Eloise Gwendolyn "Isabel" Sanford (August 29, 1917 – July 9, 2004) was an American stage, film, and television actress and comedian known for her role as Louise "Weezy" Mills Jefferson on the CBS sitcoms 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.
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Early life
Sanford was born Eloise Gwendolyn Sanford on August 29, 1917, in Harlem, New York City, to Josephine (née Perry) and James Edward Sanford. She was the youngest of seven children and was the only child to survive beyond infancy. Sanford's mother Josephine was devoutly religious and insisted that her daughter attend church every Sunday, and occasionally made her attend on weeknights. As a teenager, Sanford aspired to be an actress, but her mother discouraged her, as she felt that show business was "the road to degradation." Sanford disobeyed her mother and began performing at local clubs. She also performed at amateur night at the Apollo Theater. After graduating high school, Sanford joined Harlem's American Negro Theatre and The Star Players. She made her professional stage debut in 1946 in On Strivers Row, and appeared in several off-Broadway productions while also working as a keypunch operator at IBM. In 1945, Sanford married house painter William Edward "Sonny" Richmond, with whom she had three children. Their marriage was tumultuous (a euphemism of the time for domestic violence), and they later separated.
