The Story of Comic Redd Foxx: Sanford and Son and Beyond

He was born “John Elroy Sanford” on December 9, 1922, in St. Louis, Missouri. But you know him better as being Redd Foxx. Foxx began his career by doing stand-up comedy at nightclubs in Harlem. His brand of comedy was rather raunchy, but the audiences kept coming back for more. Many of his acts were recorded and released on LP records. The records sold well, and Foxx was started on his way. (The albums, released later as CD’s, are still available today.) One of his comedy albums, titled, “Laff of the Party”, was released in 1955. It sold over fifteen million albums. Its success helped to make the name “Redd Foxx” more known around the comic world.

Finally, Redd Foxx appeared on the “Tonight Show” in the 60’s. That exposure earned him a few more television guest appearances, as well as a role in the 1970 film titled, “Cotton Goes To Harlem”. Acclaimed producer Norman Lear liked Foxx’s performance so well that he contracted him for a sitcom for the NBC network. The show, “Sanford and Son” starred Redd Foxx as a widowed junkman who was living with his adult son in Watts. Demond Wilson co-starred as “Lamont Sanford”, his son. And, the cast was rounded out with actors LaWanda Page, Whitman Mayo, Don Bexley, and Slappy White, just to name a few.

The show started its run in 1972. It became an immediate television hit, and it catapulted Redd Foxx into show business fame. “Sanford and Son” became the second hit for producer Norman Lear. The sitcom, “All in the Family”, starring Carroll O’Connnor and Jean Stapleton, which aired on the CBS network, was his first television success.

Unfortunately, the combination of instant television fame, drugs, and alcohol sent Foxx’s ego soaring. Redd Foxx never hid his cocaine addiction. In fact, he wore a gold coke spoon on a chain on his neck. As time progressed, he demanded more control over the show. He became unhappy with his “low pay”and the “unfair” way he was treated by Norman Lear. Redd Foxx finally “had enough”, and he left the show for half of a season in 1975.

“Sanford and Son” continued on being a successful sitcom, even without its star actor. The dispute finally ended when the producers of the show filed a legal injunction. The court order disallowed Redd Foxx from working at any other studio. Therefore, he had to give in and return to the show, which he did… until 1977 when the show was finally canceled.

In 1977, Redd Foxx performed in his own variety show. But the show flopped soon after it began, and he went on to try a few other roles.

In the meantime, his personal life was riddled with turmoil, and constant problems with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). By 1989, the IRS had seized much of his assets to pay for back taxes that he owed. Redd Foxx had now been married and divorced three different times too.

Foxx had taken a part in the movie, “Harlem Nights”that Eddie Murphy produced in 1988. The movie bombed out. But what it did do, was to bring Redd Foxx back to the television screen.

In 1991, he was cast in a brand new series titled, “The Royal Family”, that was produced by Eddie Murphy. The show breathed new life into Foxx’s otherwise failing career, and it looked like he would be making a successful comeback.

However, if you ever watched very many episodes of “Sanford and Son”, you would hear Fred Sanford’s trademark line, “This is the big one, Elizabeth. I’m coming to join ya’, honey!” This famous line, or a variation of it, was what Fred Sanford hollered everytime he grabbed his chest and faked having a heart attack. “Elizabeth” was the name of his deceased wife, and Fred would look to the heavens as he said the line. He did it periodically throughout many shows, especially when he was in trouble because one of this many schemes backfired.

Ironically, on October 11, 1991, while he was on the set for a rehearsal of “The Royal Family”, Redd Foxx did in reality suffer a heart attack that claimed his life.