Source: WENN

Sherman Hemsley will finally be laid to rest soon in a military burial three-and-a-half months after the actor passed away July 24. Sadly, Hemsley’s burial was delayed due to bickering over his $50,000 estate, and based on the ruling the judge laid down it was all for nothing. During a hearing, Sherman’s original wish for Flora Enchinton to be the beneficiary of his estate was upheld in court.

The cause of the delayed burial was Richard Thorton, a man who claimed to be Hemsley’s half-brother and who challenged the validity of the actor’s will, which was written six weeks before he died. According to Fox News:

At a deposition in September, Thornton was ordered by the judge to take a DNA test to prove his relationship to Hemsley. According to his attorney, the tests did prove their brotherhood – but at that point the judge refused to take the evidence into consideration as Thornton missed the deadline to submit the results to the court.

The proceedings were dragged out due to complications associated with gathering evidence, and then pushed back to the travel woes caused by Hurricane Sandy. However, court proceedings may not be completely over just yet.

“The judge admitted the will to probate and appointed Flora Enchinton Bernal as the independent executrix of the Estate. The Court also ruled that Ms. Enchinton Bernal was the person authorized to make the decisions as to Mr. Hemsley’s burial arrangements. At the conclusion of the trial, Mr. Thornton’s attorney indicated that he planned to appeal. To my knowledge, no appeal has yet been filed,” added Neill.

Regardless of the threat of appeal, Echinton’s lawyer told Fox that a military funeral is now being planned for Hemsley, who served for four years in the United States Air Force prior to launching his acting career.

“My client is planning on a military funeral for Mr. Hemsley at Fort Bliss National Cemetery here in El Paso. Mr. Hemsley previously served in the United States Air Force and thus is eligible for a military funeral,” said attorney Alexander Neill. “At the present we are waiting for all of the final orders to be entered by the Court so the funeral plans can proceed.”

Let’s hope they wrap this up by Christmas — literally.

Source: WENN

Under normal circumstances I would say Sherman Hemsley must be turning over in his grave right now, but unfortunately the actor still doesn’t have one because he hasn’t been buried yet, despite passing away July 24. Shameful, right?

The hold up is the $50,000 “fortune” Hemsley left to Flora Enchinton, a woman he considered his “beloved partner.” Though the wish is plainly stated in a will, the actor’s alleged brother is contesting it, claiming the money should go to him and now a judge is making him prove his family ties. According to the Las Cruses Sun-News:

On Monday, Probate Court No. 1 Judge Patricia Chew delayed the trial over the actor’s estate — and his body — until Oct. 31. At the same time, the man who says he’s Hemsley’s brother was asked to take a DNA test.

Hemsley’s body has been at an East El Paso funeral home since he died of lung cancer July 24. The body will remain there until the probate trial ends and a beneficiary is determined.

The trial, originally scheduled for Monday, will settle a lawsuit involving Richard Thornton, the man claiming to be Hemsley’s brother, and Flora Isela Enchinton Bernal, his listed beneficiary, who lives in El Paso.

Thornton and his lawyer, Mark Davis, asked the court to order a genetics test to see whether Hemsley’s DNA matches Thornton’s. The request was made after Enchinton questioned whether Thornton was really Hemsley’s brother.

The genetics test must be filed with the court by Oct. 15.

“Be prepared to produce it because there will be no more continuances,” Chew said…

After hearing of Chew’s ruling, Mike Wells, who said he is a cousin on Hemsley’s mother’s side, said he will try to intervene legally before Oct. 31.

“There is only one person in the world who I believe Sherman would call a sister, and that is my mother,” Wells said. “And I’ll say that in court anywhere and to anyone.”

Wells believes that Enchinton was not close to Hemsley and that the Thorntons are not related to the actor.

“I believe I might know who Sherman’s father is, and it is not a Thornton,” Wells said. “We are family, and we are not looking for money. But if we are entitled to something, we don’t want anyone else to have it.”

Before the judge ordered the test, Thornton’s nephew, Robert Thornton, took the stand to speak in favor of a DNA test.

Robert Thornton said his uncle’s father, William Thornton, was a “lover” of Hemsley’s mother but was with another woman by the time Hemsley was born.

Robert Thornton said that Hemsley lived with William Thornton for five years as a child and that there was a loving relationship between Hemsley and his alleged father.

“It was family knowledge that he was Sherman’s father,” Robert Thornton said. “I saw the relationship was there. He was present with Sherman quite often.”

When Neill brought up media interviews in which Hemsley said he was an only child and did not have contact with his father, Robert Thornton maintained that the two were close.

“I couldn’t know what was in his head or why he would be saying that at the time,” Robert Thornton said. “He was at his father’s funeral. If he had no relationship with his father and didn’t care of him, why would he travel over 2,000 miles to attend his funeral?”

I really don’t even know what to say about all of these individuals quarreling over $50K that it appears Hemsley clearly delegated who he wanted it to go to. But of course as these things go, the supposed distant relatives don’t believe the will is valid.

“I’m aware she has a paper,” Robert Thornton said. “It seems kind of strange to me, one of the signatures seems like a tracing to me. I’m not a signature expert or anything, but it looked odd.”

I think the best way to tell who really has Hemsley’s best interest at heart is the person willing to put foolishness aside in order to finally put his body at rest. So basically no one.

