Franklin Cover

Franklin Cover
Cover as Tom Willis on The Jeffersons
Born
Franklin Edward Cover

(1928-11-20)November 20, 1928
Cleveland, Ohio, U.S.
DiedFebruary 5, 2006(2006-02-05) (aged 77)
Englewood, New Jersey, U.S.
Alma materDenison University
Case Western Reserve
OccupationActor
Years active1960–1999
Spouse
Mary Bradford Stone
​
(m. 1965)​
Children2

Franklin Edward Cover[citation needed] (November 20, 1928 – February 5, 2006) was an American actor best known for his role in The Jeffersons, Tom Willis, half of one of the first interracial marriages to be seen on prime-time television.[1]

Life and career

Cover was born on November 20, 1928, in Cleveland, Ohio, to Britta (Schreck) and Franklin Held Cover. He graduated from John Marshall High School in 1947.[2]

His career started on the stage acting in Henry IV, Part 1 and Hamlet. He also appeared in Forty Carats with Julie Harris. He made his television debut on Naked City and later appeared on The Jackie Gleason Show.[3]

In 1965, he married Mary Bradford Stone.[4]

His first starring role was on The Jeffersons as Tom Willis (a Caucasian man) who was married to an African-American woman, Helen, played by Roxie Roker.[1] The couple lived in the same high-rise apartment building as the sitcom's title characters. Cover would often be the foil to Sherman Hemsley's black businessman character, George Jefferson. The sitcom ran from 1975 to 1985. He also appeared in The Stepford Wives in 1975, and played Hubert Humphrey in the 1982 TV movie A Woman Called Golda.

Following the end of The Jeffersons, Cover continued to make guest appearances on television shows as well as appearing in a supporting role in Wall Street (1987). In 1994, he appeared in the second episode of ER. His final television appearance was in an episode of Will & Grace (entitled "Object Of My Rejection") that aired on May 13, 1999.

Cover died at the Lillian Booth Actors Home in Englewood, New Jersey, on February 5, 2006. He had been living there since December 2005 while recovering from a heart condition, and died of pneumonia.[1][3]

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1965 Mirage Group Leader
1968 What's So Bad About Feeling Good? Medical Expert Uncredited
1974 The Great Gatsby Senator Evans Uncredited
1975-1985 The Jeffersons Tom Willis
1975 The Stepford Wives Ed Wimpiris
1982 A Woman Called Golda Hubert Humphrey
1987 Wall Street Dan
1988 Zits FBI Chief
1991 Who's The Boss Mr.Campbell
1994 Batman: The Animated Series General Vreeland Voice, episode: "Harley's Holiday"
1998 Almost Heroes Nicholas Burr
1999 Will & Grace Justice of the Peace episode: "Object of My Rejection"

References

  1. ^ a b c "Franklin Cover, 77, Actor on 'Jeffersons'". The New York Times. February 11, 2006. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  2. ^ "Final Roll Call" (PDF). John Marshall High School Alumni News. Vol. 33, no. 1. Spring 2006. p. 21.
  3. ^ a b "Franklin Cover, White Neighbor on 'Jeffersons', Dies at 77". Associated Press. February 10, 2006. Retrieved 2011-03-23.
  4. ^ "Franklin Cover to Wed Mary Bradford, Stone". The New York Times. January 7, 1965. Retrieved 2011-03-23.