Sherman helmsley gay

It’s hard to believe that 50 years ago, The Jeffersons made its grand debut, and with it, one of the most iconic sitcoms in television history.

“He had so much going against him at the time, being Black and being gay, but he just didn’t seek out the attention. “He didn’t even attend.” To Sherman, awards didn’t define his worth—his work did.

Still, Evans can’t shake the feeling that Hemsley’s contributions to television and American culture remain undervalued. I remember one episode with a cheap gay joke.

In an article about a dispute over his will, The Advocate said the following:

“While there was no official confirmation during his lifetime, there was frequent speculation that Hemsley, famed for his portrayal of the bigoted dry cleaning mogul on the hit sitcom The Jeffersons, was a gay man.

He was painted as sort of a mirror to Archie Bunker on that show, someone who didn’t trust white people as much as Bunker didn’t trust minorities. One of those players is Damon Evans, who portrayed Lionel Jefferson—the Jeffersons’ son—for three seasons. The same bars. He had no children.” The source for the “reportedly” was not given.

David A.

Steinberg, then copy desk chief at The San Francisco Chronicle and also president of the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, made a salient point about the issue.

“I think, in general, someone’s sexual orientation and relationship status should be treated the same whether the person is gay or straight,” Steinberg told The Root.

In the show, Jefferson plays the owner of a successful dry cleaning business he runs with his wife Weezy, played by the excellent Isabel Sanford.

The clan leaves Queens and, as the theme song explains, moves on up to the fancy Upper East Side to a “deluxe apartment in the sky.” The show was a massive hit right off the bat, and the show helped cement Hemsley as one of America’s preeminent celebrities of his time.

The show broke new ground; there had never really been a show about an ornery black man who called white people “honky.” The show stopped airing in 1985, but cemented Hensley’s legend.

The actor was born in 1938, and stinted in the Air Force after dropping out of school in the 10th grade.

Because this was the seventies, the whole thing was played for laughs, but it presented the issue in a real-life way.

Also, after Helmsley’s death, news site The Root cited a Facebook post from then-Howard University interim president Joyce Ladner, where she called the actor “out and proud.” That came from an obituary from the gossip site Sandra Rose, which said:

“Helmsley, who never married, was reportedly an out and proud gay man.

“And yet, even after 11 seasons, he was only nominated once for an Emmy.” That’s right—despite his iconic role as the outspoken, hilariously abrasive George Jefferson, Hemsley, a man whose performances had viewers howling, was criminally under-recognized.

But the story of Hemsley’s life and legacy goes far beyond his career.

But in the Advocate interview, Evans notably paints a picture of a man who a was apparently living his life comfortably as a gay man, even if he didn’t openly talk about it, alleging that they both frequented many of the same gay hot spots:

“We cruised the same places, went to the same parties. “But I remember one episode with a cheap gay joke.

But the show’s success wasn’t just due to its witty writing or controversial moments; it was largely thanks to the remarkable performances of its cast—chief among them, Sherman Hemsley.

RELATED: Harvey Fierstein Defends LGBTQ+ on 20/20 in 1983

As the show celebrates its 50th anniversary, one thing remains clear: while The Jeffersons changed television forever, many of its key players have remained on the margins.

In 1969, The New York Times called him “an actor whose instinct for the comic line and the comic gesture, even the comic lift of an eyelash, is wholly natural and just about perfect.”

His big break came shortly after when he was put in the musical Purlie, about being Black in the American South during the time before segregation ended.

I felt so uncomfortable. You know - peace and love."

The New York TimesNew YorkThe New York TimesNew York

This year marks the 50th anniversary of The Jeffersons, the trailblazing sitcom from Norman Lear that single-handedly changed the television landscape by focusing on a Black, upwardly mobile family.

A spin-off of CBS’s successful All In The Family, the series would go on to air 253 episodes over the course of a decade, with episodes that boldly tackled a number of complex social issues, breaking all sorts of new ground for African-American representation in entertainment.

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But the sitcom was pretty gay behind the scenes, too…

Actor Damon Evans played the Jeffersons’ adult son Lionel on the show from season two through four, taking over the role from Mike Evans (no relation, by the way).

all episodes of The Jeffersons are currently available for digital rental or purchase via Amazon Prime Video and AppleTV.

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From ‘M*A*S*H’ to ‘Ted Lasso’: Looking back on 50 years of coming out scenes in sitcoms

From one-episode guest stars to series leads, gay and bi characters have been coming out on sitcoms for more than five decades.

It speaks to the closeted reality many actors of the time had to navigate—especially for a Black man in Hollywood, where the stakes were higher and the risks of being open about one’s identity felt insurmountable.

Although Hemsley never publicly acknowledged his sexuality, Evans notes that Hemsley was always private about his life—he had a long-term Puerto Rican partner who often attended the show’s tapings, and the two even performed together in Vegas during breaks.

Hemsley's sexuality was questioned most notably in a 2007 VH1 article that considered the top three closeted black actors, and the man known for playing Mr. Jefferson was ranked at number one.

When Hemsley died he left behind neither a wife nor any children, and the question of whether he was gay won't change fans opinion of him.

The writer of the article based the speculation on the fact that an anonymous forum poster somewhere online suggested that Hemsley's sexuality caused problems on "The Jeffersons" with Isabella Sanford, who played his wife on the show.

They also cite that the Google search of "The Sherm + Gay produces a measly 13,500 results," although five years later searching "Sherman Hemsley Gay" produces almost 70,000.

Evans, like many of his contemporaries, understood the need for a space where people could be themselves, without fear of persecution.

But what Evans wants to bring attention to now, more than ever, is the legacy of Sherman Hemsley—the man behind George Jefferson. While the show touched on race, class, and identity in bold ways, it was Sherman’s performance that made George Jefferson such a beloved, complex character.

And yet, the world never truly gave Sherman Hemsley the credit he was due—especially not for making space for LGBTQ+ representation in ways that were decades ahead of their time.

The Jeffersons wasn’t just about a wealthy couple navigating the upper crust of society, it was a satire that pushed boundaries—no small feat at a time when portrayals of Black life on TV often involved hardship, struggle, or stereotypes.