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 Family (1971–1975) and The Jeffersons (1975–1985). In 1981, she became the second black American actress to win a Primetime Emmy Award, and the first to win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
== Early life ==
Sanford was born Eloise Gwendolyn Sanford in Harlem, New York City, to Josephine (née Perry) and James Edward Sanford. She was the youngest of seven children and was the only child to survive beyond infancy. Sanford's mother Josephine was devoutly religious and insisted that her daughter attend church every Sunday and occasionally made her attend on weeknights. As a teenager, Sanford aspired to be an actress, but her mother discouraged her dream, as she felt that show business was "the road to degradation". Sanford disobeyed her mother and began performing at local clubs.[1] She also performed at amateur night at the Apollo Theater.[2] After graduating from high school, Sanford joined Harlem's American Negro Theater and the Star Players. She made her professional stage debut in 1946 in On Strivers Row and appeared in several off-Broadway productions while also working as a keypunch operator at IBM.[2][3][4] Sanford married house painter William Edward "Sonny" Richmond with whom she had three children. Their marriage was tumultuous and they later separated.[2][5]
== Career ==
After separating from her husband, Sanford and her three children relocated to California in 1960.[5] Soon after her arrival, she was asked to join the national production of Here Today by actress Tallulah Bankhead.[2] In 1965, she made her Broadway debut in James Baldwin's The Amen Corner. The role led to her being cast in the 1967 film Guess Who's Coming to Dinner.[4] In the film, she was credited as Isabell Sanford and portrayed the role of the maid Tillie Binks which earned her good reviews.[6] She caught the attention of major Hollywood players, including Norman Lear, who cast Sanford in the role of Louise Jefferson in All in the Family. Sanford and her TV husband, Sherman Hemsley, were so popular that Norman Lear decided to spin-off the characters into their own weekly series, The Jeffersons. Sanford was initially reluctant to commit to working on a weekly series, as she was already working steadily, but decided to accept the offer. The Jeffersons premiered in January 1975 and was an immediate hit with audiences, and ultimately ran for 11 seasons.[3] For her role on the series, Sanford earned five Golden Globe Award nominations, and seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations. She won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series in 1981, making her the first African American actress to win in that category.[6]
After The Jeffersons cancelation in 1985, Sanford continued her career with guest starring roles in television and film. In January 1987, she starred in her own sitcom Isabel's Honeymoon Hotel, which aired five days a week in syndication. The series was created to showcase Sanford's comedic skills, but it failed to attract an audience and was quickly cancelled.[7][8] In the 1990s, Sanford mainly appeared in television guest appearances and cameo appearances in movies. She appeared on Dream On, Living Single, Hangin' with Mr. Cooper, In the House, Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman in a season-two episode entitled, "Seasons Greedings", The Steve Harvey Show, and Hearts Are Wild. In 1996, had a supporting role in the action movie Original Gangstas, starring blaxploitation film stars Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Jim Brown, and Richard Roundtree.
Sanford later reprised her role as Louise Jefferson in a touring company of The Real Live Jeffersons stage show in the mid-1990s alongside Sherman Hemsley. Hemsley and she also made cameo appearances in films such as Sprung, The Parkers “Hands Off, Grandma” episode Mafia!, and two episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The two also appeared in a series of advertisements for Denny's and Old Navy.[3] In January 2004, Sanford received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to the television industry.[3] She made her final television appearance the following month as an animated version of herself on The Simpsons episode "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore".[9]
== Personal life ==
Sanford was married to house painter William Edward "Sonny" Richmond. The couple had three children, two sons and a daughter, before separating.[2][5] After their separation, Sanford and the children moved to California in 1960, while Richmond remained in New York. Shortly after their arrival, Richmond died after being involved in an altercation.[5] Sanford was a Democrat who attended an event with Dennis Weaver for presidential candidate Jesse Jackson in 1988.[10]
== Death ==
In September 2003, Sanford underwent preventive surgery on her carotid artery.[2][11] In the ensuing months, her health steadily declined. She was hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on July 4, 2004, where she died five days later—a month before her 87th birthday. Her publicist attributed it to unspecified natural causes.[11][12] She was interred at Forest Lawn Memorial Park, Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles.[13] For her contribution to the television industry, Isabel Sanford has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame located at 7080 Hollywood Boulevard.[14]
