Berlinda Tolbert is an American film and television actress. Tolbert is best known for her role as Jenny Willis Jefferson, the daughter of Tom and Helen Willis on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

sitcom ''

The Jeffersons ''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of List of The Jeffersons episodes, 253 episodes. ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longe ...

'', which originally aired from 1975 until 1985.

Early life and education

Tolbert majored in theater at the

University of North Carolina School of the Arts The University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) is an arts school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. It grants high school, undergraduate, and graduate degrees. Founded in 1963 as the North Carolina School of the Arts by then-Governo ...

Winston-Salem Winston-Salem is a city and the county seat of Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States. In the 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the second-largest municipality in the Piedmont Triad region, the 5th most populous city in N ...

. She also studied drama in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Career

In a 2013 interview, Tolbert stated, "I’ve only had one job in my entire life… professional actress." She got her first film part from

Martin Scorsese Martin Charles Scorsese ( , ; born November 17, 1942) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter and actor. Scorsese emerged as one of the major figures of the New Hollywood era. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominatio ...

in ''

Mean Streets ''Mean Streets'' is a 1973 American crime film directed by Martin Scorsese and co-written by Scorsese and Mardik Martin. The film stars Harvey Keitel and Robert De Niro. It was released by Warner Bros. on October 2, 1973. De Niro won the National ...

'' in 1973, when she was in acting school.

''The Jeffersons''

On ''The Jeffersons'', Tolbert played Jenny, the daughter of

interracial Interracial topics include: * Interracial marriage, marriage between two people of different races ** Interracial marriage in the United States *** 2009 Louisiana interracial marriage incident * Interracial adoption, placing a child of one raci ...

couple Tom and Helen Willis. Jenny had become engaged to

Lionel Jefferson Lionel Jefferson is a supporting character from the hit television program, sitcoms ''All in the Family'' and ''The Jeffersons''. He is the son of George Jefferson, George and Louise Jefferson. He was originally portrayed by D'Urville Martin for ...

, the son of George and Louise, when they were still characters on Norman Lear's "All In The Family". They married and had a daughter. Tolbert played the role of Jenny for the run of the series, from 1975-1985. Tolbert was born just one day after Mike Evans (1949–2006), the original actor who played her boyfriend/husband Lionel. They were also both born in North Carolina. , Tolbert,

Marla Gibbs Marla Gibbs (born Margaret Theresa Bradley; June 14, 1931) is an American actress, singer, comedian, writer and television producer, whose career spans six decades. Gibbs is known for her role as George Jefferson's maid, Florence Johnston, in th ...

, Jay Hammer and

Damon Evans Damon M. Evans is the athletics director/chief financial officer at the University of Maryland. Since October 2017, Evans has served as the interim athletic director at Maryland and in June 2018, was named the permanent athletic director. Afte ...

(Lionel #2) are the last surviving members of ''The Jeffersons'' main cast.

Later career

In 1981, Tolbert competed for the

team on ''

Battle of the Network Stars ''Battle of the Network Stars'' is a series of competitions in which television stars from ABC, CBS and NBC would compete in various sporting events. A total of 19 of these competitions were held between 1976 and 1988, all of which were aired b ...

''. In 1983, Tolbert starred in the

Maya Angelou Maya Angelou ( ; born Marguerite Annie Johnson; April 4, 1928 – May 28, 2014) was an American memoirist, popular poet, and civil rights activist. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, several books of poetry, and ...

play ''On A Southern Journey''. Following the cancellation of ''The Jeffersons'' in 1985, Tolbert appeared in films including ''

Harlem Nights ''Harlem Nights'' is a 1989 American crime comedy-drama film starring and directed by Eddie Murphy, who also wrote. The film co-stars Richard Pryor, Michael Lerner, Danny Aiello, Redd Foxx (in his last film appearance before his death in 1 ...

'', ''

Goodfellas ''Goodfellas'' (stylized ''GoodFellas'') is a 1990 American biographical crime film directed by Martin Scorsese, written by Nicholas Pileggi and Scorsese, and produced by Irwin Winkler. It is a film adaptation of the 1985 nonfiction book '' Wis ...

'', and ''

Patriot Games ''Patriot Games'' is a thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and published in July 1987. ''Without Remorse'', released six years later, is an indirect prequel, and it is chronologically the first book featuring Jack Ryan, the main character i ...

'', and television shows including '' ER'', '' Six Feet Under'', and ''

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', also referred to as ''CSI'' and ''CSI: Las Vegas'', is an American procedural forensics crime drama television series that ran on CBS from October 6, 2000, to September 27, 2015, spanning 15 seasons. This wa ...

''. Tolbert appeared in the 2011

indie Indie is a short form of "independence" or "independent"; it may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Gaming *Independent video game development, video games created without financial backing from large companies *Indie game, any game (board ...

film ''Last Ride on the Midwest Pacific''.

Personal life

Tolbert married journalist Bob Reid in 1979.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tolbert, Berlinda Actresses from Charlotte, North Carolina African-American actresses American film actresses American television actresses Living people University of North Carolina School of the Arts alumni 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women Year of birth missing (living people)