John Elroy Sanford, known professionally as Redd Foxx, was an American comedian and actor,
best remembered for his explicit comedy records and his starring role on the 1970s sitcom
Sanford and Son.
Foxx gained notoriety with his raunchy nightclub acts during the 1950s and 1960s.
Known as the "King of the Party Records", he performed on more than 50 records in his
lifetime.
He also starred in Sanford, The Redd Foxx Show and The Royal Family.
His film roles included All the Fine Young Cannibals and Harlem Nights.
In 2004, Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time ranked Foxx as the 24th
best stand-up comedian.
Foxx not only influenced many comedians, but was often portrayed in popular culture as
well, mainly as a result of his famous catchphrases, body language and facial expressions exhibited
on Sanford and Son.
Early life Foxx was born in St. Louis, Missouri and raised
on Chicago's South Side.
His father, Fred Sanford, an electrician and auto mechanic from Hickman, Kentucky, left
his family when Foxx was four years old.
He was raised by his half-Seminole Indian mother, Mary Hughes from Ellisville, Mississippi,
his grandmother and his minister.
He attended DuSable High School with future Chicago mayor Harold Washington.
Foxx had an older brother, Fred G. Sanford Jr., who provided the name for his character
on "Sanford and Son".
On July 27, 1939, Foxx performed on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour radio show as part of the
Jump Swinging Six.
In the 1940s, he was an associate of Malcolm Little, later known as Malcolm X.
In Malcolm's autobiography, Foxx is referred to as "Chicago Red, the funniest dishwasher
on this earth."
He earned the nickname because of his reddish hair and complexion.
His surname was taken from baseball star Jimmie Foxx.
During World War II, Foxx dodged the draft by eating half a bar of soap before his physical,
a trick that resulted in heart palpitations.
On September 30, 1946, Foxx recorded five songs for the Savoy label under the direction
of Teddy Reig.
Career Nightclub act
Foxx gained notoriety with his raunchy nightclub act during the 1950s, 60s, and 70s with Elvis
Presley on the same marquee, His big break came after singer Dinah Washington insisted
that he come to Los Angeles, where Dootsie Williams of Dootone records caught his act
at the Brass Rail nightclub.
Foxx was signed to a long-term contract and released a series of comedy albums that quickly
became cult favorites.
Known as the "King of the party records," Foxx performed on over 50 records in his lifetime.
He was also one of the first black comics to play to white audiences on the Las Vegas
Strip.
He used his starring role on Sanford and Son to help get jobs for his friends such as LaWanda
Page, Slappy White, Gregory Sierra, Don Bexley, Beah Richards, Stymie Beard, Leroy Daniels,
Ernest Mayhand and Noriyuki "Pat" Morita.
Sanford and Son
Foxx achieved his most widespread fame starring in the television sitcom, Sanford and Son,
an adaptation of the BBC series, Steptoe and Son.
The series premiered on the NBC television network on January 14, 1972 and was broadcast
for six seasons.
The final episode aired on March 25, 1977.
Foxx played the role of Fred G. Sanford, while Foxx's co-star Demond Wilson played the role
of his son Lamont.
In this sitcom, Fred and Lamont were owners of a junk/salvage store who dealt with many
humorous situations that would arise.
The series was notable for its racial humor and overt prejudices which helped redefine
the genre of black situation comedy.
The show also had several running gags.
When angry with Lamont, Fred would often say "You big dummy" or would often fake heart
attacks by putting his hand on his chest and saying "It's the big one, I'm coming to join
ya honey/Elizabeth".
Fred would also complain about having arthritis to get out of working by showing Lamont his
cramped hand.
Foxx depicted a character in his 60s, although in real life he was younger.
Post-Sanford and Son career
In 1977, Foxx left Sanford and Son, after six seasons to star in a short-lived ABC variety
show.
By 1980 he was back playing Fred G. Sanford in a brief revival/spin-off, Sanford.
In 1986, he returned to television in the ABC series The Redd Foxx Show, which was cancelled
after 12 episodes because of low ratings.
Foxx made a comeback with the series The Royal Family, in which he co-starred with his long-time
friend Della Reese.
Personal life Marriages
Redd Foxx was married four times.
His first marriage was to Evelyn Killebrew in 1948 and ended in divorce in 1951.
His second marriage in 1956 was to Betty Jean Harris, a showgirl and dancer, who was a colleague
of LaWanda Page, who would later be Foxx's TV rival Aunt Esther on Sanford and Son.
