Stars From The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air You Didn't Know Died

The beloved '90s sitcom "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" gave birth to a memorable dance (unofficially known as "the Carlton") and launched the career of Will Smith, who used it as a springboard to Hollywood stardom. The show came to an end after six seasons in 1996, and Smith wasted no time in launching his film career, landing roles in 1996's "Independence Day," 1997's "Men In Black," and 1998's "Enemy Of The State." In his 2021 memoir, "Will," the actor recalls the exact moment that he realized "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" was a sinking ship. "The storylines were becoming increasingly hokey and it was difficult to maintain the 'Freshness,'" he wrote (via Entertainment Weekly). "Anyone who has ever been on a sitcom can tell you the episode in which their show jumped the shark. Ours was Season 5, episode 15, 'Bullets Over Bel-Air,' the one in which I got shot and Carlton started carrying a gun."

Smith went on to reveal that he felt guilty about walking away from the show knowing that it would put his on-screen family out of work, but he was "at a crossroads" in his life and had to look after number one. Many of his former cast mates remained in the industry, although, sadly, some of them are no longer with us. It's been more than three decades since Will's life got flipped-turned upside down, and we've had to say goodbye to several "Fresh Prince" actors in that time.

Galyn Görg, who played the title character in classic "Fresh Prince" episode "Boxing Helena," died of cancer in 2020, her rep confirmed to USA Today. She "quietly and privately fought a good fight," Sheila Legette said, adding: "Galyn was a beautiful soul who loved life, art, dance and was a phenomenal woman who I called not only a client but a good friend." On the Go-Fund-Me page set up to help pay for the actor's funeral, her family revealed that she was given just days to live. "We were unaware of just how sick she was as the diagnosis was a shock to the entire family." She was 55.

Görg appeared on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" in 1996, halfway through the final season. According to Will Smith's memoir, the show was in a downward spiral at this stage, though many fans still remember "Boxing Helena" fondly, largely because of Görg's spirited performance. She plays the boxing instructor at the health club that the Banks family joins. When Will tries to show off, Helena puts him on his backside, leaving him with a bruised ego. He learns a valuable lesson about underestimating people based on gender in the process.

The California native was already an established actor by the time she appeared on "Fresh Prince," having played Angie in "RoboCop 2" and Margarita in "Point Break." Post-Helena, she played Kendra on "Stargate SG-1" and appeared as a nurse on J.J. Abrams' "Lost."

Former "Glee" star Naya Rivera, who played Cindy in the "Fresh Prince" Season 3 episode "Bundle of Joy," died after going for a swim in California's Lake Piru, authorities believe. The actor's 4-year-old son survived and was found alone on a boat in the middle of the lake on July 8, 2020. Five days later, Rivera's body was recovered by a search team. "The autopsy findings are consistent with a drowning," the medical examiner said (via E! News). "No traumatic injuries or disease processes were identified at autopsy." She was 33.

Rivera gained global fame playing Glee Club member Santana Lopez, who struggled with her sexuality in the early seasons of the show. The character was outed as a lesbian in Season 3, and Rivera became "an icon for the LGBTQ community," said Dorothy Snarker in a guest column for The Hollywood Reporter. Her death was "a reminder [of] how much it means when the people who portray LGBTQ characters become fierce advocates for that very same community," Snarker added.

Years before she debuted on "Glee," Rivera appeared as an imaginary version of the Banks' youngest child. Aunt Viv (Janet Hubert) is heavily pregnant in "Bundle of Joy," and each family member imagines what life will be like with another sibling. Hilary (Karyn Parsons) pictures a world in which a little sister named Cindy (Rivera) acts as her personal assistant. In her final role, Rivera voiced DC's Selina Kyle (aka Catwoman) in the critically acclaimed two-part animated film "Batman: The Long Halloween."

Best known for playing the iconic George Jefferson on the classic sitcom "The Jeffersons," Sherman Hemsley died from a lung mass in 2012, according to his post-mortem report (via TMZ). Lenny Kravitz (whose mother, Roxie Roker, was Helen Willis on "The Jeffersons") led the tributes on Twitter. "Rest in peace Sherman Hemsley," the musician and actor said. "You are legendary. Your contribution changed the fabric of American culture." He was 74.

