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| Jenny Willis (later Jenny Willis-Jefferson) was played by Berlinda Tolbert on the series. | ||||
| Personal Information | ||||
| Gender: | Female | |||
| Ethnicity | Mixed | |||
| Also known as | Jenny Willis-Jefferson | |||
| Born: | 1953 age 67 | |||
| Occupation/ Career: |
Fashion designer, housewife and mother | |||
| Spouse(s): | Lionel Jefferson (husband) | |||
| Children: | Jessica Jefferson (daughter) | |||
| Related to: | Tom Willis (father) Helen Willis (mother) Allan Willis (brother) George Jefferson (father in-law) Louise Jefferson (mother in-law) | |||
| Character information | ||||
| Appeared on: | The Jeffersons | |||
| Character played by: | Berlinda Tolbert | |||
Jennifer "Jenny" Willis Jefferson (portrayed by Berlinda Tolbert, except for her first appearance in All in the Family, when she was portrayed by Lynne Moody) is the only daughter of Helen and Tom Willis, the younger of their two children.
Jenny, Lionel and early clashes with George[]
Jenny is an intelligent person, finishing college with her boyfriend, Lionel Jefferson. George often disapproves of Jenny loving Lionel merely because she is, in George's own word, a "zebra". George calls her this because her mother is black, but her father is white, thereby by making her biracial. In December 1976, Jenny married Lionel; they would divorce in 1985 after nine years of marriage. She has a daughter named Jessica (played by Erin Hollin and Leslie Hollin (Seasons 6-7) and later by Ebonie Smith (Seasons 10-11).
At first, Jenny, who would become a fashion designer later in the series, disliked her brother Allan when he came home after two years in Paris, mainly because she turned out "black" and he turned out "white". But as siblings go, they reconcile and return their love for each other. Their love stayed strong, as Jenny asked Allan to be Jessica's godfather. But since Allan was snowed in, Harry Bentley was to be the proxy. Lionel and Jenny experienced marital issues, and seperated by the spring of 1985, and later divorced, presumably, in the winter of 1985, after the The Jeffersons series had already been cancelled, which was on July 24, 1985