Redd Foxx

• Born: December 9, 1922
• Birthplace: St. Louis, Missouri
• Died: October 11, 1991
• Place of death: Los Angeles, California

Actor and comedian

Best known as Fred G. Sanford, the bowlegged, curmudgeonly junk dealer living with his son Lamont in the Sanford and Son television series, Foxx had an illustrious career as a musician, stand-up comedian, disc jockey, and recording artist with fifty comedy albums to his credit.

Early Life

Redd Foxx was born John Elroy Sanford in 1922. He took his stage name from his nickname, Red, and baseball player Jimmy Fox. The second son of Fred, an electrician, and Mary Carson, a domestic worker and radio preacher, Foxx was raised by his grandmother after his father left the family and his mother moved to Chicago to work. He later moved to Chicago, and while attending DuSable High School, he formed a washtub bass band called the Bon Bons with two friends, Lamont Ousley and Steve Trimel. The three quit school, went to New York, and played on the street corners and subways of Harlem. Winning second place on the radio talent show Major Bowes Amateur Hour got them a booking, but World War II interrupted, and the band broke up. After he was turned down for Army service, Foxx worked as a busboy, a cart pusher, and a dishwasher; he also was arrested a few times for petty theft or vagrancy.

In 1942, Foxx moved to Baltimore and found work as master of ceremonies at a club called Gamby’s. He later took his stand-up comedy act to New York, where he performed in black nightclubs. He and Slappy White performed together as Foxx and White and earned as much as $450 a week in 1947. In 1951, Dinah Washington urged Foxx to move to California. Foxx went, supplementing his entertaining with a part-time job painting signs. His break came in 1955 when, at the Brass Rail in Los Angeles, record producer Dootsie Williams signed him with Dooto Records for Laff of the Party (1956). Foxx was an instant success with this off-color live comedy album, featuring scatological, sexual, and self-deprecating humor. He went on to record more than fifty albums, selling more than fifteen million copies and arguably creating the comedy-album genre. Foxx later quit the Dooto label and signed with Frank Sinatra’s Reprise label.

Foxx was married four times, to Evelyn Killibrew, Betty Jean Harris, Yun Chi Chung, and Kaho Cho. He had one child, a stepdaughter, Debraca.

Life’s Work

In 1959, Foxx’s comedy gained a broader appeal: He played New York’s predominantly white Basin Street East. He started appearing on television in the late 1960’s, through guest appearances on Today (at the request of Hugh Downs), The Addams Family, Mr. Ed, Green Acres, I Love Lucy, and The Flip Wilson Show, as well as interviews with Johnny Carson, Merv Griffin, and Steve Allen. His stand-up career got a boost in 1968 when Hilton International Hotels paid him $960,000 to perform for thirty-two weeks. In 1970, Foxx was offered his first film role, as junk dealer Uncle Bud in Cotton Comes to Harlem.

Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin, who were creating an American version of the British comedy series Steptoe and Son, cast Foxx in the lead role. On January 14, 1972, Foxx became Fred G. Sanford. Sanford and Son ran from 1972 to 1977. One of the first television series with a primarily African American cast, it was set in Watts and premiered on NBC to rave reviews. Foxx became one of television’s highest-paid stars, earning approximately thirty-five thousand dollars an episode. He also named the show’s characters: “Fred G.” for his brother, and “Lamont” and “Reverend Trimel” for his former bandmates. He also negotiated guest appearances for old friends and partners, such as White and LaWanda Page. Sanford and Son was in the ratings Top 10 and garnered Foxx a Golden Globe in 1972, and multiple Emmy nominations. However, some members of the African American community disliked the character of Sanford and that disapproval, combined with contract and creative disputes, ultimately soured Foxx on the show.

Foxx quit Sanford and Son after the 1977 season and signed with ABC for The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour, but the show drew poor ratings. He later returned to NBC for Sanford, but the series lasted only one more season. Foxx returned to Las Vegas and to stand-up comedy. After living beyond his means for several years, he lost most of his business enterprises, his luxury cars, and three of his five homes when he filed for bankruptcy protection in 1983; in 1989, the Internal Revenue Service seized his possessions. He owed $2.5 million in taxes, penalties, and interest.

The Redd Foxx Show (1986) was another unsuccessful attempt at a television series, but he landed film roles in Ghost of a Chance (1986) and Harlem Nights (1989). In 1991, he attempted another return to television. In October of that year, Foxx collapsed on the set of The Royal Family. Costars and crew members assumed he was doing his famous heart attack routine from Sanford and Son. Foxx died of a heart attack at the age of sixty-eight.

Significance

In Fred G. Sanford, Foxx created a classic television icon. A multifaceted entertainer, he had stints in various musical groups, as a stand-up comedian, and as an actor in television and film. Foxx often donated his time to charity, prisons, and the United Service Organizations (USO). Perhaps his greatest contribution, however, is that he helped break the color barrier on television, paving the way for Scatman Crothers, Richard Pryor, and others.

Bibliography

Dempsey, Travis. The Life and Times of Redd Foxx. Chicago: Urban Research Press, 1999. The most complete source for information on Foxx’s life and career.

Orteza, Arsenio. “Sanford and Son.” In The Seventies in America, edited by John C. Super. Pasadena, Calif.: Salem Press, 2006. Examines the sitcom—and Foxx’s humor—in the social and racial context of the 1970’s.

Price, Joe X. Redd Foxx, B.S. (Before Sanford). Chicago: Contemporary Books, 1979. Account of Foxx’s early career, before he gained wider fame for his role in the Sanford and Son television series.