Roxie Albertha Roker

 Roxie Albertha Roker (August 28, 1929 – December 2, 1995)

She was best known for her role as Helen Willis on the CBS sitcom The Jeffersons (1975–1985), half of the first interracial couple to be shown on regular prime time television. She 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. She appeared in guest starring roles on many United States 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, 227, and Beat the Clock. She also had a role 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. She was married to television producer Sy Kravitz in 1962. Before their divorce in 1985, the couple had a son, singer-songwriter and actor Lenny Kravitz. Roker was the paternal grandmother of actress Zoë Kravitz and the cousin of Al Roker. Roker died in Los Angeles, California, on December 2, 1995, of breast cancer at the age of 66. She is interred at Southern Memorial Park in North Miami, Florida.