Meanwhile, a controversy has been raging for eight years and counting between two individuals, William Little and David Pullman, who bought Hemsley’s residual income when the actor suffered financial difficulties in the latter part of his life and needed to pay debts. In 2005, the two entered into an agreement with each other whereby Pullman paid $42,500 to Little and each would have 50 percent of Hemsley’s residuals.
Soon after, Little sued Pullman, alleging first that the agreement was illegal and seeking its rescission and later that the agreement was fine but the joint venture needed dissolution. In the time since, the two men have danced in and out of court. On the sidelines is the Screen Actors Guild, which holds onto residual money instead of disbursing it when there exists a dispute over ownership.
The original agreement between Little and Pullman included an arbitration clause, and when Little first sued in 2005, Pullman attempted to bring the dispute into arbitration.
In 2007, a settlement agreement was reached that required Little to return the $42,500 and dismiss the lawsuit in exchange for Pullman’s release of “right, title and interest in and to the Sherman Hemsley residuals.”
But the following year, Pullman is said to have informed SAG that he was claiming $10,000 in Hemsley residuals and demanded that SAG not release it to Little. Pullman told SAG there was “no settlement whatsoever.”