LOS ANGELES — Unlike his groundbreaking character on “The Jeffersons,” actor Sherman Hemsley spent the summer movin’ on down — to bankruptcy court.
Hemsley quietly sought protection from $1 million in debt last summer, according to records reviewed this week by The Post.
The diminutive actor best known for “The Jeffersons” and “Amen” filed for Chapter 13 bankruptcy in June, as he fought off the IRS and a Nevada investment corporation, according to U.S. bankruptcy court records.
But the bankruptcy protection was voluntarily lifted in August as Hemsley sought to negotiate a deal with creditors without federal intervention.
At the time of his bankruptcy Hemsley owed $15,500 to Uncle Sam in unpaid taxes — $4,683 in 1996, $5,151 in 1997 and $5,666 in 1999 according to court records.
But Hemsley’s big debt is to Las Vegas-based Trust Deed Investment Corp., which claimed the actor owed $995,355 in an unpaid loan and interest since May 1998.
A lawyer for the company said she could not discuss the case against Hemsley, but added that her client is still waiting for Hemsley to pay.
“He owes my client a great deal of money,” lawyer Gail Higgins said.
Hemsley, 61, and his agent Kenneth Johnston could not immediately be reached for comment but a lawyer for Hemsley in another matter said it’s well known in Hollywood that Hemsley is hurting for work and money.
“It’s not a secret . . . like many actors, he did not handle his money very well,” said lawyer Joseph Schleimer.
Hemsley’s legal and financial woes came even as his career enjoyed a resurgence this year. He and Jeffersons’ co-star Isabel Sanford appeared in offbeat ads for the Old Navy clothing line.
But Hemsley will always be identified as George Jefferson — the cocky, dry-cleaning king first introduced in 1973 on “All In the Family.”
He and Sanford eventually spun off to “The Jeffersons” as TV’s first upwardly mobile African American family.
Hemsley and Sanford lived in their fictitious Upper East side apartment for 10 seasons until the show’s end in 1985.
Hemsley then went on to play a George Jefferson-like character on NBC’s “Amen” from 1986-1991.
Hemsley’s hard times could be traced to investing his Jefferson’s earnings into a 1987 movie called “Ghost Fever.”
The movie — about two New York cops who stumble on a delapidated mansion haunted by bigoted ghosts — was a box office bomb but made money from rental and sales.
Hemsley sued film distributor Wolf Schmidt for hiding profits from “Ghost Fever.” Hemsley was awarded $1 million to $1.8 million by a Los Angeles court. If the actor ever manages to collect from Schmidt, who has also filed for bankruptcy, Hemsley will make ends meet, Schleimer said.
But the lawyer said he’s unsure whether Hemsley will ever see a dime of Schmidt’s money. “I can’t say I’m that confident,” Schleimer said.