Sherman’s Hemsley’s death has saddened me, and I’m usually not one to get overly emotional when a celebrity passes away. However, I spent a large portion of my childhood watching television sitcoms, including “The Jeffersons”. Although a lot of the humor went straight over my head as a kid — I never could understand why George was so upset about Tom and Helen Willis’ marriage — I was still thoroughly amused by Hemsley’s wild antics. My love of the actor’s work carried over into my budding obsession with film, which leads us to the live trailers you see below.
What a lot of people don’t realize is that Hemsley worked steadily in cinema before and after his stint on the groundbreaking sitcom. Although some of these movies are better left undiscovered, Hemsley always managed to entertain, even when the material was working against him. If I told you how many times I’ve seen his 1987 horror/comedy “Ghost Fever”, you’d probably conclude that I have wasted a fair amount of my life on subpar motion pictures.
I know a lot of people may think I’m attempting to be funny by including some of these titles on my list, but, in all honesty, I love each and every one of them. In fact, I own quite a few on VHS (yes, VHS), though I’ll refrain from disclosing which movies are in my collection. I’ll let you puzzle over that one while you’re spending a small chunk of your morning revisiting some wonky efforts featuring the talented Sherman Hemsley.
Keep in mind that our hero may not be in featured in the trailers you see below, but I can assure you that he’s in there somewhere. I’ve seen all of these movies several times over (stop laughing), and I seriously doubt I would have bothered with them had Hemsley not been involved. So kick back, relax, and check out some of the movies you may have missed from the talented actor’s prolific career. He will be sorely missed.
Ghost Fever (1987)
Club Fed (1990)
Combat High (1986)
Mr. Nanny (1993)
Love at First Bite (1979)
