It's been over 30 years since Will Smith's life got flipped-turned upside down in the '90s sitcom
"The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," and we've had to say goodbye
to several "Fresh Prince" actors in that time.
She only appeared in six episodes of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air,"
but Virginia Capers was involved in some of the show's most emotional moments.
Capers died from complications due to pneumonia in 2004 at the age 78 - she played Hattie Banks,
the widowed mother of patriarch [pay-TREE-ark] Philip Banks.
"Little Zeke just stood his ground."
"Uncle Phil did that?"
"Mm-hmm" "Mm-mm! Lookee here, I beat you again!"
She often has her hilarious moments, though Granny rarely came and went without sharing
some wisdom — and it's not just Will that learned to heed her lessons. Phil, or Zeke, as his mother
calls him, is furious when Will leaks information about his childhood on a farm to the press,
and when Hattie overhears him complaining, she reminds her son to respect his roots.
"And I'm having a few words with you. What have you got to be ashamed of?
We always put food on the table and clothes on your back."
Capers' TV career began in the early 1960s when she appeared as Aida [ the Saloon Gal
in the Western series "Have Gun — Will Travel." She was seen in the likes of "St. Elsewhere,"
"Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Downtown," and "Murder, She Wrote" before she made her debut
as Hattie Banks, and she appeared in a number of films during that period, too. She played the part
of school nurse Florence Sparrow in the classic '80s comedy "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," and
longtime Marvel fans will recognize her as Cora Mae, the secretary from "Howard the Duck." Capers
was also a decorated stage actor — she won a Tony Award for her performance in 1974's ”Raisin."
Galyn Görg, who played the title character in classic "Fresh Prince" episode "Boxing Helena,"
died of cancer in 2020 at age 55. Her agent Sheila Legette said,
"[She] quietly and privately fought a good fight.[…] Galyn was a beautiful soul who loved
life, art, dance and was a phenomenal woman who I called not only a client but a good friend."
Görg appeared on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" in 1996, halfway through the
final season. According to Will Smith's memoir, the show was in a downward spiral at this stage,
though many fans still remember "Boxing Helena" fondly, largely because of Görg's spirited
performance. She plays the boxing instructor at the health club that the Banks family joins.
"Just admit that you're afraid, and I'll leave you alone!"
"Hey, girl, let me tell you somethin - ain't nobody afraid of you!'"
Görg was already an established actor by the time she appeared on "Fresh Prince,"
having played Angie in "RoboCop 2" and Margarita in "Point Break."
Post-Helena, she played Kendra on "Stargate SG-1" and appeared as a nurse on J.J. Abrams' "Lost."
Former "Glee" star Naya Rivera, who played Cindy in the "Fresh Prince"
Season 3 episode "Bundle of Joy," died after going for a swim in California's Lake Piru. The actor's
4-year-old son survived and was found alone on a boat in the middle of the lake on July 8,
2020. Five days later, Rivera's body was recovered by a search team.
The medical examiner explained,
"The autopsy findings are consistent with a drowning. […] No traumatic
injuries or disease processes were identified at autopsy."
She was just 33 years old.
Years before she debuted on "Glee," Rivera appeared as an imaginary version of the Banks'
youngest child. Aunt Viv is heavily pregnant in "Bundle of Joy," and each family member imagines
what life will be like with another sibling. Hilary, played by Karyn Parsons, pictures a world
in which a little sister named Cindy, played by Rivera, acts as her personal assistant.
"Cindy!"
"Aren't you forgetting something, baby sister?"
"You're prettier than I'll ever be?"
In her final role, Rivera voiced DC's Selina Kyle,
aka Catwoman, in the critically acclaimed two-part animated film "Batman: The Long Halloween."
Best known for playing the iconic George Jefferson on the classic sitcom "The Jeffersons," Sherman
Hemsley died from a lung mass in 2012 at 74, according to his post-mortem report.
Lenny Kravitz, whose mother, Roxie Roker,
was Helen Willis on "The Jeffersons" led the tributes on Twitter, saying:
"Rest in peace Sherman Hemsley.
You are legendary. Your contribution changed the fabric of American culture."
Hemsley made his first appearance as ambitious entrepreneur George Jefferson in a 1973 episode
of "All in the Family," and he would go on to play him in all 253 episodes of "The Jeffersons,"
the spin-off ran for a decade between 1975 and 1985. He reprised the role on a few occasions,
including in the two-part "E/R" pilot and on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."
Will agrees to attend couples counseling with his girlfriend in Season 5's "Will Is From Mars...,"
and George is at the same session with his wife, Louise — Isabel Sanford.
Both later appear in "I, Done: Part 2," the final "Fresh Prince" episode.
Before he appeared as Jefferson, Hemsley played another character:
Judge Carl Robertson, the bitter rival of Uncle Phil.
"Criminal support Phillip Banks. Should you?