== Broadway credits ==
Date 	Production 	Role
April 15 – June 26, 1965	The Amen Corner	Sister Moore
== Filmography ==
Film
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1967	Guess Who's Coming to Dinner 	Tillie 	
1968	The Young Runaways 	Sarah 	
1969	Pendulum 	Effie 	
1969	The Comic 	Woman in Detergent Commercial	
1970	The Red, White, and Black 	Isabel Taylor 	
1972	Stand Up and Be Counted 	Beverly 	Uncredited
1972	Every Little Crook and Nanny 	Prospective Nanny #1 	Uncredited
1972	The New Centurions 	Wilma 	
1972	Hickey & Boggs 	Nyona's Mother 	
1972	Lady Sings the Blues 	The Madame 	
1972	Pete 'n' Tillie 	Maid 	Uncredited
1972	Up the Sandbox 	Maria 	
1974	The Photographer 	Mrs. Slade 	
1979	Love At First Bite 	Judge R. Thomas 	
1981	Desperate Moves 	Dottie Butz 	
1990	Pucker Up and Bark Like a Dog	Joanna 	
1992	South Beach 	Mama 	
1996	Original Gangstas 	Gracie Bookman 	
1997	Sprung 	Sista #1 	
1998	Jane Austen's Mafia! 	Mrs. Louise Jefferson 	Uncredited
2000	Click Three Times 	Dorothy 	Short
Television
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1968 	The Carol Burnett Show 	Sketch Performer 	Episodes #2.1, 2.9, 2.12, 3.8
1968 	Bewitched 	Aunt Jenny 	Episode: "Samantha Goes South for a Spell"
1968 	The Mod Squad 	Lillian 	Episode: "Love"
Credited as Isabell Sanford
1970 	Daniel Boone 	Maybelle 	Episode: "Sunshine Patriots"
1971 	The Bill Cosby Show 	Bertha 	Episode: "The Barber Shop"
Credited as Isabell Sanford
1971 	The Interns 	Dr. Hearn 	Episode: "The Choice"
1971–1972	Love, American Style 	Various roles 	2 episodes
1971–1975	All in the Family 	Louise Jefferson 	26 episodes
1972 	The Mary Tyler Moore Show 	Mrs. Wilson 	Episode: "His Two Right Arms"
1972 	The Great Man's Whiskers 	Ella 	Television film
1972 	Wait Till Your Father Gets Home 	Betsy 	Voice, Episode: "Help Wanted"
1973 	Temperatures Rising 	Mrs. Noland 	Episode: "The Mothers"
1974 	Kojak 	Grace 	Episode: "Die Before They Wake"
1978 	Vega$ 	Mae 	Episode: "Milliken's Stash"
1975–1985	The Jeffersons 	Louise Jefferson 	253 episodes
1979 	Supertrain 	Reba 	Episode: "Pirouette"
1980–1983	The Love Boat 	Tanya, Isaac's Aunt 	2 episodes
1984 	Reading Rainbow 	Narrator 	Episode: "The Patchwork Quilt"
1986 	Crazy Like a Fox 	 	1 episode
1986 	The New Mike Hammer 	Mama Vibes 	Episode: "The Duke Is Dead"
1987 	Isabel's Honeymoon Hotel 	Isabel Scott 	Unknown episodes
1988 	A Pup Named Scooby-Doo 	Additional voices 	Episode "A Bicycle Built for Boo!"
1993 	Dream On 	Judge Isabel Kohner 	Episode: "Oral Sex, Lies and Videotape"
1993 	Living Single 	Eunetta Ryan 	Episode: "Quittin' Time"
1994 	Hangin' with Mr. Cooper 	Judge 	Episode: "The Courtship of Mark Cooper"
1994 	Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman	Ms. Duffy 	Episode: "Seasons Greedings"
1995 	Roseanne 	Louise Jefferson, TV Mom #3	Episode: "All About Rosey"
1995 	In the House 	Nanna 	2 episodes
1995–1996	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air 	Louise "Weezy" Jefferson 	2 episodes
1996 	The Steve Harvey Show 	Mother Hightower 	Episode: "That's My Mama"
1997 	Teen Angel 	Laurie 	Episode: "Sings Like an Angel"
1998 	Pepper Ann 	Bernice 	Voice, Episode: "Cocoon Gables/Green-Eyed Monster"
1999 	Jackie's Back 	Miss Krumes 	Television film
2001 	The Parkers 	Evelyn "Nana" Smith 	Episode: "Hands Off, Grandma"
2002 	The Young and the Restless 	Sylvia 	Episode #1.7534
2004 	The Simpsons 	Herself 	Voice, Episode: "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore"
2004 	Candid Camera 	Mrs. Jefferson 	Episode: "Mother's Day", (final appearance)
== Awards and nominations ==
Year	Award 	Category 	Title of work 	Result
1979	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series 	The Jeffersons 	Nominated
1980	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series 	The Jeffersons 	Nominated
1981	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series 	The Jeffersons 	Won
1982	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series 	The Jeffersons 	Nominated
1983	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series 	The Jeffersons 	Nominated
1984	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series 	The Jeffersons 	Nominated
1985	Primetime Emmy Award	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series 	The Jeffersons 	Nominated
1977	Golden Globe Award 	Best TV Actress - Musical/Comedy 	The Jeffersons 	Nominated
1978	Golden Globe Award 	Best TV Actress - Musical/Comedy 	The Jeffersons 	Nominated
1983	Golden Globe Award 	Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical	The Jeffersons 	Nominated
1984	Golden Globe Award 	Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical	The Jeffersons 	Nominated
1985	Golden Globe Award 	Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical	The Jeffersons 	Nominated
2004	TV Land Awards 	Favorite Cantankerous Couple 	The Jeffersons(Shared with Sherman Hemsley)	Won