Eloise Gwendolyn " Isabel" Sanford (August 29, 1917 – July 9, 2004) was an American stage, film, and television actress and comedian best known for her role as Louise Jefferson on the CBS All in the Family (1971–1975) and The Jeffersons (1975–1985). In 1981, she became the second African-American actress to win a Primetime Emmy Award after Gail Fisher and the first African-American actress to win for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series.
After The Jeffersons cancellation in 1985, Sanford continued her career with guest-starring roles in television and film. In January 1987, she starred in her own sitcom, Isabel's Honeymoon Hotel , which aired five days a week in syndication. The series was created to showcase Sanford's comedic skills, but it failed to attract an audience and was quickly cancelled. In the 1990s, Sanford mainly appeared in television guest appearances and in movies. She appeared on Dream On , Living Single , Hangin' with Mr. Cooper , In the House , ', The Steve Harvey Show , and Hearts Are Wild . In 1996, she played a supporting role in the action movie Original Gangstas'', starring blaxploitation film stars Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, Jim Brown, and Richard Roundtree. Isabel Sanford appeared in Kojak Season 1 Episode 14 "Die Before They Wake" in 1974.
Sanford later reprised her role as Louise Jefferson in a touring company of The Real Live Jeffersons stage show in the mid-1990s alongside Sherman Hemsley. She and Hemsley also made a cameo appearance in the film Sprung, and guest-starred in The Parkers, Mafia!, and two episodes of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The two also appeared in a series of for Denny's and Old Navy. In January 2004, Sanford received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to the television industry. She made her final television appearance the following month as an animated version of herself in The Simpsons episode "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore."
| April 15 – June 26, 1965 | The Amen Corner | Sister Moore |
| + Film | |||
| 1967 | Guess Who's Coming to Dinner | Tillie | |
| 1968 | The Young Runaways | Sarah | |
| 1969 | Pendulum | Effie | |
| 1969 | The Comic | Ethel | |
| 1970 | The Red, White, and Black | Isabel Taylor | |
| 1972 | Stand Up and Be Counted | Beverly | Uncredited |
| 1972 | Every Little Crook and Nanny | Nanny Rose | Uncredited |
| 1972 | The New Centurions | Wilma | |
| 1972 | Hickey & Boggs | Maryanne- Nyona's Mother | |
| 1972 | Lady Sings the Blues | Madame Blaine | |
| 1972 | Pete 'n' Tillie | Nanny Mae | Uncredited |
| 1972 | Up the Sandbox | Maria | |
| 1974 | The Photographer | Mrs. Thomas Slade | |
| 1979 | Love At First Bite | Judge R. Thomas | |
| 1981 | Desperate Moves | Dottie Butz | |
| 1990 | Pucker Up and Bark Like a Dog | Joanna | |
| 1992 | South Beach | Mama Joan | |
| 1996 | Original Gangstas | Gracie Bookman | |
| 1997 | Sprung | RosaLynn Charleson | |
| 1998 | Jane Austen's Mafia! | Mrs. Louise Jefferson | Uncredited |
| 2000 | Click Three Times | Dorothy | Short |
| + Television | |||
| 1968 | The Carol Burnett Show | Sketch Performer | Episodes #2.1, 2.9, 2.12, 3.8 |
| 1968 | Bewitched | Aunt Jenny | Episode: "Samantha Goes South for a Spell" |
| 1968 | The Mod Squad | Lillian | Episode: "Love" Credited as Isabell Sanford |
| 1970 | Daniel Boone | Maybelle | Episode: "Sunshine Patriots" |
| 1971 | The Bill Cosby Show | Bertha | Episode: "The Barber Shop" Credited as Isabell Sanford |
| 1971 | The Interns | Dr. Alice Hearn | Episode: "The Choice" |
| 1971–1972 | Love, American Style | Various roles | 2 episodes |
