Photos: Sherman Hemsley 1938-2012

Actor Sherman Hemsley, best known for his role as George Jefferson on the CBS television series “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons,” died at age 74.  (Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images)

Sherman Hemsley attends the cocktail party for the ‘CBS at 75’ television gala at the Hammerstein Ballroom November 02, 2003 in New York City.  (Evan Agostini/Getty Images)

‘The Jefferson’s’ Marla Gibbs (R) and Sherman Hemsley appear at the First Official TV Land Convention at the Burbank Airport Hilton on August 17, 2003.  (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

‘The Jefferson’s’ Ned Wertimer, Marla Gibbs and Sherman Hemsley appear at the First Official TV Land Convention at the Burbank Airport Hilton on August 17, 2003 in Burbank, Calif.  (Kevin Winter/Getty Images)

Sherman Hemsley in 1995.  (SGranitz/WireImage)

The cast of the TV sitcom ‘The Jeffersons’ (L-R Berlinda Tolbert, Sherman Hemsley, Isabel Sanford, Franklin Cover, Roxie Roker and Marla Gibbs (seated)) circa 1977 in Los Angeles, Calif.  (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

The cast of the TV sitcom ‘The Jeffersons’ (L-R Back Row: Franklin Cover, Paul Benedict, Sherman Hemsley, Marla Gibbs, Ned Wertimer and Berlinda Tolbert, Front Row: Roxie Roker, Isabel Sanford, nd Mike Evans) circa 1975 in Los Angeles, Calif.  (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)

Promotional portrait of actors Sherman Hemsley and Isabel Sanford for the television series, “The Jeffersons,” 1974.   (CBS Photo Archive/Getty Images)