Franklin Edward Cover

 Franklin Edward Cover (November 20, 1928 – February 5, 2006)

Cover was an actor best known for starring in the sitcom The Jeffersons. His character, Tom Willis, was half of one of the first interracial marriages to be seen on prime-time television. His career started on the stage acting in Henry IV, Part 1 and Hamlet. He also appeared in Forty Carats with Julie Harris. He made his television debut on Naked City and later appeared on The Jackie Gleason Show. His first starring role was on The Jeffersons as Tom Willis who was married to a black woman, Helen, played by Roxie Roker. The sitcom ran from 1975 to 1985. He also appeared in The Stepford Wives in 1975, and played Hubert Humphrey in the 1982 TV movie A Woman Called Golda. Following the end of The Jeffersons, Cover continued to make guest appearances on television shows as well as appearing in a supporting role in Wall Street (1987). Cover died at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey, on February 5, 2006. He had been living at the home since December 2005 while recovering from a heart condition, and died of pneumonia. He was married from 1965 until his death, and had 2 children.