broadway play The River Niger, and was nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Play at the 28th Tony Awards. Roker is the mother of rock musician Lenny Kravitz and grandmother of actress Zoë Kravitz.

## Early life and education

Roker was born in Miami, Florida. Her mother, Bessie Roker (née Mitchell), was from Georgia and worked as a domestic. Her father, Albert Roker, was a porter and a native of Andros, the Bahamas. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York.
Roker studied drama at Howard University, where she was a pupil of celebrated drama teachers Anne Cooke Reid and Owen Dodson. Some of her fellow drama students at Howard included novelist Toni Morrison, actress Zaida Coles, stage director and playwright Shauneille Perry, and actor Graham Brown, all of whom were members of the university's theater troupe, the Howard Players. Roker toured with the Howard Players for performances in Norway in 1949, a trip sponsored by the United States Department of State and supported by Eleanor Roosevelt.

## Career

Roker began her professional career with the Negro Ensemble Company and became a successful stage actress. She won an Obie Award in 1974 and was nominated for a Tony Award for her portrayal of Mattie Williams in The River Niger. She was a reporter on WNEW-TV in New York in the 1970s and hosted a public affairs show for the station known as Inside Bed-Stuy, dealing with events in the Brooklyn neighborhood. Roker portrayed Helen Willis on The Jeffersons, breaking social barriers by becoming one half of the first Caucasian–African-American married couple (along with actor Franklin Cover) in a regular role on prime-time TV. She appeared as a guest star on many other American television shows from the 1970s through the 1990s, including Stone in the River starring Hal Miller for NBC, Punky Brewster, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, A Different World, Murder, She Wrote, The Love Boat, $weepstake$, 227, Beat the Clock, Fantasy Island and ABC Afterschool Specials. She had roles in the television miniseries Roots and in the movie Claudine. Roker was also a children's advocate who was cited by the city of Los Angeles for her community work.

## Personal life

Roker was married to television producer Sy Kravitz in 1962. The couple had a son, singer-songwriter and actor Lenny Kravitz (b. May 26, 1964), and divorced in 1985. Roker and weather anchor Al Roker are second cousins once removed.

## Death

Roker died in Los Angeles, California, on December 2, 1995, of breast cancer. She was 66.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1974 | Change at 125th Street | Eloise Morse | TV movie |
| 1974 | Claudine | Mrs. Winston | |
| 1975–1985 | The Jeffersons | Helen Willis | |
| 1977 | Roots | Malizy | Episode: "Part V" |
| 1977 | Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid | Mrs. Peoples | TV movie |
| 1979 | $weepstake$ | Margaret | Episode: "Roscoe, Elizabeth, and the M.C." |
| 1979 | The Bermuda Triangle | Bohamiar Radio Operator | Documentary |
| 1982 | Fantasy Island | Emily Carlisle | Episode: "The Kleptomaniac/Thank God, I'm a Country Girl" |
| 1983 | Making of a Male Model | Madge Davis | TV movie |
| 1983–1987 | ABC Afterschool Specials | Phyllis Brooks / Aunt Helen | 2 episodes |
| 1987 | Amazon Women on the Moon | Female Republican | (segment "Blacks Without Soul") |
| 1988 | Punky Brewster | Judge J.F. Taylor | 1 episode |
| 1990 | Penny Ante: The Motion Picture | | |
| 1991 | A Different World | Dean Barksdale | Episode: "Home Is Where The Fire Is" |