Sanford and Son (1972): 15 Shocking Facts You Totally Missed

Sanford and Son: 15 wild facts you never knew

In 1972, NBC was losing every night of the week. CBS had All in the Family and MASH. Then Redd Foxx arrived and Sanford and Son landed in the top ten within weeks. CBS had passed on the show after Norman Lear offered it to them. The executive who said no later called it one of the stupidest decisions he ever made.

The theme song was composed by Quincy Jones in under thirty minutes. Fred Sanford's signature heart attack bit came directly from Foxx's mother, who would clutch her chest dramatically whenever she wasn't getting enough attention. The show was based on a British sitcom called Steptoe and Son. Richard Pryor and Paul Mooney wrote for the show in season two, and producers watered down most of their sharpest material.

Foxx turned the set into a reunion of his Chitlin Circuit friends. Lawanda Page nearly got fired before a single episode aired. Foxx told producers if she goes, I go. The show ended not because ratings collapsed but because Foxx left for ABC without telling Demond Wilson, who found out from a newscaster in the NBC hallway. Two spinoffs followed. Both flopped within weeks. The IRS eventually raided Foxx's Las Vegas home and took everything. Eddie Murphy paid for his funeral.

And the bonus: in 1991, Foxx collapsed on the set of his comeback show The Royal Family. The crew laughed. They assumed it was the Fred Sanford bit. By the time they understood it was real, he was already gone.

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