The legal fight over the estate of Sherman Hemsley, the “Jeffersons†star who died in July, has moved on up to a new level of bizarreness, as judge ruled that a man claiming to be the actor's brother must undergo DNA testing, The Associated Press reported.
Mr. Hemsley, who played the irascible George Jefferson on “All in the Family†and its hit spinoff “The Jeffersons,†died of lung cancer at his El Paso home on July 24. He was 74.
In August it was revealed that his body was not buried and was instead being kept refrigerated at a funeral home amid a dispute between his former manager, Flora Enchinton, and a man named Richard Thornton, who lives in Philadelphia, where Mr. Hemsley grew up .
Though Mr. Hemsley's will left his estate, valued at about $50,000 according to The A.P., to Ms. Enchinton, Mr. Thornton is disputing the will, saying the actor may not have written it.
On Monday, Judge Patricia B. Chew of El Paso County's probate court said that Mr. Thornton must provide the results of DNA testing by Oct. 15, and scheduled the trial for Mr. Hemsley's estate to begin on Oct. 31.
The El Paso news organization kvia.com reported that a memorial service for Mr. Hemsley was held in Philadelphia on Saturday, but that the actor's body remains in a locked refrigerator in El Paso.
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