Sherman Hemsley

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Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Infobox person Sherman Alexander Hemsley (February 1, 1938 – July 24, 2012) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for his roles as George Jefferson on the CBS television series All in the Family (1973–1975; 1978) and The Jeffersons (1975–1985), Deacon Ernest Frye on the NBC series Amen (1986–1991), and B. P. Richfield on the ABC series Dinosaurs. Hemsley also played Judge Carl Robertson on the NBC series The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. For his work on The Jeffersons, Hemsley was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and an Emmy Award. Hemsley also won an NAACP Image Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy Series or Special ("The Jeffersons") in 1982.

Biography

Early life, education and service

Hemsley was born and raised in South Philadelphia by his mother, who worked in a lamp factory.<ref name=autogenerated1>Template:Cite news</ref> Hemsley did not meet his father until he was 14.<ref name=autogenerated1/> Hemsley graduated from Barrat Middle School.Template:Citation needed For high school, Hemsley attended Central High School for ninth grade and Bok Technical High School for tenth. Hemsley dropped out of school after the tenth grade and joined the United States Air Force, where he served for four years.

On leaving the Air Force, Hemsley returned to Philadelphia, where he worked for the United States Postal Service during the day while attending the Academy of Dramatic Arts at night.<ref name=autogenerated1/> He then moved to New York, continuing to work for the post office during the day while working as an actor at night. He starred as Gitlow in the early 1970s Broadway musical Purlie.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Career

Stage

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Hemsley in the Broadway musical Purlie (June 8, 1972).

Hemsley performed with local groups in Philadelphia before moving to New York to study with Lloyd Richards at the Negro Ensemble Company. Shortly after, he joined Vinnette Carroll's Urban Arts Company, appearing in But Never Jam Today, The Lottery, Old Judge Mose is Dead, Moon on a Rainbow Shawl, Step Lively Boys, Croesus, and The Witch. Hemsley made his Broadway debut in Purlie and toured with the show for a year.<ref name=kvia-obit/> In summer 1972, Hemsley joined the Vinnette Carroll musical Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope ensemble in Toronto, followed a month later in the American Conservatory Theater production at the Geary Theater. In this production, Hemsley performed the solos "Lookin' Over From Your Side" in Act I and "Sermon" in Act II.

Work with Norman Lear

File:The Jeffersons Sanford Hemsley Evans 1974.jpg
Hemsley with The Jeffersons co-stars Isabel Sanford and Mike Evans, 1974.

While Hemsley was on Broadway with Purlie, Norman Lear called him in 1971 to play the recurring role of George Jefferson in his new sitcom, All in the Family. Hemsley was reluctant to leave his theatre role; Lear told him he would hold the role open for him (another actor, Mel Stewart, played his brother during this time). Hemsley joined the cast two years later. The characters of Hemsley and co-star Isabel Sanford were occasional supporting roles in All in the Family, then were given their own spin-off, The Jeffersons, in 1975. The Jeffersons proved to be one of Lear's most successful series, enjoying a run of eleven seasons through 1985.

1980s, 1990s, and 2000s

Hemsley continued to work steadily after the show's cancellation, largely typecast in George Jefferson-like roles. Hemsley later joined the cast of NBC's Amen in 1986 as Deacon Ernest Frye, a church deacon. The sitcom enjoyed a run of five seasons, ending in 1991. Hemsley then was a voice actor in the ABC live-action puppet series Dinosaurs, where he played Bradley P. Richfield, the boss of the main character, Earl. The series ran four seasons, ending in 1994.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 1995, Hemsley made four appearances in the sitcom Sister, Sister as Tia and Tamera Mowry's grandfather. In 1996, he had the lead role in the TV comedy series Goode Behavior, which lasted for one season.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Hemsley then cut back on his acting career, although Isabel Sanford and he occasionally appeared together in the mid to late 1990s and in the early 2000s, reprising their popular roles in guest appearances on such television series as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air; in commercials for The Gap, Old Navy, and Denny's; and at dry cleaning conventions. He also starred with Sanford in a touring company of The Real Live Jeffersons stage show in the 1990s.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> Sanford and he made a cameo appearance in the film Sprung (1997). They continued to work together on occasion until Sanford's health declined prior to her death in 2004. In 2001, Hemsley appeared as a contestant on the "Celebrity Classic TV Edition" special of ABC's primetime quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and won $125,000 for his charity. Hemsley also made a voice appearance as himself in the Seth MacFarlane animated comedy Family Guy in 2005. He appeared in the film American Pie Presents: The Book of Love (2009). In 2011, he reprised his role as George Jefferson for the final time, alongside Marla Gibbs as Florence Johnston, on Tyler Perry's House of Payne.<ref name=kvia-obit>Template:Cite news</ref> Hemsley was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2012.

