28 Facts About Sherman Hemsley

Sherman Hemsley won an NAACP Image Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy Series or Special in 1982.

Sherman Hemsley was born and raised in South Philadelphia by his mother, who worked in a lamp factory.

For high school, Sherman Hemsley attended Central High School for ninth grade and Bok Technical High School for tenth.

Sherman Hemsley dropped out of school after the tenth grade and joined the United States Air Force, where he served for four years.

On leaving the Air Force, Sherman Hemsley returned to Philadelphia, where he worked for the United States Postal Service during the day while attending the Academy of Dramatic Arts at night.

Sherman Hemsley then moved to New York, continuing to work for the post office during the day while working as an actor at night.

Sherman Hemsley starred as Gitlow in the early 1970s Broadway musical Purlie.

Sherman Hemsley performed with local groups in Philadelphia before moving to New York to study with Lloyd Richards at the Negro Ensemble Company.

Sherman Hemsley made his Broadway debut in Purlie and toured with the show for a year.

Sherman Hemsley was reluctant to leave his theatre role, at which Lear told him he would hold the role open for him.

Sherman Hemsley continued to work steadily after the show's cancellation, largely typecast in George Jefferson-like roles.

Sherman Hemsley teamed with the sitcom's original cast members when The Jeffersons moved to Broadway for a brief run.

Sherman Hemsley later joined the cast of NBC's Amen in 1986 as Deacon Ernest Frye, a church deacon.

In 1995, Sherman Hemsley made four appearances in the sitcom Sister, Sister as Tia and Tamera Mowry's grandfather.

Sherman Hemsley then cut back on his acting career, although Isabel Sanford and he occasionally appeared together in the mid to late 1990s and in the early 2000s, reprising their popular roles in guest appearances on such television series as The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air; in commercials for The Gap, Old Navy, and Denny's; and at dry cleaning conventions.

Sherman Hemsley starred with Sanford in a touring company of The Real Live Jeffersons stage show in the 1990s.

In 2001, Sherman Hemsley appeared as a contestant on the "Celebrity Classic TV Edition" special of ABC's hit primetime quiz show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and won $125,000 for his charity.

Sherman Hemsley made a voice appearance as himself in the Seth MacFarlane animated comedy Family Guy in 2005.

Sherman Hemsley appeared in the film American Pie Presents: The Book of Love.

Sherman Hemsley was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 2012.

Unlike the characters he played, Sherman Hemsley was a shy and intensely private man, described by some as reclusive.

Sherman Hemsley avoided the Hollywood limelight and little of his personal life was public knowledge beyond the facts that he never married and he had no children.

In 2003 Sherman Hemsley granted a rare video interview to the Archive of American Television.

On July 24,2012, Sherman Hemsley died at his home in El Paso, Texas, at age 74.

Sherman Hemsley had a malignant mass on one of his lungs for which chemotherapy and radiation had been recommended, according to the El Paso County Texas Medical Examiner's report.

Enchinton told the Associated Press that Sherman Hemsley never mentioned any relatives.

On November 9,2012, the legal battle over Sherman Hemsley's body ended when Judge Patricia Chew ruled in favor of Enchinton.

Sherman Hemsley was interred at Fort Bliss National Cemetery in his adopted hometown of El Paso.