Hemsley made his first appearance as ambitious entrepreneur George Jefferson in a 1973 episode of "All in the Family," and he would go on to play him in all 253 episodes of "The Jeffersons" (the spin-off ran for a decade between 1975 and 1985). He reprised the role on a few occasions, including in the two-part "E/R" pilot (not to be confused with the long-running drama "ER") and on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." Will agrees to attend couples counseling with his girlfriend in Season 5's "Will Is From Mars...," and George is at the same session with his wife, Louise (Isabel Sanford). Both later appear in "I, Done: Part 2," the final "Fresh Prince" episode.

Before he appeared as Jefferson, Hemsley played another character: Judge Carl Robertson, the bitter rival of Uncle Phil who collapses moments after Will tells him to "drop dead." Hemsley went on to play Jimmy Campbell in another popular sitcom, "Sister, Sister." Jackée Harry, who starred as Lisa Landry on the ABC show, called Hemsley a "Longtime Friend & Comedic LEGEND" in a tribute tweet.

Isabel Sanford played one half of America's favorite up-and-coming married couple on "The Jeffersons," becoming the first Black woman to win the Emmy for best actress in a comedy series in the process. Like her onscreen husband, she's no longer with us: Sanford died of natural causes in 2004, aged 86. "The impact of Isabel Sanford's career on American theater, television and film will be a lasting one," Sidney Poitier, who shared the screen with Sanford in Stanley Kramer's "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," told the Los Angeles Times. "Having had the opportunity to work with her remains a treasured moment in my career."

Like Sherman Hemsley did with George, Sanford debuted as Louise Jefferson on "All in the Family" before the pair got their own show, an idea she wasn't initially thrilled about. "I was very comfortable having a steady job on a hit show, and who knew if 'The Jeffersons' would catch on?" she said (via the Los Angeles Times). Of course, the spin-off wound up overshadowing the original. Sanford became a household name and would continue to get recognized for her turn as Louise Jefferson for years after the show ended, helped by cameo appearances.

In "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" Season 5, she scolds George for not being able to name one nice thing about her during couples therapy. They clearly got through their issues, however, because it's George and Louise Jefferson who turn up to buy the Banks' Bel-Air mansion in the last "Fresh Prince" episode.

A character actor who worked in Hollywood for over 30 years, Macon "Sonny" McCalman died in 2005 following a lengthy illness, the Los Angeles Times confirmed. He was 72.

McCalman notched over 100 screen credits during his three decades in the business, appearing in dozens of big TV shows along the way. He played Darrell on the beloved sitcom "Cheers," McKee on classic cop show "Kojak," Poston on the historical drama "Roots," Gorman on long-running soap opera "Dallas," and Judge Whitney Baldwin on "L.A. Law," to name but a few. He rarely stuck around on a show for more than a single episode, but McCalman actually popped up twice on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," playing the character of Dr. Baylor in episodes 18 ("Ill Will") and 19 ("Eyes on the Prize") of Season 2.

Dr. Baylor enters the picture when Will develops an infection and has to have his tonsils removed as a result. He bolts from the hospital after his elderly neighbor on the ward starts to freak him out with some jokes about death, but is later returned by Uncle Phil and finally has the operation. McCalman went on to play Karl Gustafson on "The Wonder Years" following his two "Fresh Prince" appearances, and he followed that up with a role in "The Client," Joel Schumacher's critically acclaimed legal thriller. Other notable films include John Boorman's "Deliverance" (Deputy Queen), "Smokey and the Bandit" (Mr. B), and "Fried Green Tomatoes" (Prosecutor Percy).

Described as a "Hollywood legend" when she died aged 99 in 2016, Hungarian-American actor and socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor had a truly remarkable life and career. "While Gabor had multiple acting credits, her greatest performance was playing herself," her Variety obituary reads. "She was famous for her accented English...eccentric name, offscreen antics (including a 1989 incident in which she slapped a Beverly Hills cop) and one-liners about her jewels, nine marriages, and ex-husbands." She was a larger-than-life personality in her prime, and she brought all of that presence to the role of Sonya Lamor in 1991's "Ho-Ho Silver," the tenth episode of "The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air" Season 2.

