The Jeffersons actor Franklin Cover has died of pneumonia. He was 77. He was best known for playing George and Louise Jefferson's white neighbor Tom Willis in the interracial sitcom. During his long acting career, which spanned six decades, Cover starred in the theatre and on film, as well as the small screen.

In "The Jeffersons," George's (Sherman Hemsley) wrath was targeted towards new neighbors Tom and Helen Willis (Franklin Cover, Roxie Roker), an interracial couple with a daughter named Jenny (Berlinda Tolbert). As outraged as George was over the fact that Helen "sold out" and married a white man, he was apoplectic when his son Mike and the Willis' daughter Jenny became sweethearts.

Cover died at the Lillian Booth Actor's Fund of America home in Englewood, New Jersey, on Sunday, his publicist Dale Olson has confirmed. Cover is survived by his wife Mary and their two children, Bradford and Susan.

(This news article provided by World Entertainment News Network)