Redd fox biography
Redd Foxx was born John Elroy Stanford on December 9, 1922 in St. Louis, Missouri. In 1926 his father, an electrician, abandoned the family. Shortly afterward, he and his mother moved to Chicago to live with his grandmother. While in high school he formed a wash tub band with some friends, and called themselves the Bon Bons. In 1939 he and the group train hopped across the Midwest, playing on street corners and in bus stations. They got their first big break when the group appeared at the Apollo Theatre in 1941 on the “Major Bowes Amateur Hour.” By this point Foxx had acquired the nickname “Chicago Red” because of his red hair. He then took on the name Foxx in tribute to the baseball player Jimmie Foxx.
Red Foxx married four times. He married his first wife Eleanor Killebrea in 1948, divorcing her in 1951. He then married Beatty Jean Harris in 1955. That marriage lasted 19 years until they divorced in 1974. Foxx married Yun Chi Chong in 1975. They divorced ten years later. Finally in 1991 at the age of 69, Foxx married his last wife, Ka Ho Cho in 1991.
Red Foxx got his first job as a solo entertainer at Gamby’s Night Club in Baltimore in 1945. He returned to New York and teamed up with Slappy White. In 1952 the team was invited to open for Dinah Washington. Three years later Dootsie Williams approached Foxx about recording stand-up comedy. While the recordings were never played on the radio because of the vulgarity, they achieved enormous commercial success for that era. Foxx recorded 54 albums which collectively sold over 10 million copies.
After Frank Sinatra saw Foxx perform he helped get major appearances in New York, Los Angeles, and Las Vegas. Foxx was one of the first black comics to play before white audiences on the Las Vegas Strip. Hugh Downs saw Foxx in 1964 and booked him on the Today Show, the first of multiple talk show appearances. During the 1960s Foxx was a regular act in Las Vegas. After entertaining a crowd for
Redd Foxx began doing stand-up comedy on the infamous "Chitlin' Circuit" in the 1940s and 1950s. Foxx was one of the premier "blue humor" comedians. Blue humor was very dirty, too dirty for white audiences. For years his party albums were not available in white record stores. In the 1960s his records became available, although marginally in white record stores, leading to minor comedy work on The Ed Sullivan Show (1948) (aka "The Ed Sullivan Show") and The Red Skelton Hour (1951), among other classic variety shows of the time. Foxx developed a fan base in the 1960s that led to increased notoriety. He received his own television series in 1972 called Sanford and Son (1972), which was a reworking of the British sitcom Steptoe and Son (1962). Foxx's character, Fred Sanford (was actually Foxx's brother's name), was a cranky old man who was set in his ways and would insult both friends and strangers at the drop of a hat. He ran a junkyard in Watts, a bad neighborhood in Los Angeles, with his son Lamont (played by Demond Wilson). The show broke down racial stereotypes and was a huge success, making Foxx and the show household names. Foxx fought a very public battle with the writers and producers of the show, claiming that they did not do enough to promote the black experience, and in general complained there were not enough black writers or producers in the entertainment industry. These highly publicized disputes led to the show faltering artistically, but not in the ratings. Foxx left the show in 1977 to accomplish his dream on ABC: his own variety show, which lasted less than a year. He also starred in the controversial film Norman... Is That You? (1976). American comedian and actor (1922–1991) John Elroy Sanford (December 9, 1922 – October 11, 1991), better known by his stage nameRedd Foxx, was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Foxx gained success with his raunchy nightclub act before and during the civil rights movement. Known as the "King of the Party Records", he performed on more than 50 records in his lifetime. He 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. His film projects included All the Fine Young Cannibals (1960), Cotton Comes to Harlem (1970), Norman... Is That You? (1976), and Harlem Nights (1989). In 2004, Foxx ranked 24th in Comedy Central Presents: 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time. Foxx not only influenced many comedians but was often portrayed in popular culture as well, mainly as a result of his catchphrases, body language and facial expressions exhibited on Sanford and Son. During the show's six-year run, Foxx won a Golden Globe Award and received an additional three nominations, along with three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Foxx was posthumously given a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame in 1992. John Elroy Sanford was born on December 9, 1922 in St. Louis, Missouri and raised on Chicago's South Side. His father, Fred "Freddie" Sanford (1897-1944), was from Hickman, Kentucky, served during World War I in the 823rd company of U.S. ArmyU.S. Transportation Corps and worked as an electrician and an auto mechanic, but left his family sometime after 1930. He was raised by his half-Seminole mother, Mary Hughes (1903-1993) from Ellisville, Mississippi, his grandmother, and his minister. Foxx attended DuSable High School in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood with future Chicago mayorHarold Washin Notorious for his frank, tell-it-like-it-is style, Redd Foxx broke new ground for minorities and comedians alike. By joking about everything from sex to color barriers, he brought simmering and taboo issues into the open. His candor onstage not only jump-started what is now considered a war with censors, but also inspired and enabled other comedians to achieve more than had ever been possible. Foxx was not only “The King of Comedy,” but also a talented artist. He took a sketchbook with him whenever possible, and enjoyed creating his own fantastic images or capturing the essence of those whom he loved or admired. John Elroy Sanford was born into poverty in St. Louis on December 9, 1922. With a ruddy complexion, Redd fast became a nickname. He derived Foxx from admirable Major League Baseball player, Jimmie Foxx. He left St. Louis for Chicago when he was 13, and supported himself by playing the washboard in a band. When the band broke up three years later, he hopped a train to New York City. It was there that he met Malcolm Little, a man who would later be known as Malcolm X. In The Autobiography of Malcolm X, he is referred to as “Chicago Red, the funniest dishwasher on this earth.” Foxx began performing as a comedian/actor in black theaters and nightclubs, often referred to as the “Chitlin Circuit.” From 1951-1955 he teamed with comic Slappy White, a lifelong friend who would also act alongside him on Sanford and Son and The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour. While he was performing in Los Angeles, he was offered a deal with the Dooto record label. Foxx received $25 for his first recording. In the years to follow he would produce over 50 comedic albums. During the 1960s, as cultural barriers began to wear down, Foxx’s audience grew steadily. In 1972, after his film debut in Ossie Davis’ Cotton Comes to Harlem, Norman Lear signed Foxx as junk dealer Fred Sanford in a new NBC sitcom. Sanford and Son, which co-starred Demond Wilson and Lawanda Page, was a big hit.
Foxx's trouble with the law and the Internal Revenue Service hampered his career in the early 1980s. He flopped yet again with the sitcom The Redd Foxx Show (1986) on ABC. He did, however, find success playing a ghost in the TV movie Ghost of a Chance (1987), with Redd Foxx
Early life