Facts About The Jeffersons That The Producers Never Wanted You To Know

Sanford and Hemsley may have convinced as husband and wife, but the pair were in fact two decades apart in real life. Sanford had been born in 1917; Hemsley, meanwhile, had entered the world in 1938. But that wasn’t the show’s only notable age difference, as Hemsley was in fact just 11 years older than his on-screen son Mike Evans.

Unfortunately, some viewers also took offence to Tom and Helen’s marriage. Cover was even sent abusive messages in reaction to the affection that Tom showed his wife. But both the star and the show’s producers refused to let the bigots win, and the series chose to keep pushing boundaries throughout its 11-season run.

Sanford may not have been a fan of Hemsley, but producer Norman Lear certainly was. In fact, the show creator had the actor in mind to play George Jefferson from the start. And even when Hemsley found himself unavailable in the early stages of filming All in the Family, Lear still fought for him. Instead, Lear simply hired a temporary stand-in for Hemsley until the star’s Broadway production finished its run.

The official line was that Mike Evans had given up the role of Lionel after just one season in order to concentrate on writing Good Times. However, a member of the Maude spin-off’s cast has since claimed that Evans didn’t jump but was pushed. Jimmie Walker has alleged that the actor was ultimately fired by Norman Lear after threatening to quit over a pay rise.

However, the actor who replaced Mike Evans later admitted that he regretted doing so. Damon Evans – no relation to Mike – spent four years playing the Jeffersons’ son Lionel before making way for his predecessor’s return. But Damon struggled to cope with losing his anonymity. “I uprooted myself from a role as a classical music student and was thrust in the public’s eye overnight,” he told Keith Boykin in 2007. “Talk about stress and adjustment issues.”

But Mike Evans isn’t the only connection that The Jeffersons has with Good Times. Ja’net Dubois – a.k.a. neighbor Willona Woods on the latter show – is the voice behind The Jeffersons’ infectious theme tune. The multi-talented star co-penned the track with Jeff Barry, the hitmaker behind girl group classics “Be My Baby” and “Then He Kissed Me.”

Despite giving CBS one of the network’s most enduring hits, The Jeffersons’ cast weren’t even given a courtesy call about the show’s cancelation. George Jefferson himself, a.k.a. Sherman Hemsley, only discovered that he was out of a job via a newspaper article. Meanwhile, Louise Jefferson actress Isabel Sanford was told about the axing by a cousin.

Disappointed by the underwhelming end to their ten years on air, the original cast of The Jeffersons decided to do something about it themselves. So the likes of Hemsley, Sanford and Maria Gibbs reunited in 1993 for a stage play designed to give the show a proper farewell. Taking in several cities, The Best of the Jeffersons was based on a trio of episodes of the sitcom from the early 1980s.

Unfortunately, The Jeffersons’ very own spin-off didn’t enjoy quite the same level of success as its predecessor. Indeed, Checking In – which revolved around housekeeper Florence, played by Marla Gibbs – ran for only four episodes before being shelved by CBS in 1981. But Gibbs wasn’t out of work for long, as Checking In’s immediate failure was followed by Florence’s return to the Jefferson family.

Sherman Hemsley often used to mess up his lines while filming – but that was nothing to do with poor memory or lack of preparation. Instead, the actor was frustrated with his character’s use of pejorative words such as “honky.” To encourage the scriptwriters to remove such expressions, then, Hemsley deliberately flubbed his dialogue until he got his own way.

The Jeffersons’ enduring success is made all the more impressive when you consider quite how often CBS bounced it around the schedules. In fact, the network changed the show’s time slot an incredible 15 times during its 11-year run. Unfortunately, its final shift – the Tuesday evening slot opposite NBC’s The A-Team –proved to be one change too many.

Fans of The Jeffersons booking a United Airlines flight in the mid-1970s may have gotten a surprise. Why? Well, Marla Gibbs continued to work as a reservation agent for the company for years after she had started playing housekeeper Florence. The actress only gave up her day job when producers turned her character from an occasional guest into a full-time regular.

As with many on-screen couples, there was no love lost off screen between the two main stars of The Jeffersons. Sanford was reportedly disappointed by how unattractive and small her TV husband was, while she also allegedly thought him to be overbearing. In return, Hemsley is said to have found Sanford rather full of herself.

Sanford also had a less than complimentary nickname for her on-screen husband: “Neck.” According to the actress, that particular bodily feature stood out on Hemsley. Furthermore, Sanford’s The Jeffersons co-stars gave her a nickname – although it was far less derisory. Apparently, she was dubbed “The Queen” due to her natural elegance and regal poise.

As fans know, Sanford’s character was handed a nickname too. Louise Jefferson was mistakenly called “Weezy” by Hemsley during the filming of one particular episode, but producers liked it and so the name stuck. Weezy also happened to be the name of a girl that Hemsley had had a crush on during his early years in Philadelphia.

The luxurious Manhattan building that the Jeffersons moved into was actually Park Lane Towers on 185 East 85th Street. But the real-life residents of the property may not have been fans of the show. Indeed, those who lived in the deluxe condominiums were reportedly disgruntled about their home being constantly referred to as “The Jefferson Building.”

