EL PASO, Texas â" George Jefferson was a bigot. A loudmouth. Rude. Obsessed with money. Arrogant. And yet he was one of the most enjoyable, beloved characters in television history.
Much of that credit belongs to Sherman Hemsley, the gifted character actor who gave life to the blustering black Harlem businessman on âThe Jeffersons,â one of TVâs longest running and most successful sitcoms â" particularly noteworthy with its mostly black cast.
The Philadelphia-born Hemsley, who police said late Tuesday died at his home in El Paso, Texas, at age 74, first played George Jefferson on CBSâs âAll in the Familyâ before he was spun off onto âThe Jeffersons.â The sitcom ran for 11 seasons from 1975 to 1985.
With the gospel-style theme song of âMovinâ On Up,â the hit show depicted the wealthy former neighbors of Archie and Edith Bunker in Queens as they made their way on New Yorkâs Upper East Side. Hemsley and the Jeffersons (Isabel Sanford played his wife) often dealt with contemporary issues of racism, but more frequently reveled in the sitcom archetype of a short-tempered, opinionated patriarch trying, often unsuccessfully to control his family.
Hemsleyâs feisty, diminutive father with an exaggerated strut was a kind of black corollary to Archie Bunker â" a stubborn, high-strung man who had a deep dislike for whites (his favorite word for them was honkies). Yet unlike the blue-collar Bunker, played by Carroll OâConnor, he was a successful businessman whose was as rich as he was crass. His wife, Weezie, was often his foil â" yet provided plenty of zingers as well.
Despite the characterâs many faults â" money-driven, prejudiced, temperamental, a boor â" Hemsley managed to make the character endearing, part of the reason it stayed on the air for so long. Much like OâConnorâs portrayal of Archie Bunker, deep down, Hemsleyâs Jefferson loved his family, his friends (even the ones he relentlessly teased) and had a good heart. His performance was Emmy and Golden Globe nominated.
âHe was a love of a guyâ and âimmensely talented,â Norman Lear, producer of âThe Jeffersonsâ and âAll in the Family,â said after learning of his death. El Paso police said the actor was found dead at a local home where neighbors said heâd lived for years, and that no foul play is suspected.
âWhen the Jeffersons moved in next door to the Bunkers, I wanted to deliver the George Jefferson who could stand up to Archie Bunker,â Lear recalled Tuesday. âIt took some weeks before I remembered having seen Sherman in âPurlieâ on Broadway.â
Hemsley read for the part and âthe minute he opened his mouth he was George Jefferson,â Lear said. Hemsley was smaller than OâConnorâs Archie but âhe was every bit as strong as Archie,â Lear said.
Sherman Alexander Hemsley, though, was far less feisty. The son of a printing press-working father and a factory-working mother, Hemsley served in the Air Force and worked for eight years as a clerk for the Postal Service.
Having studied acting as an adolescent at the Philadelphia Academy of Dramatic Arts, he began acting in New York workshops and theater companies, including the Negro Ensemble Company. For years, he kept his job at the post office while acting at night, before transitioning to acting full-time.
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