362:, disparaging and antagonistic mother-in-law to Louise, while appearing to be a sweet old lady to everyone else. Mother Jefferson is a stereotypical mother-in-law who thinks her daughter-in-law isn't good enough for George. She would frequently torment Louise by criticizing her cooking, her age or her overall character, but Louise frequently came back at her with a witty albeit sarcastic response. (On a couple of rare occasions, however, Mother Jefferson sides with Louise, when she takes offense at George's boorish or sexist behavior .) In the January 1976 episode "Mother Jefferson's Birthday", it is revealed that Olivia Jefferson was born in February 1901 and that she has a younger sister, Emma, who was born in 1906. On February 9, 1951, both sisters were in a church bingo game in which the prize was an electric blanket, but they quarreled over which card won the prize and didn't speak to each other for 25 years. After her husband was killed in an accident, Olivia supported her two sons by working as a domestic. A long-running gag had Mother Jefferson blissfully ignorant of how much alcohol she actually consumes, usually in the form of a
422:) is the Jeffersons' wisecracking maid. Her first appearance is in the pilot episode, when she was interviewed and hired as the Jeffersons' housekeeper. She is lazy and not especially good at her job, and she regularly bickers with George, who repeatedly complains about Florence's laziness and cooking, paying her very little (in one episode, he says her cooking tastes like dog food; she replies it should because she's "cooking for a chihuahua"). Several times he was on the verge of firing her, but Louise, who thinks of Florence as one of the family, forces him not to. Originally a
399:. At first, George often disapproved of Jenny loving Lionel merely because she is biracial, or as George called her, a "zebra". However, after George discovered Jenny was pregnant with his grandchild, he changed his ways and became much more accepting of her. In 1976, Jenny married Lionel, though they divorced in 1985 after nine years of marriage. She and Lionel have a daughter named Jessica, played by Erin Hollin and Leslie Hollin (seasons 6–8) and later by Ebonie Smith (seasons 10–11).
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appearance on the parent show, Tom states that they had met "his" kind—black and white—and they always handled it. His daughter, Jenny Willis (who more resembles her mother in skin color), marries George's son, Lionel, in 1976. He develops a strong relationship with Jenny, but was never close to his "white" son, Allan Willis (
483:. He is known as a kind, gentle fellow, but George mostly finds him to be weird and annoying, frequently slamming the door in his face. A running gag involved George helping Bentley with his back spasms by walking on Bentley's back. Bentley often tells stories about his childhood in England and his bizarre family.
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Cully had been absent from the first 17 episodes of the third season because of a serious case of pneumonia caused by a collapsed lung. Upon recovering, she returned for a few episodes, noticeably thinner and more frail. She died early in the fourth season, and the writers decided to eliminate Mother
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In an early third-season episode, Florence becomes the
Jeffersons' full-time maid, taking Lionel's room after he marries Jenny and finds a place of his own. At first, George refused to allow Florence to move in, but she helped him escape a sham financial deal with a couple of con artists, and George
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and president of his publishing company, Pelham
Publishers. He lives a content life with his wife Helen. Tom is white and Helen is black, which often makes them the butt of George's insults and jokes. Tom and Helen, however, have both learned to ignore the bigotry of their neighbor. In their initial
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after Tom's father dies. Allan is left the
Fortune Warehouse in the will and the relationship between Tom and Allan becomes very cold because of his "happy-go-lucky" attitude. Allan is well known for his sharp rebuttals to George's insults and his well-rounded personality. After the 1978–79 season,
182:, calls Helen and Tom "zebras" or "chocolate and vanilla". Helen often strikes back by calling George "shorty". In the fourth season, Helen works with Louise as volunteers at the Help Center, a social services facility, which opened in 1977. Helen and Tom have two children: Jennifer "Jenny" Willis (
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As the series went on (particularly after Lionel and Jenny married), George and Tom eventually became good friends, though George continued to make jokes about Tom's weight. Sherman
Hemsley felt that it would be insulting to continue the racially themed insults after the characters became friends.
