Frederick M. Brown/Getty Image Sherman Hemsley in 2004.More than a month after his death, the “Jeffersons” star Sherman Hemsley has not yet been buried. His embalmed body remains refrigerated at a funeral home in El Paso while a dispute over his will is resolved, The Associated Press reported.
Mr. Hemsley, who played the bullheaded dry-cleaning mini-mogul George Jefferson on “All in the Family” and its spinoff “The Jeffersons,” died of lung cancer at his El Paso home on July 24. He was 74.
In a will cited by The A.P., Mr. Hemsley left his estate, valued at over $50,000, to a woman named Flora Enchinton, whom he identified in the will as a “beloved partner.” Ms. Enchinton told The A.P. she had been Mr. Hemsley’s friend and manager for more than 20 years.
That will has been contested by Richard Thornton, who lives in of Philadelphia, where Mr. Hemsley grew up. Mr. Thornton says he is Mr. Hemsley’s brother and that the will he left behind may not have been written by the actor.
The A.P. said Mr. Thornton is being represented by a El Paso lawyer named Mark Davis. A lawyer by that name did not immediately return a message left on Thursday morning.
Ms. Enchinton told The A.P. she lived with Mr. Hemsley and another friend, Kenny Johnston, after a time when “they came running from Los Angeles with not one penny, when there was nothing but struggle.” In all that time she said Mr. Hemsley never told her he had any relatives.
“Some people come out of the woodwork — they think Sherman, they think money,” Ms. Enchinton said.
No comments:
Post a Comment