South Jersey Publishing Co. But in reality, Hemsley is very different from his short-tempered, uncultured TV persona. The Philadelphia native has a legitimate theater background and can sing, write music, take on dramatic roles and do stand-up comedy. Still, he says, there are worse things than audiences identifying you with a favorite TV character.
People can identify with the characters.
It's unfortunate or fortunate, depending on how you look at it. I think it's good. Most of my career has been with that. Even the sitcoms have been in front of a live audience. The long running program featured Isabel Sanford as his strong-willed wife, Louise, and Marla Gibbs, as Florence, the family's outspoken maid.