Lillian Randolph is a phenomenal woman. Who is Lillian? Well, she’s an American actress and singer who went on to become a veteran of radio, film, and television. Lillian was born on December 14, 1898. The original name she was given at birth was Castello Randolph. She was born and raised in Knoxville, Tennessee. Her father was a Methodist minister and her mother was a teacher. Lillian didn’t start her career until she started singing on local radio in Cleveland and Detroit. She caught the eye of Detroit radio station's WXYZ’s owner and developer of The Lone Ranger. He got her into radio training courses which gave a boost to her career. In 1976 Lillian moved on to Los Angeles where she worked on Al Jolson's radio show on the Al Pearce show. Lillian worked on many shows and radio stations throughout her career but she is mostly known as the maid Birdie Lee Coggins from The Great Gildersleeve radio comedy and subsequent films. She had other roles such as Madame Queen on the Amos 'n' Andy radio and television show from 1937–53 which gave her career more notoriety. In the year 1954, Randolph had her own daily radio show in Hollywood and later that year she became the first African American on the board of directors for the Hollywood chapter of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA). Lillian was uncredited for voicing the maid character in William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's “Tom and Jerry” cartoons at MGM during the 1940s and early 1950s although she voiced Jerry Mouse in The Milky Waif” (1946, uncensored version). Her most recent and probably where most of us have seen her was when she was selected to play Bill Cosby's mother in his 1969 television series, The Bill Cosby Show. In March 1980, she was inducted into the Black Filmmakers Hall of Fame, she had a daughter that went on to acting as she did. Lillian Randolph passed away of cancer in Los Angeles, California on September 12, 1980, at the age of 81, But her story and accomplishments will forever inspire.

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