Redd Foxx

$195.00

15 in stock

Only twenty (20) prints of REDD FOXX were produced for this 2017 edition. Each print is signed in the lower right, hand-titled in the center, and numbered in the lower left (all beneath the image).

The image area is 17-1/2″ high x 13.5″ wide on an untrimmed 22″ x 17″ sheet. Paper, ink, and production specifications, as well as shipping details, are available on our PRINT SPECS page.

Prices will increase for subsequent prints as the edition depletes. Purchase price does not include shipping costs, which are calculated during checkout.

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Description

Redd Foxx (1922–1991) parlayed a raunchy standup comedy career on the black Chitlin’ circuit into mainstream acceptance on network TV. It was a long journey for St. Louis-born John Elroy Sanford.

The “King of Party Records,” as he was known (he cranked out dozens of X-rated comedy LPs), Foxx had trod black nightclub stages since the 1940s, with sporadic appearances on TV variety shows, including the Ed Sullivan and Red Skelton programs. Although established as a familiar face to black audiences, he was still something of a show biz outsider.

He hit the jackpot in 1972 when he landed the role of junk dealer Fred Sanford in the NBC sitcom Sanford & Son. Fred was a grizzled curmudgeon who traded on insult humor, a counterfoil to his son and business partner, Lamont (Demond Wilson). Getting marquee billing in a network series “legitimized” Foxx and made him a household name. Many of those who welcomed Foxx into their living rooms each week were unaware of his never-suitable-for-prime time history, as chronicled on such platters as Sly SexThe New Fugg, and Jokes I Can’t Tell on Television.

On the way up he befriended Malcolm Little (Malcolm X), and later employed many of his old friends from the black comedy circuit, including LaWanda Page, Slappy White, and Matthew “Stymie” Beard, as characters on Sanford & Son.

Being a high-profile TV star gave Foxx the opportunity to be a high-flying Vegas headliner. Mark Evanier wrote that “Foxx was the scourge of Vegas cab drivers, and they went to elaborate lengths to not allow him into their vehicles. If he got into your back seat, he would either throw up or refuse to pay. Most times, he would apparently throw up and refuse to pay, not necessarily in that order.”

Having hit the peak of TV fame, Foxx later encountered hard times, including a divorce, bankruptcy, and tax liens by the IRS. But eventually he re-scaled the heights. Besides hosting the short-lived Redd Foxx Show, he starred in a sitcom, The Royal Family, alongside singer/actress Della Reese, who portrayed his wife. Foxx died of a heart attack on the set while rehearsing an episode—and the cast and crew assumed it was a gag. One of Foxx’s recurring riffs on Sanford was expressing shock or distress by feigning a heart attack. The last time was no joke. He was 68. But he left a legacy that extended beyond his own performances, having been cited as an influence by Richard Pryor, Chris Rock and Eddie Murphy, among others.

Drew Friedman has portrayed Foxx in his pre-Sanford standup days, when he was working to bridge the comedic racial divide.