Throw the bums in jail. Say, 'Phillip Banks, no, thanks' on election day"
Hemsley went on to play Jimmy Campbell in another popular sitcom, "Sister, Sister."
Jackée Harry, who starred as Lisa Landry on the ABC show,
called Hemsley a, quote, "Longtime Friend & Comedic LEGEND" in a tribute tweet.
Isabel Sanford played one half of America's favorite up-and-coming married couple on
"The Jeffersons," becoming the first Black woman to win the Emmy for best
actress in a comedy series in the process. Like her onscreen husband,
she's no longer with us: Sanford died of natural causes in 2004, aged 86.
Sidney Poitier, Sanford's co-star in "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner," told the Los Angeles Times,
"The impact of Isabel Sanford's career on American theater,
television and film will be a lasting one. Having had the opportunity to work with her
remains a treasured moment in my career." Like Hemsley did with George,
Sanford debuted as Louise Jefferson on "All in the Family" before the pair got their own show.
In "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" Season 5, she scolds George for not
being able to name one nice thing about her during couples therapy.
"The man said name three things you like about me"
"Fine. Your mother's dead. Your mother died. Your mother ain't living no more."
They clearly got through their issues, however, because it's George and Louise
Jefferson who turn up to buy the Banks' Bel-Air mansion in the last "Fresh Prince" episode.
A character actor who worked in Hollywood for over 30 years,
Macon "Sonny" McCalman died in 2005 following a lengthy illness at age 72.
McCalman notched over 100 screen credits during his three decades in the business,
appearing in dozens of big TV shows along the way. He played Darrell on the beloved sitcom "Cheers,"
Poston on the historical drama "Roots," and Gorman on long-running soap opera "Dallas,"
to name a few. And just like so many on this list, he was even on "The Jeffersons." He rarely stuck
around on a show for more than one episode, but McCalman actually popped up twice on "The Fresh
Prince of Bel-Air," playing the character of Dr. Baylor in episodes 18 and 19 of Season 2.
Described as a "Hollywood legend" when she died in 2016 at 99 years old,
Hungarian-American actor and socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor had a truly remarkable life and career.
Her obituary reads:
"While Gabor had multiple acting credits, her greatest performance was playing herself:
she was famous for her accented English […] eccentric name, offscreen antics,
including a 1989 incident in which she slapped a Beverly Hills cop and one-liners about her jewels,
nine marriages, and ex-husbands."
She was a larger-than-life personality in her prime,
and she brought all of that presence to the role of Sonya Lamor
in 1991's "Ho-Ho Silver," the tenth episode of "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air" Season 2.
The former Miss Hungary is perfectly at home in the skin of Sonya Lamor, who accepts an invite to
a dinner party at the Banks' house. Gabor appeared in "The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear" that
same year, and she followed that up with roles in "The Naked Truth" and "The Beverly Hillbillies,"
a movie adaptation of the sitcom. She went on to appear in the "Brady Bunch" movie "A Very
Brady Sequel," but would retire following a car accident in 2002. Gabor relied on a wheelchair
after the accident, and, according to Variety, "a massive stroke further hobbled her in 2005."
Louisiana-born actor John Wesley, who "Fresh Prince" fans will remember as Dr. Hoover in 1991's
"The Mother of All Battles," died of complications due to cancer in 2019 at 72 years old.
His rep told The Hollywood Reporter,
"John Wesley was a gift to the world, for his kindness and grace are immortalized
in his works of theatre, TV and film. I am heartbroken to have lost a dear friend today."
Wesley was popularly known for playing the doctor that Uncle
Phil punched on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air."
"I think you may have her confused with your mama"
"That's it, Uncle Phil! You're grounded!"
He became a regular on TV in the years that followed, with appearances on the
likes of "Baywatch," "Cold Case," "Frasier," and "NCIS," where he played one of his final roles.
Notable film credits include "Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot," "Hang 'Em High," and "The Little Rascals."
When the cast of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" reunited on the show's 30th anniversary, a huge
presence was missing: James Avery, who died due to complications from open-heart surgery in 2013.
Smith revealed that he desperately wanted to nail their most famous scene together,
the one in which he breaks down after flying into a rage about his absent father.
Smith recalled,
"I fall into his arms at the end of the scene,
he's holding me and he's holding me…He whispered into my ear, 'Now that's acting.' It's like people
don't even know when they're shaping you and forming you and crafting you. He knew."
Avery was prolific outside of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," clocking 180 onscreen credits over
the course of his long and varied career. One of his earliest TV roles was in a 1983 episode of
"The Jeffersons," and he went on to land roles on "Hill Street Blues," "Cagney & Lacey," "The Dukes
of Hazzard," and "The A-Team" within the space of a few years. It was during this time that he began
working regularly as a voice actor, too. Avery did everything from kids' TV in "The New Scooby-Doo
Mysteries," to violent anime in "Fist of the North Star," to video games in "Biker Mice from Mars".
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