George Jefferson
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George Jefferson is a fictional character played by
Sherman Hemsley Sherman Alexander Hemsley (February 1, 1938 – July 24, 2012) was an American actor and comedian. He was known for his roles as George Jefferson on the CBS television series ''All in the Family'' (1973–1975; 1978) and ''The Jeffersons'' (1975 ...
on the American television
sitcom A sitcom (short for situation comedy or situational comedy) is a genre of comedy produced for radio and television, that centers on a recurring cast of character (arts), characters as they navigate humorous situations within a consistent settin ...
s ''
All in the Family ''All in the Family'' is an American sitcoms in the United States, sitcom television series that aired on CBS for nine seasons from January 12, 1971, to April 8, 1979, with a total of 205 episodes. It was later produced as ''Archie Bunker's Pla ...
'' (1973–1975, 1978) and its
spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...
''
The Jeffersons ''The Jeffersons'' is an American sitcom television series that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, to July 2, 1985. Lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes, ''The Jeffersons'' is one of the longest-running sitcoms in history ...
'' (1975–1985), in which he serves as the program's
protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a ...
. He appeared in all 253 episodes of ''The Jeffersons''.


Character overview

George Jefferson was born in
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...
in 1929, an ambitious
African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...
who started and managed a successful chain of seven dry cleaning stores in
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
. The only background on the Jefferson family is that they were Alabama
sharecroppers Sharecropping is a legal arrangement in which a landowner allows a tenant (sharecropper) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping is not to be conflated with tenant farming, providing the tenant a ...
. In a very early episode, George's wife Louise makes mention of a conversation she had with George's father after she and George were married about the Jeffersons family roots. However, the show's writers later applied a retroactive change in the continuity of George's father, such that he had died when George was 9 years old. This left George to take care of his mother; therefore, George was unable to complete
high school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., ...
. He was a cook in the
US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
during the
Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
. He began dating Louise when they were teenagers and married her upon his discharge from the navy in 1951; by 1979 they had been married 28 years. Before the Jeffersons' store opening, the family lived in a derelict section of
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...
. George had worked as a
janitor A cleaner, cleanser or cleaning operative is a type of Industry (economics), industrial or domestic worker who is tasked with cleaning a space. A janitor (Scotland, United States and Canada), also known as a custodian, Facility Operator, porter ...
at the Hempstead Apartments, and Louise as a housekeeper. In the third episode of All in the Family "My Aching Back", Lionel Jefferson explained that his father was able to open his cleaning store with a $3,200 ($21,467.34 in 2021) settlement after being rear-ended by a bus. Although this is later contradicted in a Season Six episode of The Jeffersons, "The First Store". George's brother Henry Jefferson, played by veteran character actor
Mel Stewart Milton "Mel" Stewart (September 19, 1929 – February 24, 2002) was an American character actor, television director and musician who appeared in numerous films and television shows from the 1960s to the 1990s. He is perhaps best known for play ...
, appeared in ''All in the Family'' during the lead-up to the spin-off of ''The Jeffersons''. That character was created only because Sherman Hemsley was starring in the
Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...
musical ''
Purlie ''Purlie'' is a musical with a book by Ossie Davis, Philip Rose, and Peter Udell, lyrics by Udell and music by Gary Geld. It is based on Davis's 1961 play '' Purlie Victorious''. Plot ''Purlie'' is set in an era when Jim Crow laws still we ...
'' and not yet available to take on the part of George. Once Hemsley became available and joined the cast, the character of his brother became extraneous, and as a result, Henry Jefferson never appeared on ''The Jeffersons''. Henry's absence was attributed to his family's move to
Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...
, but was mentioned one time when he had a son named Raymond (played by
Gary Coleman Gary Wayne Coleman (February 8, 1968 – May 28, 2010) was an American actor, known as a high-profile child star of the late 1970s and 1980s. Born in Zion, Illinois, Coleman grew up with his adopted parents, and a kidney disease; due to the co ...
), who came to visit his aunt Louise and uncle George in one episode of ''The Jeffersons''. During ''All in the Family'', Jefferson lived in a working-class neighborhood in the borough of
Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
, next door to the Bunker family, with his wife Louise (
Isabel Sanford Isabel Sanford (born Eloise Gwendolyn Sanford; August 29, 1917 – July 9, 2004) was an American stage, film, and television actress and comedian best known for her role as Louise "Weezy" Mills Jefferson on the CBS sitcoms ''All in the Fam ...
) and son Lionel ( Mike Evans). During the period between 1971 and 1973, George's perpetual absence was explained as being a result of his refusal to set foot in his bigoted neighbor
Archie Bunker Archibald "Archie" Bunker is a fictional character from the 1970s American television sitcom ''All in the Family'' and its spin-off '' Archie Bunker's Place'', played by Carroll O'Connor. Bunker, a main character of the series, is a World War II ...
's home, although in later episodes, relationships between Jefferson and Bunker thawed somewhat. When the spin-off series ''The Jeffersons'' began in January 1975, George and his family had moved "to a deluxe apartment in the sky" on the
Upper East Side The Upper East Side, sometimes abbreviated UES, is a neighborhood in the boroughs of New York City, borough of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded approximately by 96th Street (Manhattan), 96th Street to the north, the East River to the e ...
of
Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
, owing to the success of his expanding chain of stores. Like his neighbor
Archie Bunker Archibald "Archie" Bunker is a fictional character from the 1970s American television sitcom ''All in the Family'' and its spin-off '' Archie Bunker's Place'', played by Carroll O'Connor. Bunker, a main character of the series, is a World War II ...
