Family tree Willems Hoogeloon-Best » Roxie Albertha ROKER (1929-1995)

Personal data Roxie Albertha ROKER 

• She was born on August 28, 1929 in Miami, Florida, USA.
• Profession: Actress.
• She died on December 2, 1995 in Los Angeles, California, USA, she was 66 years old.
• A child of Albert ROKER and Bessie MITCHELL

Household of Roxie Albertha ROKER

She is married to (Not public).

They got married in the year 1962, she was 32 years old.

Child(ren):

1. (Not public)

The couple were divorced in 1985.

Notes about Roxie Albertha ROKER

Roxie Albertha Roker (August 28, 1929 – December 2, 1995) was an American actress who portrayed Helen Willis on the CBS sitcom The Jeffersons (1975–1985), half of the first interracial couple to be shown on regular prime time television.[1] She is the mother of rock musician Lenny Kravitz and the grandmother of actress Zoë Kravitz.

Contents
Early life
Roker was born in Miami, Florida. Her mother, Bessie (Née Mitchell), was from Georgia and worked as a domestic. Her father, Albert Roker, was a native from Andros, The Bahamas and a porter. She later moved to The United States Of America to pursue her dream of becoming an actor.[2] She grew up in Brooklyn, New York.[1]

Career
Roker portrayed Helen Willis on The Jeffersons. 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.[1] 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.[1] 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, 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.[1]

Personal life
Roker graduated from Howard University, where she was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. She was married to television producer Sy Kravitz in 1962. The couple had a son, singer-songwriter and actor Lenny Kravitz (born May 26, 1964), and divorced in 1985.[1] Weather anchor Al Roker and Roxie Roker are first cousins once removed.[3]

Death
Roker died in Los Angeles, California, on December 2, 1995, of breast cancer at the age of 66.[4]

Filmography
Change at 125th Street (1974)
Claudine (1974)
Roots (1977)
Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid (1977)
The Bermuda Triangle (1979)
Fantasy Island (1982)
Making of a Male Model (1983)
ABC Afterschool Specials (1983 - 1987)
Amazon Women on the Moon (1987)
Penny Ante: The Motion Picture (1990)
References
"Roxie Roker, 66, Who Broke Barrier In Her Marriage on TV's 'Jeffersons'". The New York Times. Associated Press. December 6, 1995. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
Robbins, Fred, "Roxie Roker: Her Life is Not Just the Hollywood Life", The Modesto Bee, Wednesday, December 26, 1984
"Al, Lenny Kravitz discuss being distant cousins". Today. September 2, 2011. Retrieved October 21, 2014.
Santoski, Teresa (December 2, 2009). "Death anniversary of groundbreaking Bahamian American actress Roxie Roker". Nashua Telegraph. Retrieved July 3, 2010.

Do you have supplementary information, corrections or questions with regards to Roxie Albertha ROKER?
The author of this publication would love to hear from you!

Timeline Roxie Albertha ROKER

Click on the names for more info. Symbols used:  grandparents    parents    brothers/sisters    children