Saturday, December 6, 2008

Another Member of The Jeffersons Family Passes Away

One of my favorite shows of the late 70's - early 80's was The Jeffersons. Sherman Hemsley's depiction of the obnoxious and slightly racist George Jefferson was hilarious. If you've ever seen Hemsley on any other show (such as when he was on VH1's The Surreal Life), you realize he's a reserved, soft spoken person. This makes his performance as George Jefferson, all the more impressive.

Earlier this week, Paul Benedict, who played Mr. Bentley on The Jeffersons, passed away. Looking back on the show and thinking of the characters, the only main actor and actress who are still alive from the show are:

Sherman Hemsley - George
Marla Gibbs - Florence the maid

Now the children of the Willises and Jeffersons played lesser parts on the show. Two of the three of them are still alive:

Berlinda Tolbert - Jenny
Damon Evans - the second Lionel


Paul Benedict, Mike Evans (the first Lionel), Roxie Roker (Helen Willis), Franklin Cover (Tom Willis), Zara Cully (Mother Jefferson), and Isabel Sanford (Louise) are all dead.

I can't think of any show from the last 30-35 years that has been hit as hard by death as The Jeffersons.

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