Was Sherman Hemsley gay? The rumors, explained

There’s a rumor that ’70s sitcom star Sherman Hemsley was a gay man. Hemsley starred in the hit shows All in the Family, The Jeffersons, and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, to name a few. He was an incredibly popular actor during his heyday, and one of the most recognizable actors around until his death in 2012.

It might be hard to believe for someone born after the 2000s, but things weren’t always easy for gay actors in this country before same sex marriage was officially legalized in all 50 states in 2015. There was a stigma against homosexuality in Hollywood, and many actors decided it would be better for their careers if they didn’t reveal their true identities.

Whether or not Hemsley was gay is, of course, his business, and has no bearing whatsoever on his incredible legacy. We’ll just be discussing the rumors claiming this to be the case, and explain why they exist. Before we do that, let’s get a sense of who he was and his journey through show business, from theater actor to star of the silver screen.

Who was Sherman Hemsley?

Sherman Hemsley is best known for playing newly rich George Jefferson on the TV show The Jeffersons on the CBS Network. That character made its debut in the show All in the Family. 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. Yes, it was a different time.

He was first seen on that show in 1973. The character was so popular that a spinoff was made. 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. He started working nights at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in Philadelphia. After getting encouragement from the director of the institution, he moved to New York and joined the Negro Ensemble Company, and studied with Lloyd Richards, who would go on to helm the Drama program at Yale.

He got some Broadway roles and was on his way. 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. TV producer Norman Lear remembered the actor when he was casting Archie Bunker’s neighbor.

“The cocky energy of the guy was totally in sync with the offstage image we had created of George,” Lear said.

Hemsley continued in television, albeit never landing a role quite as successful as his biggest. He did a show called Amen set in a Black Baptist church, and over the years, he appeared in a number of shows with Black casts. His last TV appearance was in 2011 on the Tyler Perry sitcom House of Payne.

The actor was very private, and never shared much about his personal life, perhaps fueling the rumors that he was gay. He would laugh when people would assume he was a mirror image of his character, Mr. Jefferson.

“I’m nothing like him,” he said. “I don’t slam doors in people’s faces, and I’m not a bigot. I’m just an old hippie. You know — peace and love.”

The only thing known for sure was that he was never married, and he never had any children.

Was Sherman Hemsley gay?

There were a few facts that may have contributed to the perception of Hemsley being gay. When he died, he left all of his money (which was only $50,000) to his “beloved partner,” Flora Enchinton, who was his manager and business partner.

She said that she lived with Hemsley and his friend, Kenny Johnston. 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. A 2007 VH1 story that listed three favorite allegedly gay Black actors from the past put Hemsley in the top spot.”

Here’s another rumor from a Sitcom message board from 2002:

“A friend of mine went to the Lucy-Desi days in Jamestown, NY awhile back. For their grand marshall they had Isabel Sanford. Anyway she had a chance for a few moments to talk to Isabel, she asked how her tv husband (Sherman) is doing now-a-days and she claims that he and his “boyfriend” are doing just fine.

Now was she joking about this or was she serious about this , no one really knows. But has anybody else heard the story about Hemsley gay?

I remember one of those tabloids (Globe I believe) had a picture of Hemsley with a white male named “Andre” I believe, on its cover talking about the “money troubles” Mr. Jefferson and his male companion are having. I remember reading this standing in line at a King Soopers Supermarket here a few years back, ever since then, though, little has been said about his private life.

If Sherman Hemsley is gay, he would be a great role model to other gay/lesbians. Sending a message that its Ok to be gay without making a fuss about it. Like Raymond Burr for example. A&E’s Biography said he was gay, he even left his estate to his male lover for 20+ years but Burr never held a press confrence to discuss his lifestyle. I believe same with Richard Simmons, if he is gay. I dont recall him ever going out in public talking about it.”

While The Jeffersons never tackled the issue of homosexuality head-on, one episode featured a transgender woman who underwent gender reassignment surgery. 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. 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. “If it’s appropriate in one case, it is most likely appropriate in the other.”

He admitted that the situation was “difficult.”

“You can’t ask him, and he never said anything on the subject. Again, just personal opinion, but I’m not sure an obituary is the place to include rumors, never confirmed, about someone from decades before.”

This brings us to something a bit more recent. Fellow acting legend Garrett Morris appeared on the popular VladTV interview show, and was asked directly about the issue.

He talked about working on The Jeffersons and how he was “delighted to be working with” Hensley and the rest of the cast. “A lot of people don’t know I had two years as a regular on that show.”

The interviewer then asked about how Morris had mentioned that being Black, gay, and leftist was not a good combo at that particular time in history.

“There were longstanding rumors that Sherman, that he was in the closet for the better part of his life.”

Morris answers very simply: “Yes, he was.”

“Is this something that was commonly known amongst you guys?” the interviewer asked. “Or did you just find out in the aftermath?”

“I knew about it a long time before it came out, yes,” Morris said. “Yeah, I did.”

The conversation then veers to Hemsley’s “comedic genius,” proving that whatever his preference, he’ll always be remembered as a great comedic actor.

To summarize, there have always been rumors that Hemsley was a gay man, but who cares! Even though he’s gone, it’s his business. It’s never something that he shared publicly, although it sounds like he was very comfortable being himself around the people he knew and called friends. He was a great actor, and that’s what we should remember him for.