On Tue, Jul 24, 2012 at 7:03 PM, Bob in Jersey <[email protected]>wrote:
> MeTV had *Jeffersons* for a time, AntennaTV (to be cast off with WGN from > Trib) never did IIRC. > > LAT: One role Hemsley never got the opportunity to play... Willy > Loman.<http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/showtracker/la-et-st-sherman-hemsley-his-dream-was-to-do-death-of-a-salesman-20120724,0,6105118.story> > Most of the newspaper obits I have seen include something like: "Hemsley did not have a wife or children." But many blogs and websites are noting that it was well known that he was gay, and that this was well known at least within the acting community, and that he was not really trying to hide it. Assuming these reports are accurate (a big assumption, but I will make it for now), my first thought about that is that since it is almost impossible to overstate the presence that "The Jeffersons" had in the lives of a couple of generations of African-Americans, it is a shame that his sexual orientation was not more broadly known, as it is likely it would have helped break down homophobic tendencies in the AA community earlier. My second thought is, since he had no wife or children, who is keeping his sexual identity out of the mainstream news sources now? Would an actor like this have somehow left word asking that his sexual orientation be kept out of his obit? If so, would newspapers be guided or limited by such a request? -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
