The so-called “King of the Party Record,” Redd Foxx got his start as a comic telling some of the most outrageous, X-rated jokes audiences had ever heard, going on to sell an estimated 20 million records. His journey from street corner singer to blue comic would ultimately bring him into every home in America as the cranky-but-lovable Fred Sanford. On the hit show Sanford and Son, Foxx not only broke barriers for Black performers on TV, he also challenged what issues could be centered in the sitcom format, tackling questions of race, poverty, and discrimination.

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