Remembering Redd Foxx

Published 9:00 am Friday, February 15, 2019

I remember the NAACP 1974 Entertainer Award Winner Redd Foxx of NBC and ABC TV shows.

“Sanford and Son” aired on TV One into its 15th year; and also on national TV. Redd Foxx touched a lot of folks. He took what he had and made the best he could of it. He came a long way and went to the top by acting and just being himself.

I met Foxx in 1972 in Philadelphia, Pa., when “Sanford and Son” played at the Valley Forge Music Fair.

John Elroy Sanford “Redd Foxx” was born on Dec. 9, 1922 in St. Louis, Mo. Both his father and brother were named Fred. 

He concocted a washtub band with two friends and played in a band on the street corners making about $60 a night and tips. He landed work in a night club in New York. Redd Foxx played pool with a hustler named Malcom Little who later would change his name to Malcom X,

In the ‘50s, Foxx tried to find work in Hollywood with the Dinah Washington Show. His real success came in 1955 when he recorded “Laffe at the Party” recordings. Foxx sold a million copies during his television career and was launched in the 1960s and made guest appearances.

In 1972, Redd Foxx was well known internationally for “Sanford and Son” and earned $25,000 per half hour per episode. He was the highest paid black actor comedian on prime-time television.

There was a dispute with Foxx’s producers that he was not getting a net profit throughout the long-running show. Foxx would only earn 25 percent of the episodes. He then began sitting out. Redd Foxx show had come in second place to the Archie Bunker show “All in the Family” that aired on CBS TV.

In 1976, Redd Foxx had a strong fan base in Las Vegas, Nev., at a night club. In 1977, Redd Foxx signed on with ABC a multimillion-dollar contract. A one-hour variety comedy show.

Redd Foxx died appearing like he did on TV in “Sanford and Son” Oct. 11, 1991.

Doug Jones is a former disc jockey residing in Valdosta.