Sherman Alexander Hemsley was born on February 1, 1938 in South Philadelphia Pennsylvania which is also where he was raised by his mother who was a factory worker. After dropping out of school he
joined the air force and served four years. After he left the force, he returned to Philadelphia and enrolled back in school. While studying acting at the Philadelphia Academy of Dramatic Arts,
he began acting in New York workshops and theater companies, including the Negro Ensemble Company. He kept his job at the post office while acting at night, before doing acting full-time.
Hemsley performed with local groups in Philadelphia to study with Lloyd Richards at the Negro Ensemble Company. Hemsley then moved to New York, continuing to work for the Post Office during the
day while working as an actor at night. He starred on the early 1970 Broadway play Purlie as character Gitlow,
touring with the show for a year.
After performing on Purlie he joined Vinnette Carroll’s Urban Arts Company appearing in the following productions: But Never Jam Today, The Lottery, Old Judge Mose is Dead, Moon On A Rainbow Shawl, Step Lively Boys, Croesus, and The Witch.
In the summer of 1972 he flew to Toronto to join the Vinnette Carroll musical: Sorry, I Can’t Cope ensemble following the American Conservatory Theatre production at the Geary Theatre a month later. Hensley performed the solo ” Lookin Over From Your Side” in act one and Sermon in act two .
After he left the theater, Hemsley joined the All in the Family in 1973, playing himself a hit character on the enormously popular show. Two years later, the show got cancelled. He then joined
the spin off show “The Jeffersons” Among the numerous “All in the Family” spin-offs (“Maude,” “Archie Bunker’s Place, “704
Hauser”), “The Jeffersons” ran the longest.
On July 24, 2012, the world found out that Mr. Jefferson has moved on up to that Deluxe apartment in the sky. His Memory will forever live on.
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