WORCESTER, Mass. - Each Friday, Spectrum News 1 shares significant stories of Black Americans from our area.

In the video above, the Worcester Black History Project Founder Debbie Hall tells us about Zara Cully, an actress and star on "The Jeffersons."

Here's what Hall had to say about Cully:  

"Did you know that one of the stars of the hit sitcom show "The Jeffersons" was born right here in Worcester?

Zara Cully was better known to many people in the 1970s as "Mother Jefferson," mother to George Jefferson on the Norman Lear sitcom "The Jeffersons."

Zara was born in Worcester in 1892, coming from a large and talented family. After leaving Worcester, Cully taught drama at Edward Waters College, Florida's first historically Black college for 15 years. She was not only a teacher, but a practitioner of diction and delivery.

From Florida, she travelled to Hollywood where she performed at the Ebony Showcase Theater. In the 1970s, she branched out into films and television, landing her long running role on "The Jeffersons" in 1975. A portrayal she would continue until her death in 1978."