Mike Evans (left) as Lionel Jefferson
Damon Evans as Lionel Jefferson
Posted on 12/22/2006 12:33:35 AM PST by lunarbicep
Mike Evans, 57, an actor best known for his role as Lionel Jefferson in the TV sitcoms "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons," died of throat cancer Dec. 14 at his mother's home in Twentynine Palms, his niece Dr. Chrystal Evans said.
With writing partner Eric Monte, Evans went on to create and write for "Good Times," one of the first TV sitcoms that featured a primarily African American cast.
Michael Jonas Evans was born Nov. 3, 1949, in Salisbury, N.C., to a dentist father, Theodore Evans Sr., and his schoolteacher wife, Annie Sue Evans.
The family moved to Los Angeles when Mike was a child. He graduated from Los Angeles High School and studied acting at Los Angeles City College before landing the role of Lionel Jefferson in Norman Lear's iconic 1970s situation comedy "All in the Family."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
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HOLY COW! Dude, can you like email me your autograph???
Thanks for the post. Always got a kick out of your show and still do on occasion.
Hope life has been good to you.
Thank you for posting to our group and on this remembrance thread for your distinguished predecessor. I also enjoyed your work on "The Jeffersons." Best wishes to you, Mr. Evans.
'Lionel' was a great character. It was hialiour when Archie would ask him what he wanted to do so that he could hear Lionel say, "Ahh-m gonna be an electical engineer!"
hialiour = hilarious
(Whew!)
I remember! 'The Jeffersons' was (and remains) one of the greatest sitcoms of all time and you must be very proud to have been a part of it. I was fortunate (because I am old, darn it) to have been able to watch the series on its prime time run.
What was really unfortunate was how CBS treated "The Jeffersons" and AITF's successor, "Archie Bunker's Place." I watched both shows as a youngster when they were on prime time, and remember how saddened I was that they just simply "dropped off" the schedule. Neither one received a proper series finale in their last years (1985 for TJ and 1983 for ABP), shocking disrespect for two shows that had lasted 13 seasons (AITF/ABP) and 11 seasons (TJ) and changed the television landscape as groundbreaking programs. Contrast that with two other CBS sitcoms that were its contemporaries, "Alice" and "One Day At A Time", that both were allotted a finale to say goodbye to the fans, both of which are far less remembered today and haven't aired in syndication in quite some time.
Welcome to FRee Republic, thank you and your cast members for creating a positive image of Black people on Television.
I agree with you that a long-running show should have a fitting finale. 'Mash' certainly did, and my favorite sitcom of all time, 'Barney Miller', did. I don't know if I saw the final episode of 'The Jeffersons' - - although I may have - - probably because their was no finale. There should have been. You're right - - the show just dropped off.
Regarding 'All in the Family', I always viewed the first episode of 'Archie Bunker's Place' as the "finale" of 'All in the Family'. That first episode subtley let the audience know that Edith had died, as Archie quietly sat on the bed upstairs in the house. IIRC, he picked up her slippers. I knew at that point that 'All in the Family' was over forever. 'Archie Bunker's Place' was, to me, a whole different show with a whole different setting (the bar).
By the way, this summer I saw a rerun of the 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' finale from 1996, and it was an excellent finale. The last show has the Banks selling the family home in Bel-Air and who comes looking to buy it? - - the Jeffersons! George, Weezie, and Florence! What's more, the Jeffersons end up buying the house!
So perhaps 'The Jeffersons' didn't need a "finale" - - because they never went anywhere. All these other sitcoms had places closing down, homes being sold, and characters dying or scattering to different places. But the Jeffersons were still going about their usual wacky lives in that de-luxe apartment in the sky, only we just couldn't see them.
Regards,
LH
Sherman Helmsley (George Jefferson) is still very much around.
I'm probably one of the few around who didn't watch the MASH finale at the time, but not until some time later. Always amusing that MASH lasted many years longer than the actual Korean War ! I think I've only seen about 1/3rd or 1/2 the Barney Miller eps (I always enjoyed the early eps with Jack Soo and Abe "Fish" Vigoda, and am probably one of the few that remember they tried to give ole Abe his spinoff, not a wise idea, ditto with the fabulous Polly "Hey, Mel, Kiss my Grits !" Holliday of "Alice" when they regrettably gave her "Flo"), and have still yet to see the final years, let alone the finale.
"I don't know if I saw the final episode of 'The Jeffersons' - - although I may have - - probably because their was no finale. There should have been. You're right - - the show just dropped off."
From reading the description of the 11th season eps, the show was already going downhill creatively (but how many shows can last that long without a decline ?). I may not have even seen the last ep when it aired in late June '85, it was one entitled "Off-Off-Off-Off Broadway." They might've been better off having the finale when Lionel and Jenny had their child.
