Redd Foxx (Dec. 9th, 1922 - Oct. 11th, 1986) would have been 86 years old today.
Comedian Redd Foxx was born John Elroy Sanford in St. Louis, Missouri and raised on Chicago's South Side.
Foxx had earned his nickname due to his reddish hair and complexion. His second stage name was taken from baseball star Jimmie Foxx.
"We were poor. If I wasn't a boy, I wouldn't have had nothing to play with."
Redd gained notoriety with his raunchy nightclub act (many of these performances were later released as albums), but he was best known for his starring role on the television sitcom Sanford and Son.
I used to love that show as a child.
Fred Sanford transcended the racial barriers that I didn't even know existed (in the shelter of suburban cocoon).He was just a bitter, angry man that was very funny.I never even noticed that he was black.And besides, who doesn't love Quincy Jones' "The Street Beater"?)
"I feel sorry for people who don’t drink or do drugs. Because someday they’re going to be in a hospital bed, dying, and they won’t know why."
Interestingly,Redd Foxx was the only artist to be invited to Elvis Presley's wedding at the Alladin Hotel in Las Vegas in May of 1967.
"This is the big one! You hear that, Elizabeth? I'm coming to join ya, honey!"
During a break from rehearsals on October 11, 1991, Redd suffered a fatal heart attack on the set. Reportedly, the cast and crew thought he was doing his classic (and ironic) "I'm coming, Elizabeth" fake heart attack routine he made famous on Sanford and Son, even going as far as collapsing to the floor. However, this heart attack was real.He was 68 years old.
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