'The Jeffersons' Star Isabel Sanford Found Out about the Show's Cancellation via the Grape Vine

Although she didn't have a career as successful as Betty White or Meryl Streep, Isabel Sanford was one of the most iconic and recognizable faces in Hollywood.

The actress, who passed back in 2004, was most known for her part in Norman Lear's sitcom "The Jeffersons," where she played the role of Louise Jefferson.

The show is, still to this day, one of the most beloved successful series in the history of television, but the way it ended left Sanford quite shocked, to say the least.

UNEXPECTED NEWS

Having run for 11 seasons, nothing seemed to indicate the producers' plans to call it quits, and what surprised Sanford the most was that she had to find out about it through someone not related to the show.

According to her, her cousin in New York, whose name is yet to be revealed, was the one who informed her that she would soon be out of a job. She recalled:

“My cousin in New York is the one that called me and said, ‘I understand The Jeffersons has been canceled.’ I said, ‘Who said so?’ I hadn’t heard. She said, ‘It’s in the tabloids.’ That’s how I found out."

This upset Sanford a lot since absolutely no one in charge of the show had the decency to inform any of the actors of the abrupt ending, which was something she believed should have happened.

Nevertheless, the TV icon was quite proud of the "The Jeffersons" and all the success it achieved as well as the social barriers it helped take down while it was on the air.

A STAR WITH A STAR

She believed the series will forever be remembered, which was why she wished to have her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. She said:

"My great-grandchildren and my great-great-great-grandchildren, they can walk past that star and say, ‘That’s my great-great-great-grandmother there.’ Legacy here, I’ll be there forever."

It has been reported that she always dreamed of becoming an actress, ever since she was a teenager, even though her mother's death forced her to take a job as a cleaning lady, putting her aspirations on hold.

Sandford became the first black woman to ever win an Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.

A ROUGH UPBRINGING

Having grow-up with almost nothing in Harlem, and being the only one of her 7 siblings to have survived infancy, Sanford fought her whole life to achieve her dreams, one way or another.

Her wish eventually came true in 2004 as she was awarded a star on the Walk of Fame. Sadly, the actress passed away shortly after, just 7 months after receiving the great honor.

NOT IMPRESSED WITH HEMSLEY

Sanford was an actress like no other, a woman who wasn't afraid of working hard every single day and walked into every studio with unshakable confidence.

In fact, she once even talked about how while working on "All in the Family," she was introduced to the man who would then become her on-screen husband - Sherman Hemsley.

According to her, seeing the actor that the producers had chosen to play the role of George Jefferson, was quite disappointing, especially due to his physical appearance at the time.

Sanford described her fellow actor as a "little man" who was thin, so thin that she could have "squashed" him "like a bug," and wasn't really sure that they would be able to make a great-looking couple.

However, the stars had great chemistry and she later praised the show's director, John Rich, who introduced them, by saying that he did right by choosing Hemsley because fans loved to see them together.

Aside from "The Jeffersons" and "All in the Family," Sanford also starred in "The Love Boat," "The Carol Burnett Show," "Love, American Style" and "The Bill Cosby Show."

THE QUEEN'S DEATH

As aforementioned, Sanford died at the age of 86 in 2004. She drew her last breath at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where she was hospitalized for a month.

Her official cause of death is a mystery still to this day, but it has been reported that the star had waned after undergoing preventive surgery on a neck artery.

Marla Gibbs, who played Florence Johnston in "The Jeffersons," remembered Sanford as the show's queen and how she could light up the room and have everybody in stitches while telling one of her stories.

Sandford, who also lent her voice to "The Simpsons" a few months prior to her passing, became the first black woman to ever win an Emmy for Best Actress in a Comedy Series.