Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Sherman Hemsley, TV's George Jefferson, R. I. P.

Sherman Hemsley, the comic actor best remembered as star of the successful television sitcom The Jeffersons, passed away on Tuesday at his El Paso, Texas home at age 74.


Mr. Hemsley's agent, who confirmed the actor's passing, did not specify cause of death.


George Jefferson, the owner of a successful cleaning business, who was a onetime neighbor to the equally antagonistic Archie Bunker, along with wife Louise (nicknamed "Weezy") and son Lionel, left Queens and were, as the theme song indicated, 'Movin' On Up," as they move to an "deluxe apartment in the sky"  on Manhattan's fashionable West Side.


Over the course of the All In The Family spinoff that lasted 10 years (CBS,1975-85), George never really lost his scrappy demeanor, vanity, or his penchant for arrogance as his wife, son, and irreverent maid put up with his ego.


Sherman starred in another successful sitcom, Amen, in which he played Deacon Ernest Frye, just as blustery as George Jefferson.  This NBC sitcom lasted five years (1986-1991).

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