Roxie Roker

Roker was born in Miami, Florida. She grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Roker studied drama at Howard University, where she was a pupil of celebrated drama teachers Anne Cooke Reid and Owen Dodson. Some of her fellow drama students at Howard included novelist Toni Morrison, actress Zaida Coles, stage director and playwright Shauneille Perry, and actor Graham Brown, all of whom were members of the university's theater troupe, the Howard Players. Roker toured with the Howard Players for performances in Norway in 1949, a trip sponsored by the United States Department of State and supported by Eleanor Roosevelt. ==Career==

Roker 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. Roker portrayed Helen Willis on The Jeffersons, breaking social barriers by becoming one half of the first Caucasian–African-American married couple (along with actor Franklin Cover) in a regular role on prime-time TV. She appeared as a guest star on many other American television shows from the 1970s through the 1990s, including Stone in the River starring Hal Miller for NBC, Punky Brewster, ''Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, Murder, She Wrote, A Different World,The Love Boat, $weepstake$, 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. ==Personal life==

Roker was married to television producer Sy Kravitz in 1962. The couple had a son, singer-songwriter and actor Lenny Kravitz (b. May 26, 1964), and divorced in 1985. ==Death==

Roker died in Los Angeles, California, on December 2, 1995, of breast cancer. She was 66. ==Filmography==