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Texas House Remembers Actor Sherman Hemsley

AUSTIN (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — The Texas Legislature has honored actor Sherman Hemsley, the man best known for playing the role of George Jefferson on The Jeffersons.

El Paso Rep. Joe Pickett offered a memorial resolution on Wednesday for a man he called a friend and a constituent.

Hemsley spent the final years of his life in El Paso and residents frequently saw him walking and in a neighborhood grocery store. He died of lung cancer in July at the age of 74. But after his death, a dispute over his estate delayed his burial.

In November he received full military honors and was buried in El Paso.

Pickett said he wanted to "bring attention to a sweet, sweet man that we will all miss." Hemsley gave life to the blustering black Harlem businessman on "The Jeffersons," -- one of TV's longest running and most successful sitcoms.

(©2013 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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