Music career

In 1989, Hemsley, who had been a jazz keyboardist, released a single, "Ain't That a Kick in the Head."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This was followed in 1992 by Dance, an album of rhythm and blues music.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> He appeared on Soul Train around the time of the record's release and also performed the song "Eyes in the Dark".<ref>Sherman Hemsley performs "Eyes in the Dark" on Soul Train (1992) Template:Webarchive, Bing.com; accessed October 8, 2016.</ref> Hemsley also was an enthusiastic fan of many 1970s progressive rock bands,<ref name="philly">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="magnet"/> including Yes (which prompted a lengthy funk rock collaboration with Jon Anderson that remains unreleased as of 2024),<ref name="philly"/> Gentle Giant, Gong,<ref name="magnet">Template:Cite magazine</ref> and Nektar.

Personal life

Unlike the characters he played, Hemsley was a shy and intensely private man, described by some as reclusive. He avoided the Hollywood limelight and little of his personal life was public knowledge beyond the facts that he never married and he had no children.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2003, however, Hemsley granted a rare video interview to the Archive of American Television where he said that his most famous role was difficult because the character was deliberately and comically rude. "[Playing George Jefferson] was hard for me, but he was the character. I had to do it."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

In 2025, fellow Jeffersons cast member Damon Evans stated in an article in The Advocate that he knew Hemsley was, like himself, gay, and that it was an open secret: "We cruised the same places, went to the same parties. The same bars. But it wasn't something we talked about ... He was dating a Puerto Rican guy. They lived together. His boyfriend came to our tapings ... I just didn't understand why it needed to be hidden for so long, but Sherman really didn't like being in the spotlight."<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

An Out article published in 2012 after Hemsley’s death suggested that Hemsley's longtime partner was Kenny Johnston. It quoted the sole beneficiary of Hemsley's estate — Flora Enchinton — who said she had been Hemsley's manager for more than two decades, during which she lived with Hemsley and Johnston.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

Death

Hemsley died at his home in El Paso, Texas on July 24, 2012, at age 74 due to superior vena cava syndrome, a complication associated with lung and bronchial carcinomas. He had a malignant mass in one of his lungs for which chemotherapy and radiation had been recommended, according to the El Paso County Texas Medical Examiner's report.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

File:Sherman Hemsley marker.JPG
Hemsley grave marker at Fort Bliss National Cemetery in El Paso Texas, 2016.

Aftermath

File:Sherman Hemsley (handprints in cement).jpg
Hemsley's handprints in front of Hollywood Hills Amphitheater at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park, 2007.

On August 28, 2012, an El Paso news anchor interviewed Enchinton,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> who said that Hemsley never mentioned any relatives. "Some people come out of the woodworkTemplate:Sndthey think Sherman, they think money", Enchinton said. "But the fact is that I did not know Sherman when he was in the limelight. I met them when they [Hemsley and Johnston] came running from Los Angeles with not one penny, when there was nothing but struggle."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

A Philadelphia man named Richard Thornton claimed to be Hemsley's brother and the true heir to his estate. After contesting the will, Thornton halted progress on funeral arrangements, and as a result, Hemsley's body remained at the San Jose Funeral Home in El Paso and unburied for months.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> On November 9, 2012, the legal battle over Hemsley's body ended when Judge Patricia Chew ruled in favor of Enchinton.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> A military funeral was planned for Hemsley. He was interred at Fort Bliss National Cemetery in his adopted hometown of El Paso.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Filmography

Film

Television

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Discography

  • Dance (1992)

See also

References

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