Gabor's character is a neighbor of the Banks family and is a huge movie star. The former Miss Hungary is perfectly at home in the skin of Sonya Lamor, who accepts an invite to a dinner party at the Banks' house. The evening begins going awry when the silverware goes missing, forcing Will and Carlton to turn detective. Gabor appeared in "The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear" that same year, and she followed that up with roles in "The Naked Truth" and "The Beverly Hillbillies," a movie adaptation of the sitcom. She went on to appear in the "Brady Bunch" movie "A Very Brady Sequel," but would retire following a car accident in 2002. Gabor relied on a wheelchair after the accident "and a massive stroke further hobbled her in 2005," Variety said.

Louisiana-born actor John Wesley, who "Fresh Prince" fans will remember from his turn as Dr. Hoover in 1991's "The Mother of All Battles," died of complications due to cancer in 2019. "John Wesley was a gift to the world, for his kindness and grace are immortalized in his works of theatre, TV and film," his rep told The Hollywood Reporter. "I am heartbroken to have lost a dear friend today." He was 72.

Wesley "served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War" (via The Hollywood Reporter) before he turned his attention to acting. He would eventually become a theater veteran as well as a military one, but he was popularly known for playing the doctor that Uncle Phil punched on "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air." In the second episode of Season 2, Ashley (Tatyana Ali) starts having trouble with a girl at school. Will and Carlton only make things worse by trying to intervene, and the girl's parents end up at the Banks' door, claiming that their daughter is the innocent one. Ashley's usually level-headed dad loses his temper when Wesley's Dr. Hoover takes things too far, leaving him in need of... well, another doctor.

He became a regular on TV in the years that followed, with appearances on the likes of "Baywatch," "JAG," "Frasier," "Cold Case," "Medium," and "NCIS," in which he played Chaplain Samuel Kemp, one of his final roles. Notable film credits include "Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot," "Hang 'Em High," and "The Little Rascals."

When the cast of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" reunited on the show's 30th anniversary, a huge presence was missing: James Avery, who died due to complications from open-heart surgery in 2013. Avery's performance as Will Smith's uncle Philip Banks anchored the show, and his former co-stars were quick to recognize this when they got together to celebrate the milestone in 2020. Smith revealed that he desperately wanted to nail their most famous scene together, the one in which he breaks down after flying into a rage about his absent father. "I fall into his arms at the end of the scene, he's holding me and he's holding me," Smith recalled (via the Independent). "He whispered into my ear, 'Now that's acting.' It's like people don't even know when they're shaping you and forming you and crafting you. He knew."

Avery was prolific outside of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," clocking 180 onscreen credits over the course of his long and varied career. One of his earliest TV roles was in a 1983 episode of "The Jeffersons," and he went on to land roles on "Hill Street Blues," "The Dukes of Hazzard," "Cagney & Lacey," and "The A-Team" within the space of a few years. It was during this time that he began working regularly as a voice actor, too. Avery did everything from kids' TV ("The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries") to violent anime ("Fist of the North Star") and video games ("Biker Mice from Mars").

She only appeared in six episodes of "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air," but Virginia Capers was involved in some of the show's most poignant moments. Capers (who died from complications due to pneumonia in 2004 at the age 78, per The New York Times) played Hattie Banks, the widowed mother of James Avery's Philip Banks. She repeatedly beats Will at cards in one hilarious scene, though Granny rarely came and went without dispensing some wisdom — and it's not just Will that learned to heed her lessons. Phil (or Zeke, as his mother likes to call him) is furious when Will leaks information about his childhood on a farm to the press, and when Hattie overhears him complaining, she swiftly reminds her son to respect his roots.

Capers' TV career began in the early 1960s when she appeared as Aida the Saloon Gal in the Western series "Have Gun — Will Travel." She was seen in the likes of "The Waltons," "Mork & Mindy," "Dynasty," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Downtown," and "Frank's Place" before she made her debut as Hattie Banks, and she appeared in a number of films during that period, too. She played the part of school nurse Florence Sparrow in the classic '80s comedy "Ferris Bueller's Day Off," and longtime Marvel fans will recognize her as Cora Mae, the secretary from "Howard the Duck." Capers was also a decorated stage actor — she won a Tony Award for her performance in 1974's ”Raisin."