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Source: Allvoices.com

Families know how to act up when someone with a little bit of money dies don’t they? In case you were wondering why there were never any details reported on Sherman Hemsley’s funeral it’s because it hasn’t happened yet — and it likely won’t for a long time. “The Jefferson’s” actor has been dead for over a month now, 36 days to be exact, yet his remains still remain refrigerated in an El Paso, TX, funeral home because of a dispute over the validity of his will.

News One reports:

In the will Hemsley signed six weeks before dying of lung cancer July 24, he named Flora Enchinton, 56, whom he called a “beloved partner,” as sole beneficiary of his estate, which is estimated in court documents to be more than $50,000.

The will is being contested by Richard Thornton of Philadelphia who claims to be Hemsley’s brother and says the will might not have been made by the actor.

Enchinton told the Associated Press on Wednesday that she had been friends with Hemsley and had been his manager for more than 20 years. Over the time she, Hemsley, and Hemsley’s friend Kenny Johnston, 76, lived together, she said he never mentioned any relatives.

“Some people come out of the woodwork – they think Sherman, they think money,” Enchinton said. “But the fact is that I did not know Sherman when he was in the limelight. I met them when they (Hemsley and Johnston) came running from Los Angeles with not one penny, when there was nothing but struggle.”

With no date set yet for this case to be heard in court, there’s no telling when Sherman’s body will finally be laid to rest. Whatever the deal is with his will, I’m sure this isn’t what he had in mind.

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Source: Shadow and Act

When Sherman Hemsley passed away late last month, his death was a shock to everyone. Though “The Jefferson’s” actor had been somewhat out of the spotlight for a while, his sudden passing at 74 seemed odd given no one was aware of any health complications. The El Paso, Texas, resident did in fact have them though, as TMZ reports he was suffering from lung cancer.

 ”According to the Postmortem Report, obtained by TMZ, the primary cause of death is listed as “superior vena cava syndrome” — a complication resulting from a mass on Sherman’s lung.

“According to the report, Sherman had been advised to get chemo and radiation therapy before he succumbed to his illness. It’s unclear if Sherman was a smoker.”

As we mentioned when Sherman passed July 24, he had no wife or children and it doesn’t appear any other relatives released a statement on his passing. His obituary in both the LA Times and New York Times noted “Information on survivors was not immediately available.”

Perhaps Sherman decided not to endure the pain of chemo and embrace death rather than try to sustain his life battling this disease.

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Source: StyleBlazer.com

From StyleBlazer.com

This week we mourned the loss of television icon, Sherman Hemsley, who died at the age of 74. Whether you remember him from the ’70s sitcom The Jeffersons or have fond memories of him as Deacon Frye on Amen, we all remember that the 74 year old star’s career spanned decades. In addition to being a TV icon, his threads weren’t too shabby either. Remember those fly suits he wore? Like Hemsley, some of our favorite sitcom stars of the ’70s and ’80s influenced the way we dressed back then and still inspire us today. Maybe you were a fan of the glamorous Diahann Carroll, the playful Tootie on The Facts of Life, or Lisa Bonet’s boho style on The Cosby Show. These stars came into our living rooms every week and imparted serious style lessons.

Take a look at eight of our fave tv style stars of the ’70s and ’80s.

Sherman Hemsley, The Jeffersons 

Check out the other seven style stars on StyleBlazer.com.

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Photo: CBS, Landov

Sad news: Sherman Hemsley, the actor best known for playing the lead character, George Jefferson, on the hit TV show The Jeffersons, has died at the age of 74. Hemsley was also the star of the show Amen, playing the deacon of a Baptist church in Philadelphia, and began his career on the Broadway and off-Broadway stage. But it was George Jefferson that made him famous.

Over on the TIME website, Touré makes the case for the importance of this character to television history and for the portrayal of African Americans in pop culture. Funny jokes and smooth dance moves aside, George Jefferson painted a new and modern picture for the 1970s viewer — a wealthy black man living in the fancy part of town with his lovely wife, handsome son, a live-in maid, and a menagerie of interesting and diverse neighbors.

“…George was a seminal character, representative of upwardly mobile blacks in the midst of the affirmative action-powered 1970s,” Touré writes.

“Where James Evans of Good Times was humbled by his work life and just barely keeping his head above water, making it any way that he could, Jefferson was a shining member of the black upper-middle class who stuck out his chest and peacocked around his pretty high-rise: one of those who’d finally gotten a piece of the pie,” he continues.

Underneath the humor, there was a wonderful, radical story being told. Thanks, Sherman Hemsley, for bringing us this character. Read the rest of Touré’s column here.

Source: greenobles.com

In sad news, TMZ is reporting that Sherman Hemsley, best known as George Jefferson on the classic black family sitcom, “The Jeffersons,” has passed.

As for now, the site doesn’t have details on how Sherman passed, but has reportedly received word from Texas authorities that the 74-year-old actor died in his home in El Paso. For as much of a family man as he played on TV, Sherman appears to have had no immediately family, leaving no wife nor any children behind.

Beyond his unforgettable role as the other half of Weezy on “The Jeffersons”, and the sitcom “All in the Family” where his character originated, Philly-born Sherman is also well known for playing the uptight deacon Ernest Frye on the NBC sitcom “Amen.” He also had stints on the “Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,” “Sister Sister,” and even recently Tyler Perry’s “House of Payne.” He will definitely be missed.

Brande Victorian is the news and operations editor for madamenoire.com. Follow her on twitter @Be_Vic.

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