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episode entitled "Jenny's Low" (aired on April 12, 1975), in which Allan returns from Europe, and is treated coldly by his sister. Jenny harbors jealousy of Allan as he turned out to be "white". They eventually reconcile. Beginning with the
560:(Ernest Harden Jr.) is George's young employee at Jefferson Cleaners. Marcus grew up in a rough neighborhood and steals a jacket from the store on his first day, blaming it on his station in life. However, he becomes a trusted worker.
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Tom is a caring person, but often dominated by his wife. He is known to be a horrible dancer, as indicated in a few episodes. He also reluctantly goes along with George's constant schemes, but generally prefers to be left out of them.
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woman (as Gibbs is in real life), Florence never kept a long relationship with men. In a second-season episode, Florence contemplates suicide but is talked out of it by George, who shows his humanity despite his gruff exterior.
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Jefferson's character rather than to replace her with a different actress. No special episode was created centering on her death, but it was briefly referenced in the second episode of the fifth season, "Homecoming (Part 1)".
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520:) is the money-crazed doorman of the high-rise Colby East apartment complex. Although he appears to be a hard-working fellow with a decent attitude, he is obsessed with receiving tips.
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532:) was supposedly a child that George and Louise has sponsored and sent money to for years. However, in their first visit with Jimmy, they realize he is an adult and a con man.
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At first, Jenny disliked her brother Allan when he came home after two years in Paris, mainly because she turned out "black" and he turned out "white", though they reconcile.
590:) is George's occasional bodyguard, who was originally hired by George to protect him from a serial mugger and career criminal nicknamed "Larry The Loon" in Season 7.
544:) owns a bar in the first-floor lobby of the Colby East apartment complex. He is usually talkative with his customers, especially the Jeffersons and the Willises.
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Benedict left the series in late 1981 at the start of the eighth season of the sitcom. The character of
Bentley was written out, saying he went to live in the
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575:) is George's store manager/employee at Jefferson Cleaners. He was born around 1938 and, though talented at managing the store, is occasionally dimwitted.
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395:) is the only daughter of Helen and Tom Willis, the younger of their two children. Jenny is an intelligent person, finishing college with her boyfriend,
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320:. Allan was also chosen to be the godfather of Jenny's daughter Jessica, but when he became snowed in, Harry Bentley was chosen as the proxy.
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The character's marriage status also paralleled Roxie Roker's real life interracial marriage between 1962 and 1985 to white Sy
Kravitz.
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Bentley lives alone, but several times brings home a lady friend. Two of
Bentley's most-talked-about ladies are Daphne and Patricia.
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178:) is Louise's best friend and George's nemesis. She has been married to Tom Willis, a white man, for 34 years. George, opposed to
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for two years. Benedict returned to the show in its final two seasons, when George becomes much friendlier to him.
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294:) is the Willises' only son and older brother of Jenny. Andrew Rubin appears as this character in
668:"The Jeffersons' Marla Gibbs Reprises Role of Florence in Surprise Live Appearance — Watch Video"
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609:"'The Jeffersons' Roxie Roker's Real-Life Interracial Marriage Was Nothing like Her TV One"
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Live in Front of a Studio
Audience: Norman Lear's All in the Family and The Jeffersons
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Hammer was fired from the show cast, and it was explained that Allan moved to
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141:. An incomplete list of these characters appears below.
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Gibbs starred as
Florence in the failed spinoff series
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59:. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
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841:Lists of American sitcom television characters
68:"List of The Jeffersons supporting characters"
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247:) because he never finished school and left
344:'s mother. Her first appearance was in the
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119:Learn how and when to remove this message
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472:next-door neighbor. Bentley works as a
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630:Lenker, Maureen Lee (May 22, 2019).
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202:Live in Front of a Studio Audience
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131:The television series
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420:Marla Gibbs
393:Lynne Moody
364:Bloody Mary
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830:Categories
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509:Ralph Hart
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309:New Mexico
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