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RIP Sherman Hemsley


jaybrant

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http://www.tmz.com/2012/07/24/sherman-hemsley-dead-dies-the-jeffersons/

Sherman Hemsley, the actor who made the character George Jefferson famous in "The Jeffersons," has died, El Paso cops tell TMZ.

Hemsley died at his home in El Paso, Texas.

Hemsley, who was 74, became famous during his appearances on "All in the Family." The spin-off, "The Jeffersons" was a monster hit. He also starred in the TV show, "Amen." He was also a professional singer and even released the single in 1989, "Ain't that A Kick in the Head."

Hemsley had no wife and no kids.

It's unclear how he died.

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In my mind, he was an important figure in American entertainment history.

Basically, George Jefferson was the first major black comic television character that you could laugh at entirely because he was an irritating little dishonest schemer (not because he was a black stereotype).

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When I heard about this today, I went and looked at most of the old episodes on youtube. I didn't realize until now that I've watched just about all of them. Every day after school. Ahh.. growing up in the 70/80s was good:

Three's company, Good times, Sanford and Sons, Loveboat, I dream of Jeannie, Bewitched, The Andy Griffith Show, The Jeffersons.

To a lesser degree: Love American Style and Chico and The Man, but I was almost too young for those.

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http://www.tmz.com/2012/07/24/sherman-hemsley-dead-dies-the-jeffersons/

Sherman Hemsley, the actor who made the character George Jefferson famous in "The Jeffersons," has died, El Paso cops tell TMZ.

Hemsley died at his home in El Paso, Texas.

Hemsley, who was 74, became famous during his appearances on "All in the Family." The spin-off, "The Jeffersons" was a monster hit. He also starred in the TV show, "Amen." He was also a professional singer and even released the single in 1989, "Ain't that A Kick in the Head."

Hemsley had no wife and no kids.

It's unclear how he died.

Too bad. One of the most memorable characters on TV IMO. Kudos to Sherman.

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I just realized that The Jeffersons was nothing more than a remake of I Love Lucy.

Crazy, insecure but ultimately good hearted spouse - Check

More sensible spouse who loves them - Check

Silly schemes that require lying and always go wrong - Check

Best friends are the neighbors next door who always help out - check

Am I the last person to realize this?

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I still do the George Jefferson strut every once in a while. I'm gonna do it today in his honor. RIP

LOL! :cool2: I used to love to do that when I was a kid. Sanford and Son, Good Times, The Jeffersons, etc. came about at a time when seeing Black people on TV was something of a rarity. In fact, whenever something with a Black actor/performer would come on people would call each other to make sure we didn't miss it. Even though his character was a caricature, at the time it was enough just to see someone on TV that actually looked like me.

Damn, no wife no kids

I've long suspected he was gay. Insert [not that there's anything wrong with that] here.

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I just realized that The Jeffersons was nothing more than a remake of I Love Lucy.

Crazy, insecure but ultimately good hearted spouse - Check

More sensible spouse who loves them - Check

Silly schemes that require lying and always go wrong - Check

Best friends are the neighbors next door who always help out - check

Am I the last person to realize this?

This was the formula for a lot of those older sitcoms

You could also say this is like the Honeymooners.

RIP Sherman Hemsley. He was actually a well versed theater actor before he took on the role of George Jefferson on All In The Family.

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Man that show brings back memories, it was so funny. Sadly, I don't think that humor would be appriciated anymore. I think jounalists and special interest groups would cruicify a TV show like that these days. But damn if it didn't confront a lot of issues head on and made light of them! I am gonna have to go backa nd watch them again!

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That sucks. I had no idea. I watched about 6 episodes of the Jeffersons today...before I found this out. That kind of makes it worse.

He was so popular that it made it okay to have black comedy shows.

RIP Sherman.

EDIT: I actually met "Weezy" ( Isabel Sanford (RIP) ) way back when at PG Plaza of all places. She rolled up in a silver Volvo limo...never seen anything like that back then. Sweet lady.

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Ran into him at the El Paso airport. He recognized that I recognized him and quickly turned away - he must have thought I was going to talk to him - I didn't, nor would have. Always wondered what he was doing in El Paso, now I know.

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