Demond Wilson Movies

To impress a young Nigerian woman named Olayia (Paula Kelly), Lamont Sanford (Demond Wilson) begins to dress in African fashion, and goes through the motions of adopting the continent's culture (including its exotic diet). Lamont's father Fred (Redd Foxx) laughs derisively at his son's ethnic pretensions. But Fred stops laughing when Olayia informs him that, in Nigeria, all fathers are considered sacred. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Sick of listening to his neighbors' quarrelling, Grady (Whitman Mayo) accepts the offer made by his friend Fred (Redd Foxx) and moves into the Sanfords' house for a monthly rental of 60 dollars a month. Alas, Grady soon proves to be a pest, eating too much, snoring even more, and monopolizing the bathroom. Hoping to drive Grady out of the house, Fred and Lamont (Demond Wilson) stage a phony quarrel -- which quickly ignites into the real thing. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Still riding high in the ratings, Sanford and Son returned to its by then traditional Friday-night NBC time slot for a third successful season on September 14, 1973. The basic premise -- crotchety old Fred Sanford running a rundown Los Angeles junk business with his restless son Lamont -- was still firmly in place, as were many of the familiar regulars: Redd Foxx as Fred; Demond Wilson as Lamont; LaWanda Page as Fred's pious, abrasive sister-in-law Aunt Esther; Lynn Hamilton as Fred's off-and-on fiancée, nurse Donna Harris; Don Bexley as Fred's wheeler-dealer buddy Bubba Hoover; Nathaniel Taylor as Lamont's foolhardy crony Rollo Taylor; Hal Williams and Howard Platt as local beat cops Smitty and Hoppy; and Gregory Sierra as the Sanfords' Puerto Rican neighbor and business rival, Julio Fuentes. The most prominent of the new recurring characters was Whitman Mayo as Grady Wilson, Fred Sanford's best friend and severest critic. Grady came in very handy when, in the middle of season three, Redd Foxx walked off Sanford and Son due to a well-publicized contractual dispute with the series' producer (of Foxx' many demands, the press chose to focus on the most trivial: the actor insisted that a window be installed in his dressing room). It was then hastily explained that Fred Sanford had gone on an extended trip to St. Louis, leaving Grady in charge of Sanford and Son Salvage -- and as temporary head of the Sanford household. Despite the temporary defection of its star, Sanford and Son continued to reap excellent ratings. By the end of the 1973-1974 season, the series ranked as the third most popular American TV program. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) and his perennial fiancée Donna Harris (Lynn Hamilton) are finally going to get married. On the day of the big event, Fred's son Lamont invites a full complement of annoying relatives. Sure enough, a loud family quarrel ensues -- which is precisely what Lamont (who doesn't want Fred to tie the knot with Donna) has been planning all along. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lamont (Demond Wilson) buys his father Fred (Redd Foxx) a pool table as a birthday present -- and lives to regret it. Before long, Fred and his cronies have transformed the Sanford living room into their own personal pool hall. It's bad enough for Lamont that Fred's buddies never seem to want to leave, but when they begin eating the Sanfords out of house and home, Lamont is really behind the eight ball. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In the market for a color television, Lamont (Demond Wilson) wants to purchase a new TV on credit, but Fred (Redd Foxx) intends to spend no more than 50 dollars on a used set. Luck of luck, Fred finds just such a bargain at Guy's Groovy Grab Bag. Alas, Fred has unwittingly purchased a stolen TV -- and it was stolen from his pal Grady (Whitman Mayo, in his first series appearance). This Sanford and Son episode was loosely based on "The Colour Problem," a 1970 episode of the series' prototype Steptoe and Son. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Lamont (Demond Wilson) and Julio (Gregory Sierra) try to make some extra money by going into the used auto parts business. Convinced he is being deserted, Lamont's dad Fred (Redd Foxx) runs away from home. But before he does, Fred leaves behind a cleverly conceived audio tape, suggesting that he has fled the junk business to become a skid row derelict. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Like his previous smash hit All in the Family, producer Norman Lear's NBC sitcom Sanford and Son was based on a British original, in this instance Steptoe and Son, the story of an elderly, irascible cockney junk dealer and his cloddish bachelor son and business partner. In the initial development stages, Sanford and Son was to have been about a pair of Jewish men, but it was finally decided to transform the characters into African-Americans -- and in so doing, veteran "Chitlin Circuit" standup comedian Redd Foxx was catapulted to superstardom. Debuting January 14, 1972, the NBC series cast Redd Foxx as Fred Sanford, a 65-year-old L.A. junk dealer who ran a ramshackle salvage business in the backyard of his home. The cranky, mercenary Fred was satisfied with his lot in life, which was more than could be said for his 34-year-old son, Lamont (Demond Wilson), who was forever seeking out strategies to escape the junk business and go off on his own -- and, hopefully, to find himself a wife. The wily elder Sanford would have none of this, and devised all manner of schemes and subterfuges to keep Lamont from leaving. His favorite ploy was to feign having a heart seizure, whereupon he would look heavenward and "call out" to his late wife, "I'm comin', Elizabeth! This is the big one! I'm comin'!" Inasmuch as this charade fooled no one -- least of all Lamont -- one wondered if the younger Sanford really was that hepped out about leaving after all, or whether he felt secure in his shabby environs.

