Roxie Roker – Bio, Son, Husband, Children, Parents, Family

Quick Facts

Roxie Roker is best known as a black American actress who did justice to the art of recreating reality on our screens. She was a very top actress in the mid-1900s and she is popular for the roles she played in television shows such as Hangin’ with Mr. Cooper, A Different World, Murder She Wrote, The Love Boat, 227, Beat The Clock and the mini television series Roots. She is best known for her role as Helen Willis on the CBS sitcom The Jeffersons which ran from 1975 to 1985.

Asides television series, she also starred in a couple of movies, some of which include Billy: Portrait of a Street Kid (1977), The Bermuda Triangle (1979), Making of a Male Model (1983), Amazon Women on the Moon (1987) Penny Ante: The Motion Picture (1990), and so on.

In addition to being an actress, Roxie Roker was also a television personality and a news anchor with WNEW-TV in New York. This black American actress died in 1995 of cancer but before her death, she was married to famous producer, for over 2 decades and had a son, . Lenny is also an actor in addition to being a songwriter and musician. Before her death, she wasn’t involved in any scandals rather she was recognized for her community service in Los Angeles.

Roxie Roker’s Bio

Roxie Roker was born Roxie Albertha Roker on August 28, 1929. She was born in the beautiful city of Miami, Florida, to Bennie and Alfred Roker. It is not known if she grew up with any siblings, however, we know that she was raised in Brooklyn and she is a cousin to NBC TV host . Roxie also spent some of her formative years in New York before she moved to Washington D.C to further her studies. She attended the Howard University in Washington DC where she was a part of the Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority and a member of the Howard Players. She graduated with a degree in Fine Arts.

After graduation, she moved back to New York to pursue a career in acting. Well, fate had a different plan initially. First, she got a job as personnel in NBC’s New York office. While working for NBC, she would seize every opportunity to work on stage. She worked with the Negro Ensemble Company for a while and then kicked off her acting career professionally. Roxie starred in plays like The Blacks, Ododo, Rosalee among others.

She later worked as a television presenter at WNEW-TV in New York where she anchored a show that explored happenings in Brooklyn called Inside Bedford-Stuyvesant. Roxie Roker continued acting and soon started staring in movies and television series. Today, she is best known for her role in the TV series, The Jeffersons.

Asides being a presenter and actress, Roxie was also an activist. She advocated against child abuse and neglect. Unsurprisingly, she was a board member of the Inter-Agency Council on Child Abuse and Neglect. Unfortunately, Roxie Roker was diagnosed with breast cancer and lost the battle for her life to the disease in 1995.

Family and Parents

Roxie Roker was born into the family of Bessie Mitchell and Alfred Roker. Bessie and Alfred existed in the time where America suffered from the plague of racism. Bessie was a domestic worker while Alfred was a porter. They were a poor family but a loving one who saw it needful to ensure their child had a good education. Roxie went through school – from her basic education up to tertiary level. Her mother hailed from Georgia while her father came from the Bahamas. It is not known if Roxie had any siblings as there is no record to point to that fact.

Husband, Son, Children

Roxie Roker is a mother to one child and was married once before her death. She was married to filmmaker, Sy Kravitz. It is not known when the couple met or when they started dating, however, they got married in 1962. Sy Kravitz is best known as filmmaker and news producer for NBC. With Roxie, he had a son, who is now a world famous artist and actor, Lenny Kravitz. Lenny got his name from his father’s younger brother – Leonard – who died in the Korean War. Lenny has an interesting mixture of races, he is of African, Jewish and Slavic descent.

The marriage between Roxie and Sy experienced a shipwreck due to the latter’s extramarital affairs. Ultimately, the couple was divorced in 1985 which led to a strain in the relationship between Sy and his only son with Roxie, Lenny. He (Sy Kravitz) died in 2005 from leukemia but word has it that he made his peace with his son before departing for the great beyond.

Lenny Kravitz is often referred to as a legendary musician, songwriter, music producer, and occasional actor. He always had a flair for music and he began singing at the tender age of two and grew up singing. Lenny was married to , an established Hollywood actress. However, their marriage didn’t last long as it ended in a divorce. Before the divorce, they had a daughter they called . She is the granddaughter of Roxie Roker and also a budding actress.

What was Roxie Roker’s Net Worth?

Before the death of this legendary actress, she featured in a lot of TV shows as well as films. This must have earned her a considerable amount of wealth. Asides being an actress, she was also a news anchor and television host. As at 2019, it was not certain what her net worth was and there have not been any estimations on her worth till date. It is important to note that in her lifetime, she was married to a well-to-do film producer, Sy Kravitz, with whom she must have lived a luxurious life.

Also Read: Top 10 Richest People in the world with full biography and details.