Medical examiner: Actor Sherman Hemsley had cancer

Actor Sherman Hemsley seen at the 2nd Annual TV Land Awards held on March 7, 2004 at The Hollywood Palladium, in Hollywood, California. / Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images

(AP) EL PASO, Texas - A Texas medical examiner's office says cancer led to the death of actor Sherman Hemsley, who starred as George Jefferson in the hit television sitcom "The Jeffersons."

The El Paso County medical examiner's office released a report Wednesday attributing the actor's death to a cancerous tumor obstructing a large vein.

Sherman Hemsley, "The Jeffersons" star, dies at 74

Hemsley died at his home in El Paso on July 24. He was 74.

The Philadelphia-born Hemsley played George Jefferson in the CBS sitcom "All in the Family," then starred in the spinoff "The Jeffersons" from 1975 to 1985. It was one of TV's longest-running and most successful sitcoms, particularly noteworthy with its mostly black cast.

Hemsley made George Jefferson — the bigoted, blustering Harlem businessman — one of TV's most memorable characters and a symbol for urban upward mobility.

21 Photos

Sherman Hemsley: 1938-2012