| 1971–1975 | All in the Family | Louise Jefferson | 26 episodes |
| 1972 | The Mary Tyler Moore Show | Mrs. Isabell Wilson | Episode: "His Two Right Arms" |
| 1972 | The Great Man's Whiskers | Ella | Television film |
| 1972 | Wait Till Your Father Gets Home | Betsy | Voice, Episode: "Help Wanted" |
| 1973 | Temperatures Rising | Mrs. Marny Noland | Episode: "The Mothers" |
| 1974 | Kojak | Grace | Episode: "Die Before They Wake" |
| 1975–1985 | The Jeffersons | Louise Jefferson | 253 episodes |
| 1978 | Vega$ | Mae | Episode: "Milliken's Stash" |
| 1979 | Supertrain | Reba | Episode: "Pirouette" |
| 1980–1983 | The Love Boat | Tanya Washington, Isaac's Aunt | 2 episodes |
| 1984 | Reading Rainbow | Narrator | Episode: "The Patchwork Quilt" |
| 1986 | Crazy Like a Fox | Pamela | 1 episode |
| 1986 | The New Mike Hammer | Mama Vibes | Episode: "Harlem Nocturne" |
| 1987 | Isabel Sanford's Honeymoon Hotel | Isabel Scott | 5 episodes |
| 1988 | A Pup Named Scooby-Doo | Additional voices | Episode "A Bicycle Built for Boo!" |
| 1993 | Dream On | Judge Isabel Kohner | Episode: "Oral Sex, Lies and Videotape" |
| 1993 | Living Single | Ms. Eunetta Ryan | Episode: "Quittin' Time" |
| 1994 | Hangin' with Mr. Cooper | Judge Annie Colton | Episode: "The Courtship of Mark Cooper" |
| 1994 | Ms. Margaret Duffy | Episode: "Seasons Greedings" | |
| 1995 | Roseanne | Louise Jefferson, TV Mom #3 | Episode: "All About Rosey" |
| 1995 | In the House | Nanna Roosetta Warren | 2 episodes |
| 1995–1996 | The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air | Louise "Weezy" Jefferson | 2 episodes |
| 1996 | The Steve Harvey Show | Mother Hightower | Episode: "That's My Mama" |
| 1997 | Teen Angel | Laurie | Episode: "Sings Like an Angel" |
| 1998 | Pepper Ann | Bernice | Voice, Episode: "Cocoon Gables/Green-Eyed Monster" |
| 1999 | Jackie's Back | Miss Isabel Krumes | Television film |
| 2001 | The Parkers | Evelyn "Nana" Smith | Episode: "Hands Off, Grandma" |
| 2002 | The Young and the Restless | Sylvia | Episode #1.7534 |
| 2004 | The Simpsons | Herself | Voice, Episode: "Milhouse Doesn't Live Here Anymore" |
| 2004 | Candid Camera | Mrs. Jefferson | Episode: "Mother's Day", (final appearance) |
| 1979 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | The Jeffersons | Nominated |
| 1980 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | The Jeffersons | Nominated |
| 1981 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | The Jeffersons | Won |
| 1982 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | The Jeffersons | Nominated |
| 1983 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | The Jeffersons | Nominated |
| 1984 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | The Jeffersons | Nominated |
| 1985 | Primetime Emmy Award | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series | The Jeffersons | Nominated |
| 1977 | Golden Globe Award | Best TV Actress - Musical/Comedy | The Jeffersons | Nominated |
| 1978 | Golden Globe Award | Best TV Actress - Musical/Comedy | The Jeffersons | Nominated |
| 1983 | Golden Globe Award | Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical | The Jeffersons | Nominated |
| 1984 | Golden Globe Award | Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical | The Jeffersons | Nominated |
| 1985 | Golden Globe Award | Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Comedy/Musical | The Jeffersons | Nominated |
| 2004 | TV Land Awards | Favorite Cantankerous Couple | The Jeffersons (Shared with Sherman Hemsley) | Won |
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