, George Jefferson was frequently opinionated, rude, bigoted, prone to scheming and not particularly intelligent in a scholastic sense, but still a loving, hard-working father and husband. Unlike Archie, however, George was quicker thinking, and usually cleverer. Frequently, plots in ''The Jeffersons'' revolved around George's usually dishonest schemes, which always ended in comedic failure. In the Season 3 episode "A Case of Black and White", George schemes to obtain a new client (a mixed-race couple) by inviting them and the Willises (also a mixed-race couple) to dinner. When the Willises realize that George is using them, they leave before the new client shows up. This makes George bribe Florence the maid and Ralph the doorman into pretending to be the Willises. Eventually the Willises return, and by pretending to be Florence and Ralph, they help George land the client, while trapping George into throwing them an extravagant anniversary party. In the episode "George and Jimmy" George's big-mouthed attempts to invite US President
Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (October 1, 1924December 29, 2024) was an American politician and humanitarian who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party ...
to his home as a publicity stunt backfires with George almost being arrested by the US Secret Service. In another episode "George and the Manager" George's refusal to hire ''any'' woman to be the manager of his cleaning store results in 1] A qualified African American woman refusing to work for George under any circumstances 2] a qualified white woman employee quits, so she can work at George's biggest competitor, Cunningham Cleaners 3] Louise and Mother Jefferson allied with one another against George's sexist attitude. In the last episode of the series "Red Robins", George's dishonest "business advice" to his granddaughter Jessica Jefferson and her "Red Robins" girl scout troop about selling their uneatable candy results in the girls losing a chance at a scout Jamboree and Louise Jefferson scolding George soundly. Despite his constant self-victimization due to his background and heritage, George shows countless times in the series his immense hypocrisy and prejudices and that he possesses any form of
bigotry Prejudice can be an affective feeling towards a person based on their perceived social group membership. The word is often used to refer to a preconceived (usually unfavourable) evaluation or classification of another person based on that pers ...
imaginable: *
racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
(against whites, like Tom Willis and countless others, Asians, mixed, like the Willises' kids, sometimes even other blacks) *
chauvinism Chauvinism ( ) is the unreasonable belief in the superiority or dominance of one's own group or people, who are seen as strong and virtuous, while others are considered weak, unworthy, or inferior. The ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'' describes it ...
*
sexism Sexism is prejudice or discrimination based on one's sex or gender. Sexism can affect anyone, but primarily affects women and girls. It has been linked to gender roles and stereotypes, and may include the belief that one sex or gender is int ...
, specifically
misogyny Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against Woman, women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than Man, men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been wide ...
and aforementioned chauvinism (towards various characters in the series, including Louise) *
ageism Ageism, also called agism in American English, is a type of discrimination based on one's age, generally used to refer to age-based discrimination against Old age, elderly people. The term was coined in 1969 by Robert Neil Butler to describe this ...
(against Mother Jefferson's fiancé before knowing he was rich and Louise's sister and her son when he thought they were dating and didn't know yet they were related) * Lying and deception, George Tries to make new customers think that he is a descendent of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemings! Like Archie Bunker, however, George Jefferson's personality softened as the years passed. By ''The Jeffersons'' series finale in 1985, the frequent
racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one Race (human categorization), race or ethnicity over another. It may also me ...
and
interracial marriage Interracial marriage is a marriage involving spouses who belong to different "Race (classification of human beings), races" or Ethnic group#Ethnicity and race, racialized ethnicities. In the past, such marriages were outlawed in the United Sta ...
plot-lines of early seasons were replaced with plots involving the Jeffersons' family life, as well as interactions with maid
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
(played by
Marla Gibbs Marla Gibbs (born Margaret Theresa Bradley; June 14, 1931) is an American actress, singer, comedian, writer, and television producer whose career spans seven decades. She is known for her role as George Jefferson's maid, Florence Johnston, on th ...
) and neighbors. George would form a grudging friendship with Tom Willis and this was primarily what prompted Hemsley to ask for the aforementioned changes, feeling George would no longer make such jokes if he and Tom were truly becoming friends. In addition, while George nearly always appears to be stingy and insensitive, several episodes expose a generous, sentimental side that he takes pains to keep hidden from his family and friends. In the Season 4
Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
episode "984 W. 124th Street, Apt. 5C," Louise discovers that George regularly makes anonymous donations of money and gifts to the family that now lives in the decrepit Harlem apartment where he lived as a young boy, to fulfill a childhood promise he made to himself that if he ever became wealthy, nobody in the apartment would experience an unhappy Christmas again. In the Season 9 episode "Change for a Dollar," it is revealed to the audience that George's weekly tradition of going to his first store after closing to count his money is actually an excuse to provide free dry-cleaning services to his first customer, a well-off woman who referred her friends to his store and has now fallen into poverty following the death of her husband. As for his political affiliation, in the ''All in the Family'' episode "George and Archie Make a Deal" (1974), George briefly seeks to become a Republican council member. In the "Louise's Award" episode (1979) of ''The Jeffersons'', he says he is a Democrat. Hemsley appeared as George twice on ''
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air ''The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air'' is an American television sitcom created by Andy and Susan Borowitz that aired on NBC from September 10, 1990, to May 20, 1996. The series stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart ...
'', appearing along with Isabel Sanford as Louise, debating whether to buy the house
Will Smith Willard Carroll Smith II (born September 25, 1968) is an American actor, rapper, and film producer. Known for his work in both Will Smith filmography, the screen and Will Smith discography, music industries, List of awards and nominations re ...
's character had lived in for the last several years from his aunt and uncle in the later episode.


