Redd Foxx

[COP11]

John Elroy Sanford (December 9, 1922 – October 11, 1991), better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom Sanford and Son.

Early life and career

Foxx was born in St. Louis, Missouri and raised on Chicago's South Side. His mother was half Seminole. His father, an electrician, left the family when Foxx was four. He was raised by his mother, his minister, and his grandmother. He briefly attended DuSable High School with future Chicago mayor Harold Washington, but never graduated.

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." Foxx earned the nickname due to his reddish hair and complexion. His stage name surname was taken from baseball star Jimmie Foxx.

Redd Foxx then continued his career as a plumber, getting acting jobs where he could.

Nightclub act

Foxx gained notoriety with his nightclub act (considered by the standards of the time to be raunchy). His stand-up performances were later released as "party" albums and became very popular.

He was also one of the first black comics to play to white audiences on the Las Vegas Strip. Foxx 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, Skillet and LeRoy and Noriyuki "Pat" Morita.

Sanford and Son

Foxx achieved his most widespread fame starring in the television situation comedy Sanford and Son, which premiered on the NBC television network on January 14, 1972, and was broadcast for six seasons, the final episode airing on March 25, 1977.Foxx's co-star was actor Demond Wilson.

Post-Sanford and Son career

In 1977, Foxx left Sanford and Son, after six highly successful seasons (and the show was canceled solely due to his departure) to star in a short-lived variety show, but by 1980 he was back playing Fred Sanford in a brief revival/spin-off, Sanford.

Foxx appeared to be making a comeback with the 1991 series The Royal Family, in which he co-starred with his long-time friend Della Reese.

Personal life

Redd Foxx was married four times. His first marriage was to Evelyn Killebrew in 1948, but was short-lived and ended in divorce in 1951.

His second marriage was to Betty Jean Harris, a showgirl and dancer, who was a fellow dancer of LaWanda Page, who would later be known as Foxx's TV rival Aunt Esther on Sanford & Son. The couple wed on July 22, 1956. Foxx adopted Harris' daughter Debreca Foxx, who was about nine years old at the time. The marriage ended in divorce in 1975.

Foxx then married Korean-American Yun Chi Chung in 1976, but the marriage was again short-lived, ending in 1981.

At the time of his death in 1991, 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 life-style, exacerbated by what he called 'very bad management.'" Contributing to his problems was an alleged cocaine habit and a 1981 divorce settlement of $300,000 paid to his third wife. In 1983 he filed bankruptcy, which proceeding 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 totalling $755,166.21. On November 28, 1989, the IRS seized his home in Las Vegas and seven vehicles (including a 1927 Model T, a 1975 Panther J72, a 1983 Zimmer, and a Vespa motor scooter) 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 fatal heart attack on the set. Reportedly, co-star Della Reese and the rest of the cast and crew thought he was doing his classic "Elizabeth, I'm coming to join you!" fake heart attack routine he made famous on Sanford and Son, even going as far as collapsing to the floor, although that was not part of the usual schtick.However, this heart attack was real, and Foxx never regained consciousness.

Foxx was posthumously given a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame on May 17, 1992

A few years after Foxx's death, several buyers of his home claimed his property was 'haunted' by him. Some people have even gone as far as claiming Foxx faked his death because he still owed the IRS money. Martin Lawrence poked fun at these claims on the pilot of his sitcom Martin. He said, "The man faked it. If you owed 16 billion dollars in taxes, what would you do?".

Foxx is buried in Las Vegas, Nevada, at Palm Valley View Memorial Park.

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.

Portrayals of Foxx in popular media

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.

Foxx was meant to be featured in the MTV show Celebrity Deathmatch, advertised at taking on Jamie Foxx in the episode When Animals Attack. Instead of Red Foxx though, Jamie Foxx fought Ray Charles instead.

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.

[COP11]

[COP11]

[COP11]

[antoinetteda]

Vote for Redd in the I am the Biggest fan revival (1st male edition) HERE