Lionel Jefferson

Lionel Jefferson
Lionel (top) with parents, George and Louise Jefferson.
First appearance	"Meet the Bunkers" (All in the Family)
Last appearance	"Sayonara, Pt. 2" (The Jeffersons)
Portrayed by	D'Urville Martin (two unaired pilots) Mike Evans (1971–1975), (1979–1981), (1985) Damon Evans (1975–1978)
Information
Occupation	Engineer
Family	George Jefferson (father) Louise Jefferson (mother) William T. Jefferson (grandfather) Olivia Jefferson (grandmother) Henry Jefferson (uncle) Ruby Jefferson (aunt) Raymond Jefferson (cousin) Maxine Mills (aunt) Jason Mills (cousin) Tom and Helen Willis (in-laws) Allan Willis (brother-in-law) Julie Williams (cousin) Harold Mills (grandfather)
Spouse(s)	Jenny Willis Jefferson (1976–1985)
Children	Jessica Jefferson (daughter)

D'Urville Martin (two unaired pilots)

Lionel Jefferson is a supporting character from the hit sitcoms All in the Family and The Jeffersons. He is the son of George and Louise Jefferson. He was originally portrayed by D'Urville Martin for two unaired pilots, before the role was recast with Mike Evans. He was later played by Damon Evans (no relation), though Mike Evans eventually returned to the role before the end of the series.

On All in the Family, Lionel was portrayed by Mike Evans from 1971 to 1975.

Lionel was born in New York City on October 18, 1953. His character is significant for being one of the first TV portrayals of a young, opinionated black man. Lionel is introduced in the first episode (and, in fact, appears on screen before Archie Bunker does). In one of the early episodes, the Jeffersons move into a house down the block from the Bunkers (later, the house is said to be next door). This event creates tension for Archie, though it elates Michael and Gloria. As Lionel's parents and uncle Henry appear more frequently, Lionel's role becomes less significant.

Archie considers himself to be Lionel's good friend and even mentor. For his part, Lionel remains unfazed by Archie's racism and unrelenting condescension. Lionel is generally amused, rather than angered or irritated, by Archie's frequent displays of ignorance and bigotry, often seeing Archie's comments as well-meaning, albeit ignorant, rather than outright malicious. As such, Lionel often enjoys patronizing Archie's attitudes by playing dumb in conversations and adopting a stereotypical speech pattern (saying things like "I'm gon' be a 'lectical engineer!" or "Lawd almighty, what is we gonna do?"). Lionel's patience runs out when Archie tells him not to see his niece socially because "white ought to stay with white and colored ought to stay with colored". Lionel finally tells Archie off (albeit calmly), but also lets him know that they can remain friends.