Although none of the series' supporting characters appeared on every episode, most were seen frequently enough to qualify as regulars. During season one, Fred hung out with his old buddy Melvin (Slappy White), and throughout the series he palled around with Bubba Bexley (Don Bexley). Beginning in 1973, Whitman Mayo was seen as Fred's crony Grady Wilson, who virtually became the series' star later on during Redd Foxx's frequent defections from the show due to salary and other squabbles with the producers. (Mayo himself virtually disappeared from Sanford and Son during the 1975-1976 season when he was spun off into his own sitcom, Grady.) Other recurring characters included eccentric police officers Swanhauser (Noam Pitlik), Smith (Hal Williams), and Hopkins (Howard Platt); Lamont's friend Rollo Larson (Nathaniel Taylor); restauranteur Ah Chew (Pat Morita); rival junk man Julio Fuentes (Gregory Sierra); Fred's off-and-on lady friend, Nurse Donna Harris (Lynn Hamilton); and Lamont's girlfriend and later fiancée, Janet Lawson (Marlene Clark). The one "standout" supporting character was Aunt Esther Anderson (LaWanda Page), who constantly quoted Scripture and who expressed her disapproval of Fred's shenanigans by giving a good solid punch once in a while (in some early episodes, Beah Richards appeared in a similar role as Aunt Ethel). With the departure of both Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson at the end of the series' sixth season, Sanford and Son was canceled September 2, 1977, to be "reborn" twice, first in the form of the spin-off series The Sanford Arms in the fall of 1977, then as the short-lived 1980 offering Sanford, with Redd Foxx in his original role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

After scaring off a burglar, Lamont (Demond Wilson) and Rollo (Nathaniel Taylor) discover that the crook has left his gun behind. They'd like to turn the weapon over to the police, but are afraid to do so. Thus, our heroes try to sell the gun without getting in trouble with the authorities -- a project doomed to disaster. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Rather than shell out good money at the dentist's office, Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) tries hypnosis to cure a toothache. When this inevitably fails, son Lamont (Demond Wilson) orders Fred to pay a visit to a free dental clinic. But even here, Fred refuses to plant himself in the chair unless he is taken care of by a black dentist. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) panics when his son Lamont (Demond Wilson) falls in love with Alice (Emily Yancy), the daughter of Fred's old flame Juanita (Ja'net DuBois). The reason? Juanita has just told Fred that Alice is his own daughter. This episode was co-written by comedian Richard Pryor and Paul Mooney, whose later collaborations included the children's series Pryor's Place. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fooling around with his son Lamont's newly (and expensively) purchased antique gun -- which dates back to the Revolutionary War -- Fred (Redd Foxx) accidently fires the weapon into the window of his neighbor Goldstein (Leo Fuchs). Ensuing circumstances convince Fred that he has killed his neighbor, and this after the whole neighborhood witnessed him arguing with the man. There is nothing to do but destroy the extremely valuable "evidence." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Fred's cousin Grady (Albert Reed) pays a visit, accompanied by his new wife Margaret (Marguerite Ray) and stepdaughter Betty Jean (Gladys Perry). Anxious to divest himself of the corpulent Betty Jean, Grady offers a dowry of 10,000 dollars to any eligible bachelor that will take her off his hands. With visions of moneybags dancing in his head, Fred (Redd Foxx) sets about to match up Betty Jean with his own son Lamont (Demond Wilson) -- a matrimonial strategy foiled by a prime example of "reverse psychology." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide