 Waited so long, all my humility is just gone. Isabel Sanford was born Eloise Gwendolyn Sanford on August 29th, 1917 in Harlem, New York. She worked as a stage actress out of high school, relocating to California with her three children after a divorce. Isabel Sanford made her Broadway debut in 1965 in James Baldwin's The Amen Corner, which later led to Norman Lear casting her in All in the Family. The Jeffersons was a spin-off show that debuted in 1975, starring alongside Sherman Hensley as George Jefferson in the role.