Michael Evans

Michael Evans was born in Salisbury, North Carolina, many will remember him as the actor who was “Lionel” in the TV shows, “All in the Family” and “The Jeffersons.” He also co-created and wrote the hit show “Good Times.”
Evans attended Palmer Memorial Institute in 1966 before moving to Los Angeles to pursue acting.

Michael Jonas Evans (November 3, 1949 – December 14, 2006) was an American actor, best known as Lionel Jefferson on both All in the Family and The Jeffersons.

Evans was born in Salisbury, North Carolina. His father, Theodore Evans Sr., was a dentist, and his mother, Annie Sue Evans, a teacher. He attended Palmer Memorial Institute, a school created by Dr. Charlotte Hawkins Brown during the era of segregation in North Carolina, It was a private school for young Black Americans located in Sedalia, North Carolina, just outside Greensboro.
His family later moved to Los Angeles, where he graduated from Los Angeles High School. He studied acting at Los Angeles City College

A college student majoring in drama but with no acting experience, Evans caught his big break when All in the Family producer and director John Rich hired him to play Lionel Jefferson, the son of the Bunkers' new Black neighbors. Show developer Norman Lear preferred Cleavon Little for the role, but Rich lobbied to cast an actor who would appear less threatening.

Evans continued to play the role on the spinoff The Jeffersons, but left after the first season to pursue other aspects of his career. According to Jimmie Walker, Evans had threatened to leave if he was not given more screen time, and Norman Lear let him out of his contract. Actor and opera singer Damon Evans (no relation to Michael) then took the role of Lionel, but Mike Evans returned in the role for the sixth through eighth seasons.

Evans was also one of the creators and writers of the series Good Times (1974–79).

Evans played Lenny in the cast of the 1976–1977 Danny Thomas situation comedy The Practice during its second and final season.

Evans was also a real estate investor and owned properties in California's Inland Empire.

Actress Berlinda Tolbert who played Evans' wife, Jenny, on The Jeffersons is just one day younger and they were also both born in North Carolina.

In July 1974, Evans met Helena Jefferson (June 18, 1952 – September 11, 2002). They married on January 10, 1976. On September 11, 2002, Evans lost his wife to breast cancer after she was diagnosed on February 24, 2001. Four years after her death, Evans died of throat cancer at his mother's home in Twentynine Palms, California, at the age of 57. He is survived by his two daughters, Carlena and Tammie, his mother Annie Sue, his brother Thomas, his cousin Harold and his niece Chrystal.

Photo Collage Description: Left-Mike Evans, circa 1975

Middle - Cast of The Jeffersons, clockwise from top: Mike Evans, Sherman Hemsley, and Isabel Sanford (1975) - Publicity photo of American actors Isabel Sanford, Sherman Hemsley and Mike Evans promoting the upcoming January 18, 1975 premiere of the television series The Jeffersons.

Right - Cast of All in the Family – Back row, L–R: Jean Stapleton, Mike Evans, Carroll O'Connor. Front: Sally Struthers, Rob Reiner (1973) - Photo of the cast of the television program All In the Family. Standing, from left: Jean Stapleton (Edith Bunker), Mike Evans (Lionel Jefferson), Carroll O'Connor (Archie Bunker). Seated: Sally Struthers (Gloria Bunker Stivic) and Rob Reiner (Mike Stivic)
Photographs Source: Wikipedia

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Evans_(actor)

References
"Mike Evans". Biography Resource Center Online. Gale, 2007. Reproduced in Biography Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale, 2009. Updated June 1, 2007. Retrieved 16 January 2009. Document Number: K1650005514.
FoundationINTERVIEWS (2011-06-28), John Rich Interview Part 10 of 14 – EMMYTVLEGENDS.ORG, retrieved 2018-08-10
FoundationINTERVIEWS (2017-02-07), JIMMIE WALKER, retrieved 2018-12-01
Good Times Full Cast and Credits at IMDb
"'Jeffersons' Actor Mike Evans Dies". CBS News, 2006. Published December 22, 2006, 9:42 a.m. Retrieved February 1, 2014.

Further Reading
Associated Press (2006-12-22). "Mike Evans, 57; Lionel in 'Jeffersons' created 'Good Times'". Los Angeles Times. p. 1. Archived from the original on 2007-05-14. Retrieved 2006-12-22.
E! Online (22 Dec 2006, 02:56:00 PM PST): "Jeffersons Star Dead", by Joal Ryan
Buffalo News, December 23, 2006.
Variety, January 8, 2007.