1. John Elroy Sanford, better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American stand-up comedian and actor.
36 Facts About Redd Foxx
1. 2.
Redd Foxx portrayed Fred G Sanford on the television show Sanford and Son and starred in The Redd Foxx Show and The Royal Family, where he played the husband of Della Reese and grandfather of Larenz Tate.
3.
In 2004, Redd Foxx ranked 24th in Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.
4.
Redd Foxx was posthumously given a star on the St Louis Walk of Fame in 1992.
5.
Redd Foxx's father, Fred "Freddie" Sanford, was from Hickman, Kentucky, served during World War I in the 823rd company of US Army US Transportation Corps and worked as an electrician and an auto mechanic, but left his family sometime after 1930.
6.
Redd Foxx was raised by his half-Seminole mother, Mary Hughes from Ellisville, Mississippi, his grandmother, and his minister.
7.
On July 27,1939, at the age of 16, Redd Foxx performed on the Major Bowes Amateur Hour radio show as part of the Jump Swinging Six.
8.
In Malcolm's autobiography, Redd Foxx is referred to as "the funniest dishwasher on this earth".
9.
On September 30,1946, Redd Foxx recorded five songs for the Savoy label under the direction of Teddy Reig.
10.
Redd Foxx was one of the first black comics to play to white audiences on the Las Vegas Strip.
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Redd Foxx was signed to a long-term contract and released a series of comedy albums on a half-dozen record labels that quickly became cult favorites.
12.
Redd Foxx achieved his most widespread fame starring in the television sitcom Sanford and Son, an adaptation of the BBC series Steptoe and Son.
13.
In 1974, Redd Foxx was sued for $10 million by Tandem Productions, producers of the show, for not showing up to start taping the new season.
14.
Redd Foxx portrayed a character who was in his 60s, although in real life he was 48 when production began for Season 1.
15.
In 1977, Redd Foxx left Sanford and Son after six seasons to star in a short-lived ABC variety show, resulting in the cancellation of the NBC series.
16.
In 1986, he returned to television in the ABC series The Redd Foxx Show, which was canceled after 12 episodes due to low ratings.
17.
In 1989, Redd Foxx was featured in the film Harlem Nights, written, directed, produced and starring Eddie Murphy.
18.
Redd Foxx made a comeback with the short-lived series The Royal Family, in which he co-starred with Della Reese.
19.
Redd Foxx spent over $150,000 awaiting his divorce from his second wife Betty Jean, which included monthly support payments of $10,000 following their separation in 1974.
20.
Redd Foxx was ordered to pay $2,500 a month while awaiting divorce from third wife Joi after their separation in 1979, and then paid her a $300,000 divorce settlement in 1981.
21.
On July 5,1956, Redd Foxx married Betty Jean Harris, a showgirl and dancer who was a colleague of LaWanda Page.
22.
Redd Foxx obtained a restraining order that prevented Harris from "removing, hiding or secreting property" from their home in Las Vegas, and she had to return $110,000 that was removed from bank accounts.
23.
Redd Foxx married his third wife, Joi Yun Chi Chung, at the Thunderbird Hotel in Las Vegas on December 31,1976.
24.
Redd Foxx met Joi, who was 20 years his junior, when she was a cocktail waitress at the Las Vegas Hilton, shortly after her arrival from Korea.
25.
In July 1991, Redd Foxx wed Kaho Cho from Seoul, South Korea.
26.
On October 11,1991, during a break from rehearsals for The Royal Family, Redd Foxx suffered a heart attack on the set.
27.
Redd Foxx had no lines in the scene at all; he was whisked away from the interview by a producer who insisted on him being there.
28.
Redd Foxx did his scripted part of the scene while being livid, then immediately fell to the floor.
29.
Reese said that nobody initially suspected that anything was wrong, as Redd Foxx was famous for Fred Sanford's fake heart attacks on Sanford and Son and was particularly skilled at pratfalls.
30.
Redd Foxx was temporarily resuscitated and taken to Queen of Angels Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center.
31.
Redd Foxx is buried at Palm Memorial Park in Las Vegas, Nevada.
32.
Redd Foxx's burial was entirely paid for and handled by longtime friend Eddie Murphy.
33.
Redd Foxx had been lingering in and out of a coma for a few years before her death in 1993.
34.
Actor and comedian Jamie Redd Foxx has stated that he chose his professional surname as a tribute to Redd Foxx.
35.
On Jimmy Kimmel Live, Eddie Murphy said that Redd Foxx was the most naturally funny person that he ever encountered.
36.
Redd Foxx appears as a minor character in the 2009 James Ellroy novel Blood's a Rover.