Isabel Sanford as Louise “Weezy” Jefferson in a CBS promo shot.Photo:CBS via Getty
CBS via Getty
Isabel Sanford personified royalty.
For 11 seasons onThe Jeffersons, Sanford — who died in 2004 at age 86 —and costarSherman Hemsleybrought one oftelevision’s most celebrated couples, George and Louise “Weezy” Jefferson, to millions of homes every week. Her reign garnered two NAACP Image Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and the trailblazing achievement of becoming the first Black actress to win an Emmy Award for outstanding lead actress in a comedy series in 1981 (a distinction she held, solely, for 43 years untilAbbott ElementarycreatorQuinta Brunsonwon the same prize in 2024).
“We all respected Isabel,” Ernest Harden Jr., who appeared as Marcus Henderson onThe Jeffersons,tells PEOPLE. “She was the consummate artist. Before every show, they would introduce her and the cast would all bow. She was the queen of the show.”
Sanford with (from left) Zara Cully, Mike Evans and Sherman Hemsley on ‘The Jeffersons.'.CBS via Getty
As a young girl coming of age in the Bronx during the 1920s, Sanford had a premonition about her life on stage.
A single mother of three, Sanford relocated to Los Angeles in 1960. She replaced both Maidie Norman and Virginia Capers inPurlie Victorious, toured with Tallulah Bankhead inHere Todayand starred inJames Baldwin’sThe Amen Corner,whichNat “King” Coleshepherded to Broadway.The New York Timesnoted how her “sanctimonious battle-axe of a mischief-making church elder is hard to resist as a comic performance.”
Sanford with Sidney Poitier in 1967’s ‘Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.'.Columbia Pictures/Getty
Columbia Pictures/Getty
Sanford’s role inThe Amen Cornerinspired director Stanley Kramer to cast her in 1967’sGuess Who’s Coming to Dinner. Her scene-stealing performance as Tillie the housekeeper reunited her withSidney Poitier, whom she’d known from New York, and yielded a regular guest spot onThe Carol Burnett Show, plus additional filmslikeThe Comic(1969),Up the Sandbox(1972) andLady Sings the Blues(1972).
“It was like a roller coaster, but she hung in there,” says her son Sanford K. Sanford, who recently published the bookHer Fans Call Her Weezy But I Call Her Mom, about his late mother’s life and career. “She starved her distraction and fed her focus, and kept it going.”
Sanford with Jean Stapleton and Carol O’Connor on ‘All in the Family.'.Courtesy Everett Collection
Courtesy Everett Collection
The Jeffersonsspun offfromAll in the Familyin January 1975. With the success of George Jefferson’s dry cleaning business, the couple relocated from Queens to a high-rise apartment on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Their home welcomed a constellation of indelible characters, including their maid Florence (Marla Gibbs), their neighbor Mr. Bentley (Paul Benedict) and their son Lionel’s in-laws Tom and Helen Willis (Franklin Cover andRoxie Roker), who were one of the first interracial couples to appear as regulars on a U.S. sitcom.
“Louise Jefferson was the voice of reason on that show,” says Harden. “George would have these schemes and ideas. Louise talked sense into him. Isabel was like that, too. She was the one that seemed to have a level head.”
Sanford’s stellar work onThe Jeffersonswould earn seven Emmy nominations and five Golden Globe nods. She ultimately won the Emmy in September 1981 for her performance in the season 7 episode “And the Doorknobs Shined Like Diamonds.”
Young actors received a master class in comic timing from Sanford. “Sherman and I had a real dramatic scene with Isabel,” Harden notes about the season 4 episode “George’s Help,” which introduced his character. “It was really powerful, yet they mixed it with comedy. George said to Marcus, ‘When I was your age, I was a lot like you,’ and the next thing you know, Louise says, ‘onlysmaller!'”
Sanford receiving her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2004.Kevin Winter/Getty
Kevin Winter/Getty
Isabel Sanford died just seven months after receiving her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. To this day, Sanford’s son has a special ritual. “When I go to California, I put a rose on the sidewalk where her name is,” he says. “We talk for a while and I leave that rose there.”
And what would his mother say to newly crowned Emmy winner Quinta Brunson?
“I was feeling lonely here. Welcome to the party!” he says.
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source: people.com