I was thinking then I didn't have too much trauma from its departure, as I was big into "The Cosby Show", which was already in its first season when "The Jeffersons" left. I probably remember Cosby's finale most of all. That was the episode where Theo graduated from college, which had early on seemed unimaginable given Theo's initial lack of interest in school. Some might say, well, what's so important about a kid graduating from college. As Cosby himself has been a booster of education for many years, to many Black families, the graduation of a child from college IS the most important day. It was quite bittersweet that the day the finale aired was right after the Rodney King riots, the only regular program aired outside of news reports. I watched it alone in a motel room in Barstow, California, ironically fleeing those very riots while on a trip out there.
"Regarding 'All in the Family', I always viewed the first episode of 'Archie Bunker's Place' as the "finale" of 'All in the Family'. That first episode subtley let the audience know that Edith had died, as Archie quietly sat on the bed upstairs in the house. IIRC, he picked up her slippers. I knew at that point that 'All in the Family' was over forever. 'Archie Bunker's Place' was, to me, a whole different show with a whole different setting (the bar)."
Actually, it was the start of the second season when Miss Stapleton left the show, she made several appearances during the first season, but when the focus shifted, she wanted to move on to other things. You could really say that AITF ended after Mike & Gloria left the show. I thought it was rather unfortunate that Sally Struthers briefly returned to the show in order to get a spin-off, the somewhat subpar "Gloria" (I only remember Burgess Meredith from that show) with the then-single character's bizarre excuse that Mike had wigged out, demanded they move to a commune, etc. (of course, given what we know about Rob Reiner, perhaps that wasn't so bizarre, after all, but it still didn't really ring true).
I'm probably one of the few that remembers "The Jeffersons" had their own spin-off of sorts, where George's niece (Lynne Moody) worked in a Chicago hospital, the original "E-R," more notable for its surprisingly high-calibre number of stars on it, from Elliott Gould to Mary McDonnell, pre-Seinfeld Jason Alexander, Karen Black, and a young George Clooney. Of course, it wasn't a terribly original concept, they had had something similar with "Temperatures Rising" back in the early '70s with Cleavon Little (just prior to his "Blazing Saddles" fame) and Joan Van Ark before her long run as Valene Ewing on "Dallas" and "Knots Landing" (two of my favorite nighttime soaps from yore).
"By the way, this summer I saw a rerun of the 'Fresh Prince of Bel-Air' finale from 1996, and it was an excellent finale. The last show has the Banks selling the family home in Bel-Air and who comes looking to buy it? - - the Jeffersons! George, Weezie, and Florence! What's more, the Jeffersons end up buying the house!"
Ah, yes, I remember that episode well. Also Conrad Bain and Gary Coleman (minus Todd Bridges and Dana Plato, as they were having their serious problems by then) showed up as their characters from "Diff'rent Strokes" to compete with the Jeffersons for the Banks' house (yet another of my childhood favorites that, just like TJ and ABP, received no finale episode, partly because of the problems they had when NBC cancelled it, ABC picked it up and then cancelled it after a year - of course I never forgave ABC for similarly giving the shaft to "Benson", where we were left hanging for all of tv eternity as to whom won the Governor's race, which was supposed to be a cliffhanger for the next season). I don't know if Will Smith was responsible for having them appear, if he was, it was a classy move to let us know the characters were still doing well. ;-)
"So perhaps 'The Jeffersons' didn't need a "finale" - - because they never went anywhere. All these other sitcoms had places closing down, homes being sold, and characters dying or scattering to different places. But the Jeffersons were still going about their usual wacky lives in that de-luxe apartment in the sky, only we just couldn't see them."
Hehe. Forgive me for going on at length about some of these shows. Alas, I spent far too much time in front of the tv as a youth. I tended to feel closer to the Bunkers, the Jeffersons, the Huxtables, et al, than my own family. I always felt like I lost a family member every time they'd end their run. Guess that comes with being an only child.
That's Sanford and Son, where the son was named Lamont. Mike may look forward to seeing Weezie, however.
I was going to ask Mr. Evans, if he's still around, if he had any memories of what it was like working with Miss Zara Cully, who played Mother Jefferson in the early seasons before her passing. I believe he did a few episodes with Miss Cully before her illness forced her to retire in 1977. She was definitely from the "old school."
Mike Evans (left) as Lionel Jefferson
Damon Evans as Lionel Jefferson
*BUMP*
Also, wasn't "MOVIN ON UP" Rush's theme song for Carole Mosely-Braun updates back in the 90's when she was in the Senate?
Small world on the WWW.
Thanks for your post and Welcome to FR.
*thx to the NYT's obits
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