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| Mother Jefferson, played by actress Zara Cully. | ||||
| Personal Information | ||||
| Gender: | Female | |||
| Nickname | Mama, as called by George | |||
| Also known as | Olivia Jefferson | |||
| Born: | February 22, 1901 | |||
| Died | July 6, 1978 (aged 77) | |||
| Occupation/ Career: |
Retired domestic | |||
| Character description: |
George Jefferson's disparaging, meddlesome mother oftentimes serves as antagonist to Louise, while sweet to others; loves Bloody Marys! | |||
| Spouse(s): | William Jefferson (late husband, George's father) | |||
| Related to: | Unnamed father Unnamed Mother Emma (younger sister) George Jefferson (older son) Henry Jefferson (younger son) Louise Jefferson (daughter-in-law) Lionel Jefferson (grandson) Ruby Jefferson (daughter-in-law) Raymond Jefferson (grandson) Jenny Willis-Jefferson (granddaughter-in-law) Jessica Jefferson (great-granddaughter) unnmaed grandfather unnmaed grandmother unnmaed grandfather unnmaed grandmother | |||
| Character information | ||||
| Appeared on: | The Jeffersons | |||
| Character played by: | Zara Cully | |||
Mother Jefferson is the mother to George Jefferson, mother in-law to Louise Jefferson, grandmother to Lionel Jefferson and the great-grandmother of Jessica Jefferson on The Jeffersons. She made her first appearance on All In The Family, appearing in the fifth season (1974-75) episodes titled "Lionel's Engagement" and "Movin' On Up", which would serve as the pilot for The Jeffersons series. Her character would be spun-off into The Jeffersons in January that same season.
On the show, Mother Jefferson is played by veteran character actress/Black vaudeville performer Zara Cully.
About Mother Jefferson[]
Mother Jefferson first appears in the episode of All in the Family titled Lionel's Engagement", in which she takes offense at being referred to as "mammy," by Archie Bunker, who thinks the term is a variation of "mommy." Mother Jefferson is a rather catty, disparaging, antagonistic mother-in-law to Louise, while appearing to be a sweet old lady to practically everyone else. Mother Jefferson is one of the stereotypical mothers-in-law who think their daughter-in-law isn't good enough for their son. In nearly every episode in which she appears, she is usually tormenting Louise by criticizing her cooking, her age, or her overall character, but Louise would frequently come back at her with a witty, albeit sarcastic, response. On rare occasions, however, Mother Jefferson sides with Louise, when she takes offense at George's boorish or sexist behavior.
In one episode, George and the Manager, George's refusal to hire a female manager for his store prompts Mother Jefferson to remark on how her father did the same thing with her mother, by thinking women shouldn't work, before taking her paycheck! Mother Jefferson was born in February, 1901 near Washington/Lincolns Birthday of February 22; she has a younger sister, Emma, who was born in 1906. On February 9, 1951, both sisters were playing in a church Bingo. When Olivia had to leave for a few minutes, she asked Emma to play her card, and Emma won a electric blanket; this launched the sisters into a non-speaking feud for 25 years until mentioned in the episode "Mother Jefferson's Birthday", which aired on January 31, 1976. In the episode "The Wedding", Mother Jefferson is seen sitting next to her granddaughter-in-law Jenny Willis. A long-running gag had Mother Jefferson blissfully ignorant of how much alcohol she actually consumes, usually in the form of a Bloody Mary, which she stated she drank "for the vitamins".
Zara Cully, who played Mother Jefferson, had been absent from the first 17 episodes of Season Three due to a serious case of pneumonia caused by a collapsed lung. Upon recovering she returned for a few episodes, noticeably thinner and frailer. She died early in Season Four, and the writers decided to eliminate Mother Jefferson's character rather than 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)" and briefly mentioned in the fifth season's twelfth episode, "George Finds a Father".