Sherman Hemsley, the actor who made the irascible, bigoted George Jefferson of The Jeffersons one of television’s most memorable characters and a symbol for urban upward mobility, has died. He was 74.
Police in El Paso, Texas, said late Tuesday that Hemsley was found dead at his home on the eastside of the city. A statement from police says no foul play is suspected and that his exact cause of death is pending.
The Philadelphia-born Hemsley first played the blustering black Harlem businessman on CBS’s All in the Family before he was spun off onto The Jeffersons, which in 11 seasons from 1975 to 1985 became one of TV’s most successful comedies – particularly noteworthy with its mostly black cast.
With the gospel-style theme song of “Movin’ On Up,” the hit show depicted the wealthy former neighbors of Archie and Edith Bunker in Queens as they made their way on New York’s 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 TV comedy archetype of a short-tempered, opinionated patriarch trying, often unsuccessfully to control his family.
Hemsley’s feisty, diminutive father with an exaggerated strut was a kind of black corollary to Archie Bunker – 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 O’Connor, he was a successful businessman whose was as rich as he was crass. His wife, Weezie, was often his foil – yet provided plenty of zingers as well.
Despite the character’s many faults – money-driven, prejudiced, temperamental, a boar – Hemsley managed to make the character endearing as well, part of the reason it stayed on the air for so long. Much like O’Connor’s portrayal of Archie Bunker, deep down, Hemsley’s 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.