Foxx adopted Harris's 9-year-old daughter Debreca, who assumed the surname "Foxx".
This marriage ended in divorce in 1975.
Foxx next married Korean-American Yun Chi Chung in 1976, but it ended in 1981.
At the time of his death, Foxx was married to Ka Ho Cho, who used the name Ka Ho Foxx.
Financial and tax problems According to People Magazine, "Foxx reportedly
once earned $4 million in a single year, but depleted his fortune with a lavish lifestyle,
exacerbated by what he called 'very bad management.'"
Contributing to his problems was a 1981 divorce settlement of $300,000 paid to his third wife.
In 1983 he filed for bankruptcy, with proceedings continued at least through 1989.
The IRS filed tax liens against Redd Foxx's property for income taxes he owed for the
years 1983 through 1986 totaling $755,166.21.
On November 28, 1989, the IRS seized his home in Las Vegas and seven vehicles to pay the
taxes which by then had grown to $996,630, including penalties and interest.
Agents also seized "$12,769 in cash and a dozen guns, including a semiautomatic pistol,"
among some 300 items in total, reportedly leaving only Foxx's bed.
Foxx stated that the IRS "took my necklace and the ID bracelet off my wrist and the money
out of my pocket . . . I was treated like I wasn't human."
It has been reported that, at the time of his death in 1991, Foxx owed more than $3.6
million in taxes.
Death On October 11, 1991, during a break from rehearsals
for The Royal Family, he suffered a heart attack on the set.
According to Joshua Rich at Entertainment Weekly, "It was an end so ironic that for
a brief moment cast mates figured Foxx — whose 70s TV character often faked heart attacks
— was kidding when he grabbed a chair and fell to the floor."
Foxx was taken to Queen Of Angels Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center, where he died
that evening.
Foxx was posthumously given a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame on May 17, 1992.
Foxx is buried in Las Vegas, at Palm Valley View Memorial Park.
His mother, Mary Carson, outlived Foxx and died nearly 17 months later, in 1993.
She was buried just to the right of her famed son.
Influence Comedian Chris Rock cites Redd Foxx as an
influence.
An episode of his show Everybody Hates Chris shows young Chris Rock overhearing his parents'
Redd Foxx albums and getting started doing stand-up through retelling the jokes at school.
Actor Jamie Foxx chose the Foxx surname as part of his stage name in tribute to Redd
Foxx.
Comedian and actor Richard Pryor, hailed by many as the master of stand-up, also cited
Redd Foxx as an influence.
Pryor became friends with Foxx in the 60's, hanging out in LA.
This was a pivotal period for Pryor, as he transformed his act into a more truthful and
unyielding reflection of his lifestyle, his upbringing and race relations in America.
Pryor appeared onscreen with Foxx, in Eddie Murphy's 'Harlem Nights', in which Pryor plays
a club owner and Foxx plays a visually impaired employee.
Portrayals of Foxx in popular media In the first season of In Living Color, in
reference to Foxx's financial troubles, Foxx was portrayed by Damon Wayans, who is making
a public service announcement to encourage people to pay their taxes.
In the film Why Do Fools Fall in Love, Foxx is portrayed by Aries Spears.
He is shown performing a stand-up comedy routine.
In the animated television series Family Guy parody of Star Wars episode "Blue Harvest",
Redd Foxx appears very briefly as an X-wing pilot.
When his ship is shot down, he cries "I'm coming Elizabeth!"
before dying.
In addition to this, he has been parodied on Family Guy by Francis Griffin acting as
Foxx's Sanford and Son character.
Foxx was meant to be featured in the MTV show Celebrity Deathmatch, advertised as taking
on Jamie Foxx in the episode "When Animals Attack".
Instead of Redd Foxx though, Jamie Foxx fought Ray Charles.
In the Boondocks episode "Stinkmeaner 3: The Hateocracy" he is portrayed as Lord Rufus
Crabmiser, one of Stinkmeaner's old friends coming to kill the Freeman family.
Childhood friend and Sanford & Son co-star Lawanda Page is also portrayed in the same
episode as Lady Esmeralda Gripenasty.
Redd Foxx appears as a minor character in the 2009 James Ellroy novel Blood's a Rover.
