
Acting
Franklin Cover
Born 1928-11-20 · Cleveland, Ohio, USA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Franklin Edward Cover (November 20, 1928 – February 5, 2006) was an American actor best known for starring in the sitcom The Jeffersons. His character, Tom Willis, was half of one of the first interracial marriages to be seen on prime-time television. 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. Cover graduated from Denison University in 1951, and he received his MA in Theater in 1954 and MFA in Theater in 1955 both from Case Western Reserve University. 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. In 1965, he married Mary Bradford Stone. His first starring role was on The Jeffersons as Tom Willis who was married to a black woman, Helen, played by Roxie Roker. 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, 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 at the home since December 2005 while recovering from a heart condition, and died of pneumonia. He was survived by his wife; the former Mary Bradford Stone, two adult children; Susan and Bradford, and a grandson, Maxwell. His son, Bradford Cover, an actor who lives in New York City, has appeared on Law and Order, Broadway, and Off Broadway, and is a company member at The Pearl Theatre Company. His daughter Susan is the founder of Susie's Supper Club (now closed), a home delivery food service that catered to parents and children in New York. CLR
Acting credits
7.2A young and impatient stockbroker is willing to do anything to get to the top, including trading on illegal inside information taken through a ruthless and greedy corporate raider, who takes the youth under his wing.
Wall Street
1987
6.7Joanna Eberhart comes to the town of Stepford, Connecticut with her family, but soon discovers there lies a sinister truth in the all too perfect behavior of the female residents.
The Stepford Wives
1975
6.3Nick Carraway, a young Midwesterner now living on Long Island, finds himself fascinated by the mysterious past and lavish lifestyle of his neighbor, the nouveau riche Jay Gatsby. He is drawn into Gatsby's circle, becoming a witness to obsession and tragedy.
The Great Gatsby
1974
6.1Three manic idiots—a lawyer, a cab driver and a handyman—team up to run a ballet company to fulfil the will of a millionaire. Stooge-like antics result as the trio try to outwit the rich widow and her scheming big-shot lawyer, who also wants to run the ballet.
Brain Donors
1992
6.7A new infection that simply makes people feel happy is treated as a threat by the authorities while its "victims" work to spread it to others.
What's So Bad About Feeling Good?
1968
5.5Two hapless explorers lead an ill-fated 1804 expedition through the Pacific Northwest in a hopeless, doomed effort to reach the Pacific Ocean before Lewis and Clark.
Almost Heroes
1998
7.7The story of the Russian-born, Wisconsin-raised woman who rose to become Israel's prime minister in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
A Woman Called Golda
1982
7.0After a blackout in his office building, accountant David Stillwell emerges outside to find out a man he did not know either jumped or was pushed out a window to his death — and that he can't remember the past two years of his life. Enlisting the help of a rookie private eye and a reluctant old flame, Stillwell uncovers the mystery detail by unexpected detail.
Mirage
1965
5.2In the tradition of The Twilight Zone, this bizarre, thought-provoking trilogy addresses the destiny of the world's minorities: Part I: A conservative African American politician must choose between his people's survival and appeasing his white colleagues when space aliens propose to share their profound knowledge in exchange for all black people on earth. Part II: The Virgin Mary's appearance in an inner-city housing project forces a Hispanic priest to face the hidden cultural origins of Western religion. Part III: On the dawn of the "Black Revolution," an African American couple discovers who the "real" enemy is.
Cosmic Slop
1994
7.5A former associate of Perry Mason returns to handle the defense of a world-class chess player accused of murdering a prominent TV personality.
Perry Mason: The Case of the Lethal Lifestyle
1994
6.7Eight people have to find their way out of a New York subway after being trapped following an earthquake.
Short Walk to Daylight
1972
5.0A fictionalized account of how the 1929 stock market crash hurt the elite and the struggling, and the forces that may have caused the crash to occur.
The Day the Bubble Burst
1982
7.7A poet-astronaut is shot through an area of space called the Chronosynclastic Infundibulum. He is duplicated into infinite copies of himself, each of whom finds himself in a bizarre situations on a different world.
Between Time and Timbuktu
1972
10.0An out-of-work newspaperman in need of money becomes the go-between for a jewel thief and an insurance company that wants to settle.
The Connection
1973
4.9When their music teacher needs an expensive operation after being mugged, a group of precocious middle school students attempt to raise the money by selling fake military secrets to the KGB.
Zits
1988