Damon sure had all of us fooled. We humbly honor the old school soul music era and will keep pushing forward to keep it alive. He also acted in the 1976 TV miniseries Rich Man, Poor Man and made guest appearances on the TV series Love, American Style and The Streets of San Francisco. His last role was in a 2000 episode of Walker, Texas Ranger.. The nickname came about when Hemsley was still a teenager back in Philadelphia. But they're far from happy; in fact, they're so happy they've agreed to a separation. I guess you can say that we all learn something new everyday, dont we? However, Lionel turns out to be trouble when he started spending company money on material things like new furniture and employee blazers. Thankfully, Mike Evans decided to return midway during season four, so all was well again. Losing my anonymity at such a young age was devastating to me. He studied acting at Los Angeles City College before getting the role of Lionel Jefferson in 1970s situation comedy All in the Family.. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. He was 57. Mike Evans, the actor who portrayed Lionel Jefferson on the TV series "All In The Family" and "The Jeffersons," passed away at the age of 57 years old following a short-lived career. I uprooted myself from a role as a classical music student and was thrust in the publics eye overnight. The family moved to Los Angeles when Evans was a child. According to him, he wanted to educate America in the sense that Lionel was a black married man who was working on his masters and was ready to have a family, which was something America hadn't seen yet. One could say Mike was quite successful in the entertainment industry for a little more than a decade. Upon recovering she returned for a few episodes, noticeably thinner and frailer. Paul Benedict (September 17, 1938 December 1, 2008) was an American actor who made numerous appearances in television and films, beginning in 1965. I guess you can say that we all learn something new everyday, dont we? When Lionel's father finally shows up, someone apparently has to leave to make room. George Jefferson is a fictional character played by Sherman Hemsley on the American television sitcoms All in the Family (1973-1975, 1978) and its spin-off The Jeffersons (1975-1985), in which he serves as the program's protagonist. Ed Sheeran reveals wife was diagnosed with tumor while pregnant Maestro cue the outro music! The cause was throat cancer, said a niece, Chrystal Evans. Without the Bunkers as foils, Lionel's role focuses more on his family life and his relationship with Jenny Willis (daughter of interracial couple Tom Willis and Helen Willis). Lionel is generally amused, rather than angered or irritated, by Archie's frequent displays of ignorance and bigotry, often seeing Archie's comments as well-meaning, albeit ignorant, rather than outright malicious. Are any of the cast of my three sons still alive? As we previously reported, Damon Evans absolutely hated being a part of "The Jeffersons" and had several problems going on behind the scenes and internally (you can read about that HERE).So in 1978, he left the show and decided to pursue other acting roles, as well as his first passion of singing in the opera. Mike Evans left The Jeffersons after its first season in order to devote more time to writing for Maude spin-off Good Times, which he had helped create. Not only that, but she believes that she felt his spirit asking her to save his house, which was bound to be foreclosed. They eventually marry and gave birth to a daughter, Jessica. Evans died of throat cancer Dec. 14 at his mother's home in . Can i register a car with export only title in arizona. High on crack cocaine and crystal methamphetamine, he walked from his upper Manhattan apartment to the George Washington Bridge and contemplated leaping into the Hudson River 250 feet below. On what advice he would tell others who want to follow in his footsteps and pursue an acting career. #inline-recirc-item--id-9e2ec6fa-8c88-11e2-b06b-024c619f5c3d ~ .item:nth-child(5) { Check out an interview that Damon did with blogger, Keith Boykin: Interviewer: How did the experience on [The Jeffersons] affect your life? "All in The Family" was one of the first television series of the '80s to present an all-black cast, and the premise of the series followed the life of an interracial couple. news.AmoMama.com does not take responsibility for any action taken as a result of reading this article. Both Weezy and George were cast later. Unfortunately, when Damons work permit in the UK expired, and he returned to the United States, the actor discovered he had been typecast as a comedic character. 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Actress Marla Gibbs, best known for her roles on shows like The Jeffersons and 227 is now 90 years of age and still going strong. We came to know him as the character, "Lionel," from "The Jeffersons" and it was he and his friend, Eric Monte's, creative genius that gave us their sitcom creation, "Good Times.". We collect and tell stories of people from all around the world. Please fill in your e-mail so we can share with you our top stories. Justin Bieber concerts canceled on ticket sales sites Ultimately, his struggles pushed him to a suicide attempt that fortunately went wrong:The Jeffersons actor, Damon Evans (via Facebook). Evans appeared infrequently after that, and made his final appearance as Lionel in the two-part episode "Sayonara" in 1985. Gibbs, who played the Jeffersons housekeeper Florence, is still alive today. Evans died of throat cancer December 14 at his mother's home in Twentynine Palms, said his niece, Chrystal Evans. Damon is referring to this fun fact about the shows beginning cast: From the characters first appearance on All in the Family, producer, Norman Lear, had pegged Sherman Hemsley to play George Jefferson. But when All in the Family became a hit, Hemsley was tied up on Broadway as the co-star of Purlie, and was understandably reluctant to break his contract. Mike Evans left The Jeffersons after its first season in order to devote more time to writing for Maude spin-off Good Times, which he had helped create. He was 57. His father, Theodore Evans Sr., was a dentist while his mother, Annie Sue Evans, was a school teacher. | The Norman Lear Effecthttps://bit.ly/NormanLearEffect mode: 'thumbnails-rr1', placement: 'Right Rail Thumbnails', Its great that Damon sought the help he