Friends and family remembered actor Sherman Hemsley today at his funeral service in West Texas by showing video clips of his best known role as George Jefferson on the TV sitcom “The Jeffersons.”
About 150 people attended Hemsley’s service at Cielo Vista Church in El Paso, the Associated Press said. He died in July but a fight over his estate delayed his burial.
Reuters reported earlier this month that the will of the late actor was ruled valid, clearing the way for the star of “The Jeffersons” to be buried more than three months after his death.
Hemsley, 74, died of lung cancer in Texas in July. His body has been held at an El Paso area funeral home while the courts ruled on a dispute between a Philadelphia relative of Hemsley and a friend named in his will.
His half brother, Richard Thornton had challenged the will.
“There is no question in my mind that this will clearly represented Mr. Hemsley’s intent,” attorney Julian Horwitz said.
Horwitz said he drafted the will at the request of Hemsley’s friend, Flora Enchinton-Bernal. The will lists Enchinton-Bernal as the executor and sole beneficiary of Hemsley’s estate, he said.
A veteran Broadway and television actor, Hemsley was best-known as the character George Jefferson on the Norman Lear sitcom “The Jeffersons” which ran from 1975 to 1985.
Horwitz said Enchinton-Bernal called him several weeks before Hemsley’s death and asked him to prepare the will, which he said the actor signed while at an El Paso hospital.
“I found him lucid and in full possession of his faculties and desirous of having a will,” Horwitz said of Hemsley.
Horwitz said Hemsley lived quietly in El Paso with Enchinton-Bernal and referred to her in the will as “my beloved partner.” He never married and had no children.
The Philadelphia-born Hemsley also guest-starred on numerous shows over the years, including “The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.”