Demond Wilson passes
Demond Wilson (born Grady Demond Wilson), 79, passed due to complications from cancer. The specific cancer was not disclosed.
Where do you know him from? He was the son, Lamont, on the Redd Foxx television show “Sanford and Son.” Prior to this, Redd Foxx was considered a “blue” comedian, one who cursed and got off-color a lot. Having a 1972-1977 TV show (on which they made him more of a crusty likeable old guy, less of a comedian who would make jokes with punch-lines about sex) made Redd a big general star. The show was a top-rated phenomenon, and Demond Wilson played Redd’s beknighted son Lamont who always had to scramble to put out the fires and clean up the messes Redd created. It became NBC’s highest rated comedy and the second most-watched show on television. Why do we care 50 years later? He was one of us.
He served in the United States Army from 1966 to 1968 and was in the 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam, where he was wounded. Wiki
Wilson returned to Hollywood periodically, but his later life was more faith-based.
Wilson married model Cicely Johnston on May 3, 1974. They had six children. In 1984 he was ordained as a minister in the Church of God in Christ and was an active Christian evangelist for much of his adult life.
Category: We Remember
Man, I watched every episode (more than once) as a kid.
He’ll be missed.
I hope everyone takes this in the spirit in which it is given…Rest In Peace, ya big dummy.
Seriously, all kidding aside. From what I’ve heard about him, he was a stand up guy and I did remember reading that he had been wounded in Vietnam. Rest easy, Soldier.
Lamont was an island of stability in the ocean of chaos created by Fred and Aunt Esther.
My favorite:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=5eSIDwqtVUI&si=1hmwSY4uC4D-ZJdF
The funniest one is when Fred calls him up on the phone just to call him a dummy. 🤣
One of the greatest shows of my yute. I had no idea he was vet. Godspeed, Mr. Wilson.
I could see him as DI.
Yeah, it was cancer, not a heart attack, and Lamont, not Fred, but do you suppose, just once before he passed, he called out “Cicely, I’m coming to join you!” Classic show. I love it, but my daughters sort of balk at some of the humor. I tell them you have to be able to laugh at yourself. Thanks for nothing, society….
So, they probably won’t like blazing saddles, all in the family, the Jeffersons, Maude, Barney Miller etc.
We watched airplane with our teen kids (more than) a few years back, and they were surprised, maybe shocked even at what a PG rating “used” to be.
True story, Redd died of a heart attack on the set while filming The Royals. People thought he was faking at first because he was so well known for his fake heart attacks.
My father was crazy about that show. Just about never missed a show. I was not aware Lamont was a vet. I enjoyed it too.
God Bless, and thanks for all of the laughs you gave us!
I named my dog after him. Lamont loves to hear his name. He turned five last December, weighs 160 lbs and is too big for me.
Lamont, you big dummy!
I used to have an English Mastiff. He levelled off at 200lbs. Best dog ever. Great judge of people.
He was super protective of the wife and kids. Whenever anything was amiss with someone he would let the offender know. When a 200lb dog puts someone on notice they straighten up and fly right or clear out. Just wished they lived longer.
Getting between the owner and someone else seems to be pretty common to the Matiffs. It doesn’t mean that something bad is about to happen but they like to be included in whatever is going on.
My last one lived to 12 years and a half years which pretty exceptional. I thought he wasn’t going to make it to eight until I gave him some Ester Vitamin C and it was like a fountain of youth kicked on. There is no medical explanation for why that happened, according to the Vet.
Lamont will quite likely outlive me but I’ll leave that up to God 🙂
I remember watching that show in my misbegotten youth. Maybe that was one of my bad influences that gave me the humor I had then and have today.
I’m thinking the same could be said of many of us dillweeds and weedettes. Ya big dummies!
Benny Hill, Monty Python, 3 Stooges also contributed.
RIP It was a ground breaking show you and Red where great.
I normally have no real respect for entertainers in general, but he was also a Nam Vet. To me he put everything on the line and that deserves respect. May his reunion with friends and family be joyous and he rest in Peace.
Sanford and Son was on every night when I was the Token White Kid in the Mecklenburg Juvenile Detention Facility in Richmond. I was among the last groups of guests, as they shut that place down in ’96.
I watched Sanford and Son at home when I could, but my family was the sort that watched M.A.S.H. and Cheers nightly in the ’80s, so my fondest memories of the show were while wearing community underwear and eating the orange we got every other night, when we weren’t locked down two kids to a one-man cell and got to sleep on the gym floor.
Funny thing, though, my mom later worked for the J&DR court in Richmond and, according to my sister, allegedly destroyed all copies of my juvenile records, with the judge’s knowledge (the same one that declared me a “menace to society”). Again, that’s all hearsay and alleged. I have no direct knowledge of anything. Not that it matters, I was upfront with my Recruiter, and that’s one of the reasons I needed my moral waiver to enlist. Damned teenaged hoodlums.
Rest in peace, Mr. Wilson. Thanks for your service and for all the laughs.
Lamont was such a good straight man for Fred, Grady, and Julio. Dude looked like he just wanted to be anywhere else BUT there.
Don’t forget about his runnin’ buddy, Rollo. Fred REALLY didn’t like that dude. 🤣
Sanford & Son was the American version of the British Steptoe & Son. They’re totally different shows.
The Steptoes were ‘Rag and Bone men’, guys who made their money from gathering junk and leavings. The problem is that there was no modern buyers for the things they used to collect and they were mostly obsolete.
The shows aren’t that different.
Norman Lear created shows from that era were adapted from BBC shows including All in the Family, which came from Till Death do us Part. Lear then created a whole universe of sitcoms that were well regarded.
I suppose the big difference with the BBC shows was the level of seriousness. Inter generational conflict was a big topic of the day and the Lear shows, while comedic, brought an element of realism that allowed the discussion of otherwise difficult to cover topics such as ageism, racism, bigotry, abortion and even circumcision.