Redd Foxx

Decades ahead of Eddie Murphy, Andrew Dice Clay, or Howard Stern provoking censors and unsettling mainstream American decorum stood Redd Foxx, widely regarded as the era's most notorious "blue" comic. Before achieving stardom in the 1970s through his lead role in the hit sitcom Sanford and Son, he encountered mostly notoriety across the opening decades of his stage work; his profane, sexually frank routines pioneered blunt, unfiltered commentary on race and intimacy, and though his party albums faced routine exclusion from white-owned outlets, the comedian's earthy storytelling and gravelly voice shaped performers across racial lines.

John Elroy Sanford entered the world in St. Louis on December 9, 1922. Still a teenager, he turned professional on the "chitlin circuit" of Black venues, performing both stand-up and acting; he arrived at his stage name by merging the nickname "Red," earned from his ruddy complexion, with the surname of baseball great Jimmie Foxx. Following several explicit blues sides cut in the mid-'40s, he formed a duo with Slappy White in 1951 that endured until 1955.

While appearing at Los Angeles' Club Oasis, a scout from the small Dooto imprint approached him about making a record; Foxx consented and received $25 to lay down Laff of the Party, the opening installment in a catalog exceeding fifty releases of his ribald routines. A rapid succession of Dooto titles ensued, encompassing multiple additional volumes in the Laff of the Party series along with The Sidesplitter, The New Race Track, Sly Sex, and New Fugg. Distribution remained limited, with copies moving chiefly through Black communities and, when stocked in white stores, kept behind the counter. During the 1960s he moved to the MF label, where the routines grew still more unrestrained, as reflected in releases such as Laff Your Ass Off, Huffin' and a Puffin', I Am Curious Black, 3 or 4 Times a Day, and Mr. Hot Pants. After a short stay on King he joined Loma, an imprint under Frank Sinatra's Reprise banner; albums including Foxx-A-Delic and 'Live' Las Vegas positioned him among the earliest artists to deploy four-letter language on a major label.

As social barriers loosened through the later 1960s, Foxx reached wider audiences and logged several television spots. He made his screen bow in 1970 with Ossie Davis' Cotton Comes to Harlem; the film's unexpected success elevated his profile, leading to his casting in Sanford and Son, an American adaptation of the British series Steptoe and Son. Premiering in 1972 and continuing through 1977, the show featured him as junk dealer Fred Sanford and proved a major success; he kept recording as well, delivering the 1976 live album You Gotta Wash Your Ass, captured at the Apollo Theater. Subsequent short-lived series included Sanford, The Redd Foxx Show, and The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour, while he also headlined in the 1976 film Norman, Is That You? and became a regular Las Vegas attraction.

By the early 1980s his momentum had faded; an abrasive reputation rendered him unwelcome in Hollywood circles, and multiple divorces paired with poor financial choices resulted in bankruptcy. Toward the decade's close, however, his impact on a rising generation of Black comedians received public recognition, prompting Eddie Murphy to cast him in the 1989 crime-noir picture Harlem Nights. Though the movie underperformed, the role revived his visibility, and in 1991 he launched a fresh sitcom, The Royal Family; he suffered a fatal heart attack on the set on October 11, 1991. Long after his passing, Foxx's name continued to evoke risqué material, as when Jason Alexander's George on Seinfeld drew rebuke for a "curse toast" at a wedding and Jerry replied, "You were like a Redd Foxx record up there!"