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| Young Jessica, George and Weezie's granddaughter (Ebonie Smith) with Grandma Louise before her performance in a piano recital in a scene from the episode "Ebony and Ivory" in Season 10 of the series. | ||||
| Personal Information | ||||
| Gender: | Female | |||
| Related to: | Lionel Jefferson (father) Jenny Willis Jefferson (mother) George Jefferson (grandfather) Louise Jefferson (grandmother) Tom Willis (grandfather) Helen Willis (grandmother) | |||
| Character information | ||||
| Appeared on: | The Jeffersons | |||
| Episodes appeared in: | 6 in Seasons 8-11 | |||
| Character played by: | Erin and Leslie Holland (Season 8, 2 episodes) Ebonie Smith (4 episodes in Seasons 10-11) | |||
Jessica Jefferson appeared in six episodes of The Jeffersons, first appearing as a toddler in the Season 8 episode titled "A Case of Self-Defense" (#17). The part of toddler Jessica was played by twin sisters Erin and Leslie Holland in two episodes, then by former child actress Ebonie Smith in four episodes in Season 10 and Season 11.
About Jessica[]
Jessica was born to Jenny and Lionel in 1979 during the series' sixth season, and warmly welcomed by her grandparents, Tom and Helen Willis and George and Louise Jefferson. In Jessica's first appearance in the episode "A Case of Self Defense" in Season 8, she is used to make a poignant point about gun control when George, Louise, and Jenny catch her playing with an unattended gun on the couch. George had bought it to ward off potential robbers, and Jessica was alone with it while everyone was arguing about it in the kitchen.
In the first appearance of Ebonie Smith in the role, in the Season 10 episode "Ebony and Ivory", Louise hopes to show up snooty socialite neighbor Mrs. Van Morris (Dorothy Butts) once and for all, and arranges for Jessica (whose musical talent is rudimentary at best) to compete against Mrs. Van Morris' grandson Van (played by Jaleel White, later of ABC/CBS-TV's Family Matters TV series fame) in a piano recital.
In the series finale episode in Season 11, "Red Robins", George wants to gain brownie points in order to win a Dry Cleaner of the Year award for community service, so he becomes "nest mother" of Jessica's "Red Robins" scout troop--and gives them bad advice on how to sell cookies.