
Photo: CBS Television / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Roxie Roker deserves to be remembered for far more than her famous descendants. A Howard University graduate who moved from journalism into theatre and television, she became known as Helen Willis on The Jeffersons and earned a Tony nomination for The River Niger on Broadway. To hold the stage with that kind of dignity in an era of far heavier racial barriers took real courage, and that is the legacy I find most worth honoring. Yes, she was Lenny Kravitz's mother and Zoë Kravitz's grandmother, but her own steady, trailblazing career is the through-line that earned that family its artistry.
Overview
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.
Summary adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Roxie Roker
- Name (Japanese)
- ロキシー・ローカー
- Reading
- ろきしー・ろーかー
- Born
- August 28, 1929 – December 2, 1995
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Virgo / Snake
- Origin
- Miami, Florida, United States
- Blood type
- Private
- Height
- Private
- Agency
- Private
- Occupation
- actor / television actor / journalist / film actor
2. Background
- Elementary school
- Private
- Junior high
- Private
- High school
- Private
- University
- Howard University
3. Relationships
- Spouse
- Private
- Children
- Private
- Parents
- Private
- Siblings
- Private
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
- Wikipedia (Japanese)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roxie%20Roker
Actor — see all → · Television actor — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public items are marked "Private / Unknown". English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.