Redd Foxx Age and Vital Statistics
Redd Foxx was born John Elroy Sanford on December 9, 1922, in St. Louis, Missouri, making him 102 years old at the time of his passing on October 11, 1991. His age is consistently documented by public records and entertainment archives, confirming the December 9 birth date as the anchor for all age calculations. The most current public data from biographical databases and legacy entertainment sources reaffirms this birth year and date without revision. For the latest public record verification, you can check the official SEC filings and legacy entertainment copyright records that cite his birth date.
The age calculation for Redd Foxx follows standard chronological methods, subtracting his birth year from the reference year while accounting for whether his birthday has passed. At the time of his death, he was 68 years old, having been born in 1922 and passing in 1991. This 68-year age at death is the most frequently cited figure in obituaries, biographies, and entertainment history sources. The precision of this figure is supported by consistent reporting across legacy media databases and public record aggregators.
Career Timeline and Financial Legacy
Redd Foxx's career spanned over four decades, beginning with his stand-up routines in the 1940s and culminating in the 1970s sitcom Sanford and Son. His net worth at the peak of his career was estimated in the millions, with the show generating significant syndication revenue that continues to pay royalties. The financial legacy of Redd Foxx is often analyzed in entertainment finance reports, where his royalty streams from Sanford and Son are cited as a case study in long-term intellectual property value. Detailed financial breakdowns and historical earnings data are available through trusted entertainment business sources like Forbes.
The financial impact of Redd Foxx extends beyond his on-screen earnings, encompassing his influence on the syndication model for sitcoms and his role in paving the way for Black-owned production companies. His business ventures, including the short-lived nightclub and production efforts, are frequently referenced in business history analyses of 1970s entertainment entrepreneurship. The long tail of his financial legacy is evident in the continued licensing of his show and the ongoing valuation of his name and likeness in the entertainment market. For a deeper look at the business structure of classic sitcom syndication, you can explore analysis from Bloomberg.
Historical Context and Age Verification
Verifying the age of historical figures like Redd Foxx relies on a combination of birth certificates, census records, and consistent reporting across authoritative sources. The December 9, 1922, birth date is the single most critical data point, and it has remained unchanged across decades of biographical references. This consistency across sources provides a high degree of confidence in the age figures attributed to him throughout his life and in historical summaries. Public archives and legacy entertainment databases serve as the primary repositories for this verified data, ensuring that the age remains a fixed, factual element of his biography.
The age of Redd Foxx at key career milestones offers a framework for understanding the timeline of his influence on American entertainment. He was in his late forties when Sanford and Son premiered in 1972, an age that reflected his decades of experience in the comedy clubs and recording studios of the preceding era. This chronological context helps explain the maturity and technical skill he brought to his performances, which were rooted in a long career of live audience testing and refinement. For additional historical context on the entertainment landscape of that era, you can review the timeline resources provided