Helen Patterson

Helen Patterson is a regular character on Being Mary Jane. A successful family-oriented woman who is involved in her community, Helen is the mother of talk show host Mary Jane Paul and is currently battling lupus. She is portrayed by American actress Margaret Avery.

Biography
Helen Patterson is the matriarch of the Patterson family. The wife of Paul Patterson, she is the mother of Mary Jane, Patrick, and Paul Patterson, Jr.. She is also the paternal grandmother of Niecy, whom she has two great grandchildren through. Helen is a very family-oriented woman who loves spending time with her family, as well as keeping up with her adult children's lives.

Helen is currently battling the autoimmune disease lupus, which can possibly damage any part of your body. Due to this, Helen is frequently coughing which adds to her shrewish and cranky attitude at times. Despite this, she is very involved in her family's life and tries her best to make her family happy even though she is currently ill.

Helen has a very complicated relationship with her children. Although she loves all three of children, her eldest son Patrick is very tired of her nagging attitude and being forced to drive her around to doctor's appointments. Because he often seems to "forget", all the responsibility of their ill mother is often placed on Mary Jane who is tired of Patrick's childish antics. Helen Patterson is not happy about her granddaughter, Niecy's behavior and it's driving her crazy. In season 4 of Being Mary Jane it was revealed that Helen was having an affair with an ex boyfriend a couple of years before she met Paul this causes Paul to kick her out of the house and they ended up planning to get a divorce.