Television lost another beloved icon with the passing of Sherman Hemsley, who died Tuesday from natural causes at his home in El Paso, Texas at the age of 74.
Sherman is best known as George Jefferson, the black counterpart of All in the Family‘s bigoted Archie Bunker who moved on up to the East Side with “a deluxe apartment in the sky” in spin-off The Jeffersons (1975-85), the longest-running African-American sitcom in television history.
After that, he was born again (sort of) as ethically-challenged Deacon Ernest Frye on the NBC sitcom Amen, which aired from 1986 to 1991.
Sherman made guest appearances on shows such as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and Sister, Sister. He reprised the role of George Jefferson in an episode of Tyler Perry’s House of Payne last year.
Sherman was never married and had no children.