''All in the Family'' appearances

The following is a list of ''All in the Family'' episodes featuring George Jefferson before and during ''The Jeffersons''.


Season 4

*Episode 2: "Henry's Farewell" *Episode 14: "Archie Is Cursed" *Episode 20: "Lionel's Engagement" *Episode 23: "Pay the Twenty Dollars"


Season 5

*Episode 1: "The Bunkers and Inflation" (Part 1) *Episode 3: "The Bunkers and Inflation" (Part 3) *Episode 4: "The Bunkers and Inflation" (Part 4) *Episode 5: "Lionel the Live-In" *Episode 9: "Where's Archie?" (Part 2) *Episode 10: "The Longest Kiss" *Episode 12: "George and Archie Make a Deal" *Episode 13: "Archie's Contract" *Episode 17: "The Jeffersons Move on Up" *Episode 24: "Mike Makes His Move"


Season 8

*Episode 22: "Mike's New Job"


Cultural impact

The lingering cultural impact of the George Jefferson character is such that
Michelle Obama Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama ( Robinson; born January 17, 1964) is an American attorney and author who served as the first lady of the United States from 2009 to 2017, being married to Barack Obama, the 44th president of the United Stat ...
, the wife of then-presidential candidate
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
, referenced George Jefferson in a June 2008 interview with the ''
New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
''. Referring to an unfounded rumor discussed by a
blog A blog (a Clipping (morphology), truncation of "weblog") is an informational website consisting of discrete, often informal diary-style text entries also known as posts. Posts are typically displayed in Reverse chronology, reverse chronologic ...
ger that she had once used the word "whitey" in a speech, Michelle Obama told the ''Times'': "You are amazed sometimes at how deep the lies can be . . . I mean, ‘whitey’? That's something that George Jefferson would say."


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jefferson, George Television characters introduced in 1973 All in the Family characters The Jeffersons characters African-American characters in television Fictional Republicans (United States) Fictional businesspeople Fictional janitors Fictional United States Navy personnel American male characters in sitcoms Fictional characters from New York City