He gives a bawdy eulogy at the wake of Scotty Bennett, a murdered rogue LAPD detective including
the line "Scotty Bennett was fucking a porcupine.
I gots to tell you motherfuckers that it was a female porcupine, so I don't see nothing
perverted in it."
Filmography All the Fine Young Cannibals
Cotton Comes to Harlem Norman...
Is That You?
Harlem Nights TV work
Sanford and Son The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour
HBO On Location with Redd Foxx Sanford
Viva Shaf Vegas The Redd Foxx Show
Ghost of a Chance The Royal Family
Discography Savoy discography
78 Singles 630A – Let's Wiggle a Little Woogie
630B – Lucky Guy 631A – Fine Jelly Blues
631B – Redd Foxx Blues 645B – Shame on You
Dooto /Dootone Records discography Albums
DTL01 – The Best Laff DTL214 – Laff Of The Party Vol. 1
DTL219 – Laff Of The Party Vol. 2 DTL220 – Laff Of The Party Vol.3
DTL227 – Laff Of The Party Vol.4 DTL234 – Best Of Foxx Vol. 1"
DTL236 – Laff Of The Party Vol.7 DTL249 – Burlesque Humor
DTL253 – The Side Splitter Vol.1 DTL265 – The Laff of the Party Vol. 8
DTL270 – The Side Splitter Vol. 2 DTL274 – Best of Fun
DTL275 – Racy Tales DTL290 – Redd Foxx Funn
DTL295 – Sly Sex DTL298 – Have One On Me
DTL801 – Laffarama DTL804 – Wild Party
DTL809 – This is Foxx DTL815 – He's Funny That Way
DTL820 – Red Foxx at Jazzville U.S.A.
DTL832 – Laff Along With Foxx DTL834 - Crack Up
DTL835 - Funny Stuff DTL846 - Shed House Humor
DTL854 - Foxx and Jazz DTL860 - Funky Tales From a Dirty Old Junkman
Singles DTL385 – The New Soap/Song Plugging
DTL390 – The Jackasses/The Race Track DTL397 – The Honeymooners/The Sneezes
DTL402 – Beans And Pineapple Sauce/The Army DTL408 – The Two Oars/The Preacher's Bicycle
DTl411 – The Dead Jackass/Women Over Forty DTL416 – Real Pretty Baby/It's Fun To Be
Living In The Crazy House DTL418 – Best Of Redd Foxx Parts 1&2
DTL421 – The House/Sex And Orange Juice DTL426 – Hollywood Playboy/The Dogs Meeting
DTL436 – South Of The Border/The Plastic Surgeon
DTL453 – The Dear John Letter/Honesty Is The Best Policy
DTL455 – The Shoe Shine Boy/The Royal Thighs And Others
DTL458 – 118 Ways To Make Love/Pregnancy Co-Operation
DTL460 – No Teeth/With My Teeth/The Best Years/Deep Sea Diver
DTL464 – Christmas Hard Ties/Jaw Resting Atlantic Records discography
SD 18157 – You Gotta Wash Your Ass Gusto Records discography
KSD-1072 – Bare Facts King Records discography
KSD-1073 – Pass the Apple Eve KSD-1074 – In a Nutshell
KS-1135 – Matinee Idol SK-754 – X-Rated v. 4
SK-756 – X-Rated v. 6 Laff Records discography
A170 - Pryor Goes Foxx Hunting A203 - I Ain't Lied Yet
Loma Records discography 5901 - Both Sides of Redd Foxx
5905 - On the Loose 5906 - Redd Foxx "live" : Las Vegas!
5908 - Foxx-A-Delic MF Records discography
RF1 – Laff Your Head off RF2 – Laff Your Ass Off
RF3 – Redd Foxx At Home RF4 – A Whole Lot of Soul
RF5 – At His Best RF6 – Doin' His Own Thing
RF7 – Say It Like It Is RF8 – Is Sex Here To Stay
RF9 – Where It's At RF10 – Huffin' And A Puffin'
RF11 – I Am Curious, Black RF12 – Three Or Four Times A Day
RF13 – Mr. Hot Pants RF14 – Hot Flashes
RF15 – Restricted RF16 – Superstar
RF17 – Spice can Be Nice!
RF18 – Strictly For Adults RF19 - Vegas we Come' '
References
External links Official website
Redd Foxx at the Internet Movie Database "I Miss Redd Foxx" by Mark Evanier
Redd Foxx at Find a Grave