Judge: Sherman Hemsley Can Finally Be Buried

Neal Broverman

Neal Broverman is the Editorial Director, Print of Pride Media, publishers of The Advocate, Out, Out Traveler, and Plus, spending more than 20 years in journalism. He indulges his interest in transportation and urban planning with regular contributions to Los Angeles magazine, and his work has also appeared in the Los Angeles Times and USA Today. He lives in the City of Angels with his husband, children, and their chiweenie.

Read Full Bio

Neal Broverman

November 11 2012 10:24 AM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

Nbroverman

We need your help
Your support makes The Advocate's original LGBTQ+ reporting possible. Become a member today to help us continue this work.

Three and a half months after his death from lung cancer, actor Sherman Hemsley will finally be allowed a burial.

A judge ruled Friday that Flora Enchinton Bernal,a longtime female friend and business partner of Hemsley's, can take over his estate and proceed with burying the actor, who starred in The Jeffersons and Amen. Hemsley's body has been refrigerated in an El Paso funeral home since his death on July 24 thanks to a legal tussle between Bernal and Hemsley's half-brother, who had his own plans for Hemsley's funeral.

The actor was long the subject of gay rumors and Bernal told the Associated Press that when she met Hemsley, he was living with a longtime male companion. That companion, Kenny Johnston, has never made any claims to Hemsley's estate, valued at a meager $50,000, or asked to oversee the burial.