desperately needed, but in the beginning the sudden reality of him having to go from Lionel the superstar, back to the everyday civilian, working in the mail room, had to a tough adjustment. Did you? Little did fans know back then though, Damon was unhappy and would soon be headed down a years long battle with himself and drug addiction. Lionel sometimes loses patience with Michael, feeling that Michael relates to him as a representative of the black community rather than as an individual. This is a list of episodes of the American situation comedy The Jeffersons. Online (22 Dec 2006, 02:56:00 PM PST): ", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mike_Evans_(actor)&oldid=1125602728, People from San Bernardino County, California, All Wikipedia articles written in American English, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, Main cast (34 episodes) (final appearance), This page was last edited on 4 December 2022, at 22:04. On the first two seasons of All in the Family, Lionel has an uncle named Henry. 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Ready for Tolkien Battle, How the Landscape of Native-Led Stories Has Changed Between Avatars: Were Flexing Our Sovereignty, The Definitive Voice of Entertainment News. Now 90, and with dozens of film and TV appearances under her belt, Gibbs is still working since 2021, shes been a regular on Days of Our Lives. Lionel is introduced in the first episode (and, in fact, appears on screen before Archie Bunker does). The actor who gave life to Lionel Jefferson for more than a decade lost his life after a long battle with cancer. December 22, 2006 / 9:42 AM Damon Evans (born November 24, 1949) is an American actor, best known as the second of two actors who portrayed Lionel Jefferson on the The Jeffersons. I was thinking, How am I going to kill myself when I dont even know myself? he says. As such, Lionel often enjoys patronizing Archie's attitudes by playing dumb in conversations and adopting a stereotypical speech pattern (saying things like "I'm gon' be a 'lectical engineer!" On September 11, 2002, Helena Evans died of breast cancer after she was diagnosed in February 2001. She has a career that has included television, movies and live performances. During the final season of The Jeffersons, Lionel and Jenny announce they are seeking a divorce (after living apart for several years while Lionel worked in Japan). It sounds like you didnt enjoy doing the show. TWENTYNINE PALMS, California Actor Mike Evans, best known as Lionel Jefferson in the TV sitcoms All in the Family and The Jeffersons, has died. AmoMama creates engaging, meaningful content for women. We humbly honor the old school soul music era and will keep pushing forward to keep it alive. display: none; On the show, Bentleys disappearance is explained away like this: Bentley works as a Russian interpreter for the United Nations. This resulted in grueling struggle of unemployment, with very few acting gigs in between. And you know but gradually it happened, and of course, theres this whole new world in life. Show developer Norman Lear preferred Cleavon Little for the role, but Rich lobbied to cast an actor who would appear less threatening. Turns out, he has some very interesting and deep reasons for this. He opened up about his drug addiction to a therapist and reportedly joined Narcotics Anonymous. window._taboola = window._taboola || []; A few of us were at the ILOSM office today, having one of our brainstorm idea sessions, and someone randomly blurted out the name Damon Evans a.k.a. The Grand Terrace was located at 317 East 35th Street, on the south side of Chicago. The Jeffersons Wiki is a FANDOM TV Community. Away from the world of entertainment, Damon bagged his Bachelors Degree in Psychology from Bronx Community College in 2007. The hit show was a spinoff featuring bigoted Archie Bunker's black neighbors in Queens who "move on up to the East Side" of Manhattan. October 11, 2022September 27, 2022by John Groove Mike Evans left The Jeffersons after its first season in order to devote more time to writing for Maude spin-off Good Times, which he had helped create. Four years after her death, Evans died of throat cancer at his mother's home in Twentynine Palms, California, at the age of 57.[5]. Damon was only 25 in 1975 when he was tapped to replace Mike Evans (no relation) as Lionel Jefferson in the primetime TV show. To the east si-i-ide!. 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Trending News Evans was replaced by Damon Evans (no relation) for four years, then he returned to the series from 1979 to 1981. Lionel #2 from, Damon is referring to this fun fact about the shows beginning cast: From the characters first appearance on, Wow! Zara Cully, who played Mother Jefferson, had been absent from the first 17 episodes of Season Three due to a serious case of pneumonia caused by a collapsed lung. She was sometimes credited as Ebony Smith. [3] Actor and opera singer Damon Evans (no relation to Michael) then took the role of Lionel, but Mike Evans returned in the role for the sixth through eighth seasons. Is mr. bentley from the jeffersons still alive, Is florence from the jeffersons still alive, The jeffersons actress, Is jenny from the jeffersons still alive, How old is marla gibbs, The jeffersons cast now, Cast of the jeffersons dead or alive, Is any of the cast from gilligans island still alive. However, his personal life was not as good as one would believe, especially when it came to his daughter, Carlena Harris. He was also a guest celebrity panelist on the TV game show Match Game . Lionel was born in New York City on October 18, 1953. All content, including text, and images contained on. Not wanting to settle, he remained jobless for many years and eventually turned to drugs to deal with his frustration. What happened to the first Lionel on Jeffersons? Publicity photo of Mike Evans during his time on "The Jeffersons" circa 1975 | Photo: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain. Because once you get there youll find out that there is no there there. The actor, who was 57 at the time of his passing, was famous for playing the role of Lionel Jefferson first in "All in the Family," and later in "The Jeffersons.". I heard Gladys Knight say this, that we all get lost in the maze of materialism, but theres a greater force if you believe in it, that brings us back home. 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