The Jeffersons may have been filmed in Los Angeles, but Franklin Cover wasn’t interested in living in California full-time. Instead, the actor spent weekends at his New York home with his wife and kids. Then he traveled to LA for filming – residing at an apartment there – before commuting back to the Big Apple after that week’s shoots had finished.

However, Roxie Roker was used to dealing with the prejudice surrounding interracial relationships. That was because the actress was part of such a pairing in real life. Roker was married to Sy Kravitz – of Jewish Ukrainian heritage – and the pair had a son together. In fact, the Jeffersons star regularly brought her child – none other than future rock star Lenny Kravitz – to the set of the show.

Tom and Helen Willis – played by Franklin Cover and Roxie Roker, respectively – made headlines when they became one of the inaugural interracial couples to ever appear on a TV show. But, sadly, not everyone behind the scenes was comfortable with their relationship. Numerous CBS executives, for example, wanted Tom and Helen’s first kiss to be removed from broadcast. Thankfully, though, executive producer Fred Silverman stood firm, and the smooch stayed in.

It’s worth noting, however, that Sanford initially wasn’t convinced about the potential of The Jeffersons. But when producers informed the star that they were taking her character, Louise, out of All in the Family regardless, she quickly got on board. And the actor probably had plenty of the behind-the-scenes gossip about All in the Family to share with her new cast members.

Carroll O’Connor undoubtedly made the Archie role his own, but he wasn’t producers’ first choice. In fact, Mickey Rooney was originally offered the part but turned it down over fears about its chances of success and its controversial nature. Scott Brady also said no, but later played Joe Foley for four episodes, instead.

Based in Italy at the time, O’Connor also took some persuading to accept the role. The actor wanted reassurance his flight home would be paid for if All in the Family stalled at the pilot stage. But as we all now know, producers never needed to take out their wallets.

Frustrated with her character’s lack of development, Sally Struthers took drastic measures. The actress, who played Gloria Bunker, sued producers in 1974 to break free from her contract. The tactic worked and Struthers was given more to do, keeping her on the show for a total of 157 episodes.

Struthers wasn’t the only major cast member to threaten producers with a lawsuit. Carroll O’Connor himself missed five episodes in 1974 following a contract dispute with Norman Lear. The pair eventually managed to settle their differences, but not before Lear claimed he was ready to kill off O’Connor’s lead character.

And the lawsuits don’t end there. All in the Family produced a staggering seven spin-off series including Maude, Good Times, 704 Hauser and The Jeffersons. Despite not actually appearing on the latter, O’Connor unsuccessfully tried to sue Lear for some of its profits.

Creator Lear used his own family experiences as the basis for much of the show. Indeed, two of Archie’s most famous quips were first uttered by Lear’s parents. His father would often tell his mother to “stifle herself.” She would then retaliate with, “you are the laziest white man I ever saw.”

The pilot’s original cast wasn’t the only thing that changed from the finished product. All in the Family was initially known as Justice for All when it was first picked up by ABC. The network then shot a second pilot entitled Those Were the Days.

Back in 1969, Turn-On became one of those notorious shows to be withdrawn from schedules after just one episode due to numerous viewer complaints. The negative publicity caused ABC to think twice about screening All in the Family, another potentially controversial show. Instead, the chauvinistic and foul-mouthed lead character known as Archie Bunker eventually found a home on CBS.

One of the most memorable things about All in the Family was its musical intro. Here, O’Carroll and Jean Stapleton sat around a piano singing “Those Were the Days” in front of camera. But Lear once admitted that the show only started that way because the budget couldn’t stretch to something more elaborate.

O’Connor also played a part in All in the Family’s closing theme tune, and one which proved to be surprisingly lucrative. The actor received royalties and a co-writer credit for the song “Remembering You.” This was despite the fact the lyrics he penned never ended up being used on the show!

Archie Bunker only made it to air when the new CBS President decided he wanted more socially-relevant programming. Attempting to attract younger viewers, Robert Wood axed several comedies including Petticoat Junction and Green Acres to make way for shows like All in the Family. This became known as the Rural Purge.

Although he was only in his 20s at the time, Rob Reiner wore a hairpiece from his first season on the show. In fact, the actor/director, who played Michael Stivic, had started balding from a young age. He was also asked by producers to grow a mustache to make his character look older.

CBS initially expected that All in the Family’s provocative subject matter and politically-incorrect lead character would spark a huge viewer backlash. It even recruited dozens more phone operators to deal with the anticipated complaints. However, instead of getting offended, the majority of the audience instantly took the show to their hearts.

In fact, the only thing that viewers did appear to get riled about was the show’s theme. CBS received numerous calls asking what the unintelligible penultimate line of the song was. The network subsequently re-recorded the tune in which the offending line, “Gee, our old LaSalle ran great,” was enunciated clearer.

O’Connor wanted to extend All in the Family’s legacy in the early ’90s with a brand new series. The show would focus on Archie’s full-time cab driver job and his topical conversations with passengers. However, Lear was left unconvinced and instead decided to focus on developing 1994’s 704 Hauser.

The Bunkers’ far more liberal next-door neighbors Frank and Irene Lorenzo were intended to be long-running characters. But while Betty Garrett played the latter until 1975, Vincent Gardenia only appeared as the former for one season. The actor quit the show in its infancy due to finding his character boring.