Redd Foxx

Redd Foxx
File:Redd Foxx1.jpg Foxx on The Dean Martin Show's Dean Martin Celebrity Roast.
Born	December 9, 1922 St. Louis, Missouri, USA
Died	October 11, 1991 Los Angeles, California, USA
Occupation(s)	Comic, Actor

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

Biography

Early life and career

Foxx was born in St. Louis, Missouri and raised on Chicago's South Side. His mother was part Native American. 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. During World War II, Foxx used illegal means to avoid the draft and engaged in various criminal activities. Moving to New York in the early 1940s, he was a well-known associate of Malcolm Little (later known as Malcolm X). According to Malcolm's autobiography, Foxx was a dishwasher in the speakeasy where Malcolm worked as a waiter (While Little was known as "Detroit Red" from having grown up in Michigan, Foxx was dubbed "Chicago Red", due to his reddish hair and complexion. His second stage name was taken from baseball star Jimmie Foxx).

Nightclub act

Foxx gained notoriety with his raunchy nightclub act. His stand-up performances were later released as "party" albums and became very popular. Foxx paved the way for later black comedians such as Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, and Chris Rock.

Sanford and Son

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, and Noriyuki "Pat" Morita. Foxx also battled with producers Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin for higher paychecks and creative control of the show. Writer Alan Rafkin touched on some of Foxx's clashes with Lear and Yorkin in the book Cue the Bunny on the Rainbow.

Post-Sanford and Son career and personal woes

In 1977, Sanford and Son was cancelled and Foxx struck out on his own by starring in a short-lived variety show, but by the early 1980s he was back playing Fred Sanford in a brief revival/spin-off, Sanford.

Foxx had numerous battles with the IRS that culminated in a 1989 "raid" in which agents seized his house and assets (and even some of the jewelry right off his body).

Foxx openly criticized younger comedians such as Eddie Murphy for not coming to his aid financially when the IRS was pursuing his fortune.

Death

Foxx appeared to be making a comeback with the 1991 series The Royal Family, in which he co-starred with his long-time friend BBella Reese when a fatal heart attack felled him on the set. Ironically, one of Foxx's best-known comic bits on Sanford and Son was faking a heart attack and calling out to his deceased wife Elizabeth saying "this is the big one...I'm comin' to join ya, honey."

Reportedly, when Foxx had his fatal heart attack on the set of The Royal Family, the rest of the crew thought he was faking it again, even when he collapsed to the ground unconscious.

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 of these claims on the pilot of his sitcom. He said, "What would you do if you owed 16 billion dollars in back taxes"?

Trivia

• Redd Foxx has a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
• Foxx also appeared ringside at the famous boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner (AKA the match that inspired actor Sylvester Stallone to write the movie Rocky) near Cleveland, Ohio in 1975. Foxx also served as co-commentator.
• Jerry refers to Foxx in the Seinfeld episode, "The Opera".

TV Work

• Sanford and Son (1972-1977)
• The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour (1977-1978)
• Sanford (1980-1981)
• Viva Shaf Vegas (1986)
• The Redd Foxx Show (1986) (cancelled after 4 months)
• Ghost of a Chance (1987)
• The Royal Family (1991)

Filmography

• All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960)
• Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970)
• Norman... Is That You? (1976)
• Harlem Nights (1989)

External links

• Redd Foxx at IMDb
• Redd Foxx at NNDB
• I Miss Redd Foxx by Mark Evanier
• TV Party: The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour
• The Ironic Death of Redd Foxx
• Template:Find A Grave
• Redd Foxx at Find A Death

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