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Louise Jefferson
70jefferson 04
Louise Jefferson (played by Isabel Sanford, left) in scene from "The Jeffersons Move On Up" with George (Sherman Hemsley, on right) and Archie Bunker (Carroll O' Connor, in center)
Personal Information
Gender: Female
Related to: George Jefferson (husband)
Lionel Jefferson (son)
Jenny Willis Jefferson (daughter in=law)
Henry Jefferson (brother in-law)
Olivia Jefferson (mother in=law)
Character information
Appeared on: All in the Family / The Jeffersons
Episodes appeared in: 25 episodes over 5 seasons of AITF, 1971-1975 and guest appearance in Season 9 (1979)
Character played by: Isabel Sanford
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Louise Jefferson (née Mills) is a character on All in the Family. She was portrayed by Emmy Award-winning actress Isabel Sanford. Her role lasted from 1971 to 1985, from her debut in the All in the Family first season episode "Lionel Moves Into the Neighborhood" through the final episode of the spinoff series, The Jeffersons. Louise would appear in 252 out of the 253 episodes of the The Jeffersons.

About Louise []

Louise was the wife of George Jefferson, who often called her "Weezie". They were neighbors of Archie and Edith Bunker.

Louise was similar in many respects to Edith Bunker. Both were kind-hearted and had hot-headed husbands, and they were both good friends. However, Louise was not nearly as naïve as Edith (whose simplicity sometimes left Louise dumbstruck). Prior to George Jefferson's first appearance on All in the Family, Louise had to contend with the arguments between Henry Jefferson,

George's brother, and Archie Bunker. While Louise recognized that Archie displayed some ignorance and bullheadedness, she saw similar traits in the Jefferson men. When Edith apologized for a poor attitude of Archie's, Louise remarked "Henry is no diplomat either". Unlike George and Henry, Louise was not racially prejudiced and thus more favorably disposed to Archie Bunker;  she visited him when he had been hospitalized, and fondly remembered Archie during an episode of The Jeffersons when there was a flashback to All in the Family.

In the first few seasons of The Jeffersons, Louise dealt with insulting remarks from Mother Olivia Jefferson, George's mother. She was a calming influence in the household compared to George's temper tantrums and over-inflated ego. She was friends with Tom and Helen Willis, an interracial couple who were in-laws through her son`s marriage to Jenny.

In the first episode of The Jeffersons, George insisted on hiring a maid. Both George and Louise grew up in poverty, and Louise felt it was not necessary to hire a maid. George won out and Florence Johnston (Marla Gibbs) was hired a few days a week. Over time, the role of Florence expanded and she became a live-in maid. Louise and Florence became great friends over the years while Florence and George often argued.

Louise grew up in Harlem, New York. She had only a limited memory of her father and was always of the belief that he had died when she was very young. In a memorable episode, however, George meets a man at a news stand whom he suspects of being Louise's father. At first, the man denies his identity, saying that George is mistaken. But later, he acknowledges that he is Louise's father and decides to show up to see her. In the meantime, though, George has discovered that for Louise, finding out that her father is actually alive would not be good news. His being alive and well would mean that her father had willingly chosen to abandon her as a child, and that is a thought which she cannot bear. When her father does come to the Jeffersons' apartment, he is able to receive the satisfaction of seeing how his daughter turned out, but at George's insistence, he spares her feelings when he is introduced to her, by reverting to his original story: that George was mistaken in believing that he was Louise's father. However, in other episodes, Louise's father is portrayed as having been more involved with her. In "Louise's New Interest", she talks about her father giving her a Native American doll when he couldn't find a black one for her.

Louise also had a sister, Maxine, whom she was in constant rivals with growing up. Growing up, Louise believed that her mother favored Maxine, but it wasn't until Louise's wedding day that her mother told Louise that she was the better of the two. In her teen years, Maxine had run away from home, leaving Louise to care for their mother, causing more resentment of Maxine from Louise. In one episode of the show, George arranges for Maxine to return to New York from Paris as a surprise birthday present for Louise, only to learn that Louise hated her. During this episode, it was revealed that Maxine left home because she was pregnant, and, as a result, she introduced her son to the family. When Louise learned of this, she forgave her sister and they mended their feud. One episode of All in the Family mention is made of George Jefferson's brother-in-law who, like Archie Bunker, had fallen for a scam.

Louise also had a niece named Julie Williams (Lynne Moody, who also appeared as Jenny Willis in the AITF episode "The Jeffersons Move On Up"), a nurse who lived in Chicago (on the short-lived series E/R). In a season five episode of The Fresh Prince Of Bel Air, Isabel Sanford and Sherman Hemsley reprise their roles as Louise and George, respectively. In one scene, Louise attacks George for calling her "Weezy" because she's sensitive about her asthma. That fact was never addressed in the show's eleven-year run. They later appeared in the series finale episode, debating whether to buy the house owned by the Banks family.

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