Mike Evans, actor who played Lionel Jefferson, has died

[ghost of miles]

Obit for Mike Evans:

TWENTYNINE PALMS, California (AP) -- Actor Mike Evans, best known as Lionel Jefferson in the TV sitcoms "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons," has died. He was 57.

Evans died of throat cancer December 14 at his mother's home in Twentynine Palms, said his niece, Chrystal Evans.

Evans, along with Eric Monte, also created and wrote for "Good Times," one of the first TV sitcoms that featured a primarily black cast.

Michael Jonas Evans was born November 3, 1949, in Salisbury, North Carolina. His father, Theodore Evans Sr., was a dentist while his mother, Annie Sue Evans, was a school teacher.

The family moved to Los Angeles when Evans was a child.

He studied acting at Los Angeles City College before getting the role of Lionel Jefferson in 1970s situation comedy "All in the Family."

Evans kept the role of Lionel when "The Jeffersons" launched in 1975. The hit show was a spinoff featuring bigoted Archie Bunker's black neighbors in Queens who "move on up to the East Side" of Manhattan.

Evans was replaced by Damon Evans (no relation) for four years, then he returned to the series from 1979 to 1981.

He also acted in the 1976 TV miniseries "Rich Man, Poor Man" and made guest appearances on the TV series "Love, American Style" and "The Streets of San Francisco." His last role was in a 2000 episode of "Walker, Texas Ranger."

In recent years he had invested in real estate in Southern California.

I always really liked the Lionel character--didn't realize Evans was connected with "Good Times." Strangely enough, after I read this obituary the other night, I again picked up Steve Isoardi's THE DARK TREE, his recent book about Horace Tapscott, the Arkestra, and jazz & arts in Los Angeles circa 1960-2000. Around 1974 Marla Gibbs met Tapscott and joined the UGMAA (Union of God's Musicians and Artists Ascension)... not long after that she landed the role of "Flo", the Jeffersons' maid, and retained that role throughout the run of the show. That gig enabled her to put some $$ into the whole Tapscott/UGMAA/Arkestra scene.

BTW, a fair amount of talk in that book as well about the Elaine Brown SEIZE THE TIME album, which Jim has started a thread about elsewhere. I'll have to post some of the book's info there later on.