“Elizabeth, I’m coming to join ya!” was a term frequently heard by TV audiences for six years, mouthed by Fred G. Sanford of Sanford & Son. And no one could’ve done it better than Redd Foxx.

Born John Elroy Sanford in St Louis, Foxx had been a popularly-known comedian even before being given the TV role that immortalized him. He first gained fame after hitching a ride on freight train to New York, where he worked nightclubs. He was a trailblazing comedian and was one of the first to lace his comic routines with adult humor which is pretty much the standard for all comedians today.

He had also worked as an associate of Malcom X, who referred to him as “Chicago Red”. Foxx was raised in Chicago prior to moving to New York.

His comic routines soon landed him a role in the movie Cotton Comes to Harlem. It was soon afterwards that he was given the TV show for which he would become most popular for, Sanford & Son. Foxx had a high degree of control over much of the show; the shows main character was named after his late brother, Fred. The centered on the misadventures of a wisecracking widowed junk dealer and his level-headed though often seemingly square son and their dreams of expanding their “empire”.

His main catchphrase, “Elizabeth, I’m coming to join ya!” was in reference to his diseased wife. Whenever Fred received disturbing news he would feign a heart attack and “tell” Elizabeth that he’s about to join her.

One of the principle themes of the show was his feud with Esther, Elizabeth’s surviving sister, played by LaWanda Page. Although Fred and Esther were constantly at each other’s crosshairs on the show, Page was one of Foxx’s closest friends in real life and it was Foxx himself who got the role of Esther for Page.

The show was a big success; it was part of Neilsen’s Ratings Top Ten for most of its six-season run and even after the show was cancelled, due solely to Foxx’s frequent disagreements with the show’s creator, Norman Lear, Foxx would make many attempts to revive the show later on.

In between his frequent attempts to revive the show, Foxx worked the comedy circuit in Las Vegas, where, even in his late-50’s at this time, he was still a major draw. In the adult atmosphere of Las Vegas at the time, he was able to include even more adult humor in his long-running XXX Rated Show.

A new generation of movie-goers got to see the comic genius in the star-studded Harlem Nights with comedy heavyweights Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor. Harlem Nights would be Foxx’s last movie appearance.

With his popularity suddenly on the rise again, Foxx made another attempt to revive the character for his was most famous for, this time in 1991’s The Royal Family. During a break in rehearsals, on October 11, 1991, Foxx died of a sudden heart attack. At first, witnesses thought he was just imitating one of his character’s famous fake heart attacks. But this heart attack was real. He was 68.

Foxx has been cited an influence by many other comedians, including Chris Rock and Jamie Foxx, whose stage name is actually a tribute to the late comedian.