PERSONALITIES FLOOD SOCIAL MEDIA WITH MESSAGES FOR FALLEN ACTOR "GEORGE JEFFERSON"

Actor Sherman Hemsley was found dead in his El Paso, Texas home on Tuesday. The cause of death is pending. He is known as George Jefferson the lead man in the TV sitcom The Jeffersons - one of the longest running and most successful sitcoms. The Philadelphia-born Hemsley, who police said late Tuesday died at his home in El Paso, Texas, at age 74, first played George Jefferson on the CBS show “All in the Family” before he was spun off onto “The Jeffersons.” The sitcom ran for 11 seasons from 1975 to 1985. With the gospel-style theme song of “Movin’ On Up,” the hit show depicted the wealthy former neighbors of Archie and Edith Bunker in Queens as they made their way on New York’s Upper East Side. Hemsley and the Jeffersons (Isabel Sanford played his wife) often dealt with contemporary issues of racism, but more frequently reveled in the sitcom archetype of a short-tempered, opinionated patriarch trying, often unsuccessfully, to control his family. Here are some messages and condolences from personalities and celebrities all over the world.