After Sherman Hemsley's Death, Inter Rife Wh Rumors 'The Jeffersons' Actor Was Gay

Contents:

• SHERMAN HEMSLEY WAS RUMORED TO BE GAY & LIVED WH A MALE FRIEND FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS - INSI HIS PERSONAL LIFE
• 14 TV SHOWS THAT BROKE GROUND WH GAY AND TRANSGENR CHARACTERS
• AFTER SHERMAN HEMSLEY'S DEATH, INTER RIFE WH RUMORS 'THE JEFFERSONS' ACTOR WAS GAY
• VILLAGE VOICE: ‘SHERMAN HEMSLEY WAS A GAY! DEAL WH IT!’
• GAY OR NOT GAY? SHERMAN HEMSLEY
• WAS SHERMAN HEMSLEY THE ONLY GAY ON "ALL IN THE FAY"
• SHERMAN HEMSLEY WAS A GAY! DEAL WH IT!
• WAS THE LATE SHERMAN HEMSLEY GAY? THE STARTLG TTH IS FALLY OUT

SHERMAN HEMSLEY WAS RUMORED TO BE GAY & LIVED WH A MALE FRIEND FOR MORE THAN 20 YEARS - INSI HIS PERSONAL LIFE

Although was never nfirmed, 2007, a VH1 story listed him as part of the three top gay black stars, and after his ath 2012, Flora Enchton, the woman who hered his fortune, hted about his personal life.

14 TV SHOWS THAT BROKE GROUND WH GAY AND TRANSGENR CHARACTERS

| Photo: Getty ImagAfter his ath, a journalist, Michael Mto, published an article where he strongly affirmed that the actor was gay. " He explaed that the man was gay and that was not a horrible thg to say. Acrdg to Mto:"Um, he was gay.

AFTER SHERMAN HEMSLEY'S DEATH, INTER RIFE WH RUMORS 'THE JEFFERSONS' ACTOR WAS GAY

"As The Advote pots out: "While there was no official nfirmatn durg his lifetime, there was equent speculatn that Hemsley, famed for his portrayal of the bigoted dry cleang mogul on the h s The Jeffersons, was a gay man.

A 2007 VH1 story that listed three favore allegedly gay black actors om the past put Hemsley the top spot. 16, 2017Last year was a remarkable time when me to the reprentatn of gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr or queer regular characters on televisn, acrdg to the latt Glaad report monorg diversy on the small screen. People, or beg able to help people unrstand who we are, pecially those tim when so many people lived hidn and visible, ” said Sarah Kate Ellis, the print and chief executive of Glaad (formerly known as the Gay & Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn).

1972 — ‘THAT CERTAIN SUMMER’ A divorced father (Hal Holbrook) his his lover (Mart Sheen) om his teenage son Lamont Johnson’s movie for ABC, nsired the first sympathetic pictn of gay people on televisn. Lear had troduced one of the first gay upl on work televisn the short-lived ABC seri “Hot l Baltimore. ”)1977 — ‘SOAP’ In this ABC s, Billy Crystal plays Jodie Dallas — a gay man havg an affair wh a famo quarterback and ntemplatg genr-reassignment surgery — who be one of the first gay dads on televisn.

VILLAGE VOICE: ‘SHERMAN HEMSLEY WAS A GAY! DEAL WH IT!’

]1985 — ‘AN EARLY FROST’ A Chigo lawyer (Aidan Qun) returns home to reveal to his parents that he’s gay and has AIDS this NBC movie by John Erman, settg the stage for feature films like Jonathan Demme’s “Philalphia.

1994 — ‘MY SO-CALLED LIFE’ In the episo “Life of Brian, ” this ABC drama about high school angst als wh young gay love when Rickie (Wilson Cz) velops a csh on his new classmate, Corey (Adam Bik). 1998 — ‘WILL & GRACE’ Two gay men pl two straight women equals 83 Emmy nomatns and 16 ws for the show that Vice Print Joseph R.

”2000 — ‘QUEER AS FOLK’ Showtime breaks new ground wh the first hourlong drama the Uned Stat about gay men and women, cludg a character who is H.

GAY OR NOT GAY? SHERMAN HEMSLEY

2009 — ‘MODERN FAMILY’ This ABC s — featurg a gay uple, Mchell (Jse Tyler Fergon) and Cameron (Eric Stontreet), and their adopted dghter, Lily (Aubrey Anrson-Emmons), as part of a larger fay — “is geni the way tegrat edy and cln, and is able to te and open people’s hearts and mds, ” Ms. A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn AR, Page 19 of the New York edn wh the headle: Gay and Transgenr Characters Onscreen. Followg the ath of Sherman Hemsley Tuday, the Inter was rife wh mors that the actor, who was bt known for his role as Gee Jefferson on the h 1970s show "The Jeffersons, " was gay.

Jefferson was ranked at number Hemsley died he left behd neher a wife nor any children, and the qutn of whether he was gay won't change fans opn of him.

WAS SHERMAN HEMSLEY THE ONLY GAY ON "ALL IN THE FAY"

The wrer of the article based the speculatn on the fact that an anonymo fom poster somewhere onle suggted that Hemsley's sexualy ed problems on "The Jeffersons" wh Isabella Sanford, who played his wife on the also ce that the Google search of "The Sherm + Gay produc a measly 13, 500 rults, " although five years later searchg "Sherman Hemsley Gay" produc almost 70, 000. The actors that joed Hemsley on the list were Jam Avery, who played Uncle Phil on "The Frh Prce of Bel-Air, " and Regald Vel Johnson, the "Fay Matters" actor behd Carl Advote, a gay magaze, also speculated about Hemsley by wrg, "While there was no official nfirmatn durg his lifetime, there was equent speculatn that Hemsley was a gay man.

"While acknowledgg the mors, Queerty, a gay gossip and news se, remds Hemsley's fans that durg his time on "The Jeffersons" the actor helped Amerins nont discrimatn, reverse racism and terracial marriage.

SHERMAN HEMSLEY WAS A GAY! DEAL WH IT!

"Regardls of whether he was gay or not, the quote that might sum up Hemsley the bt was somethg he said 1996, which the New York Tim re-published his obuary. Um, he was gay.

WAS THE LATE SHERMAN HEMSLEY GAY? THE STARTLG TTH IS FALLY OUT

I get iffy on people outg those who are typilly harmls (as not beg a closeted gay who works to vilify or make life difficult for other gay). The Advote and Queerty both mentn the longstandg gay mors (the first I'm hearg of them, by the way) posts about his ath.

Some random the Talk sectn of his Wikipedia entry says, "It was an open secret that Hemsley was gay, but that n't be add to the article whout a reliable reference. The other his social group knew that Sherman was several gay porn 's why people knew he was gay It's jt that old people don't really talk about that stuff and really who watch old gay porn om the 1950's!? My dad's not gay Sherman once worked at the same post office as him for a few months.