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Sherman Hemsley
Born	Sherman Alexander Hemsley February 1, 1938 (1938-02-01) (age 72) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1968 – present
Official website

Sherman Alexander Hemsley (born February 1, 1938) is an American actor, most famous for his role as George Jefferson on the CBS television series All in the Family and The Jeffersons and as Deacon Ernest Frye on Amen. He also played Earl Sinclair's horrifying boss, a Triceratops named B.P. Richfield on the Jim Henson sitcom, Dinosaurs.

Career

Early life

Hemsley was born and raised in South Philadelphia by his mother, who was a factory worker. He dropped out of school and joined the Air Force, where he stayed for four years. When he left the Air Force, he moved back to Philadelphia where he worked for the Post Office during the day while attending acting school at night. 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 the character Gitlow in the early 1970s Broadway play, Purlie.^[1][2]

Work with Norman Lear

While Hemsley was on Broadway with Purlie, Lear called him in 1971 to play the role of George Jefferson on his burgeoning new sitcom, All in the Family. Hemsley was reluctant to leave his role in Purlie, but Lear told him that he would hold the role open for him. Hemsley joined the cast two years later. The characters of Hemsley and co-star Isabel Sanford were secondary on All in the Family, but were given their own spin-off series, The Jeffersons, less than two years after Hemsley made his debut on the show. Such was Hemsley's and Sanford's compatibility and credibility as a married couple that no one seemed to notice or care that in real life Sanford was twenty years older than Hemsley. The Jeffersons proved to be one of Lear's most successful shows, enjoying a run of 11 seasons before its cancellation in 1985.

1980s and 1990s

Though Hemsley was largely typecast as George Jefferson, he continued to work steadily after the show's cancellation. He teamed up with the show's original cast members when The Jeffersons moved to Broadway for a brief period.

Hemsley joined the cast of NBC's Amen in 1986 as Deacon Ernest Frye, an unscrupulous church elder much like his Jefferson character. The show 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, Earl's sadistic boss. The show ran for four seasons, ending in 1994.

Hemsley has largely retired from television acting, although he and Isabel Sanford appeared together in the late 90's and in the early 2000s, reprising their roles in guest spots on television programs such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, commercials for The Gap and Denny's, and dry cleaning conventions. He and Sanford also made a cameo appearance in the film Sprung. They continued to work together on occasion until Sanford began having health problems leading to her death in 2004.

He currently resides in El Paso, Texas and runs Triangle Productions.^{[citation needed]}

Filmography

The handprints of Sherman Hemsley in front of Hollywood Hills Amphitheater at Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park.

• Love At First Bite (1979)
• Stewardess School (1986)
• Ghost Fever (1987)
• Club Fed (1990)
• Mr. Nanny (1993)
• Home of Angels (1994)
• The Misery Brothers (1995)
• Sprung (1997)
• Senseless (1998)
• Jane Austen's Mafia! (1998)
• Screwed (2000)
• For the Love of a Dog (2007)
• American Pie Presents: The Book of Love (2009)

Television work

Hemsley, with Isabel Sanford, on The Jeffersons.

• All in the Family (1973-1975)
• The Jeffersons (1975-1985)
• Pink Lady (1980) (Guest starred as himself)
• Purlie (1981)^[3]
• E/R (1984-1985) (guest spots as Nurse Julie Williams' uncle George Jefferson)
• The Twilight Zone (1985) as Sam ("I of Newton")
• Alice in Wonderland (1985)
• Candid Camera (1986) as Dick Sherman
• Amen (1986-1991)
• Combat High (1986)
• Camp Cucamonga (1990)
• Martin (guest starred)
• The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (guest starred as Judge Carl Robertson, and George Jefferson much later)
• Dinosaurs (1991-1994)
• Townsend Television (1993) (canceled after 4 months)
• Goode Behavior (1996-1997)
• All that (1996) guest star as health inspector on the good burger skit
• Lois and Clark (played Rat Toy villains)
• Casper: A Spirited Beginning (1997)
• Sister, Sister (guest spots as Tia and Tamera's grandfather)
• Senseless (Smythe-Bates Doorman)
• Clips' Place (1998) (unsold pilot)
• Up, Up, and Away (2000 film) (2000)
• Mister Ed (2004) (unsold pilot)
• The Surreal Life (cast member in 2006)
• Family Matters (Captain Marion Savage - Carl's superior)
• All That (Good Burger food critic)
• Family Guy, himself in a voice cameo ("The Father, the Son, and the Holy Fonz")

References

External links

• Official website
• Sherman Hemsley at the Internet Movie Database
• Sherman Hemsley at the Internet Broadway Database