Roxy Roker
Born in 1929 in Miami, where her dad had emigrated to from The Bahamas, Roxie Roker grew up in Brooklyn, New York. She became active in theater while attending Howard University. She graduated in 1952, returned to New York and worked an office day job while appearing in several off-Broadway plays. She began her professional career with the Negro Ensemble Company. In addition to winning an Obie and a Tony nomination for acting, Roker worked as a reporter on WNEW-TV where she hosted “Inside Bed-Stuy” presenting with public affairs and events in her old Brooklyn neighborhood.
In her private life, Roker was married to Sy Kravitz, a white TV producer. In her professional life she was cast in “The Jeffersons” as Helen Willis, the wife of the first interracial couple on prime-time TV.
After “The Jeffersons” ended in 1985, Roker returned to the stage and toured with Mary Martin and Carol Channing in “Legends.”
From the 1970s through the 1990s, she guest-starred in television shows including “Punky Brewster,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “The Love Boat” and “Fantasy Island.” She also had parts in “Roots” and the film “Claudine.”
And last, but not least, of Roxie Roker’s accomplishments include her son, the rocker Lenny Kravitz, and her granddaughter, the actor Zoe Kravitz.
