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Edge_of_the_Wall t1_jbn00ct wrote

So 6 years younger than Morgan Freeman in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.

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klsi832 t1_jbn0e5f wrote

Well that makes me feel old since that's only five years older than me haha

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nohurrie32 t1_jbn0k0f wrote

One of the best tv dads of all time…ya great big dummy….

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GrandmaPoses t1_jbn2bxe wrote

Like Bob Saget his stand-up was dirty as fuck yet here he was on a sitcom.

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ironroad18 t1_jbn2rdh wrote

Red Foxx use to roast the shit out of Aunt Ester. When I grew up I learned that he and Aunt Ester (Lawanda Paige) were best friends in real life.

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PizzAveMaria t1_jbn2v27 wrote

I just thought I'd Red Foxx the other day! I was outside Baltimore at Vital Records filling out paperwork, and this man sounded exactly like him. Even his mannerisms were similar "Oh darn! I wrote my name where it says signature, what am I gonna do now?" (I tried to surreptitiously look to see if he was a doppelganger: he wasn't)

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PurpleRavenX11 t1_jbn54b5 wrote

I just watched this show through for the first time and its reputation as one of the best sitcoms ever made is well deserved. If only I could find the spinoffs streaming somewhere…

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brianinohio t1_jbn6lgs wrote

Loved dude in that show. Laughed all the time at his crazy shit...son lemond was perfect straight dude for him.

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BenovanStanchiano t1_jbn76bu wrote

There’s something so morbidly funny to me that he died of a heart attack and people thought he was doing shtick when it happened.

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TheLizardQueen3000 t1_jbn81j4 wrote

I was teasing a friend once about his cute new girlfriend, and I told him she was so ugly I was going to stick her face in dough and make gorilla cookies, which is my favorite Aunt Esther insult. He thought it was so funny to this day her nick-name is Gorilla Cookies!

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goliathfasa t1_jbn86ph wrote

I always thought Richard Dreyfus, who was in his mid 40s when he filmed Mr. Holland’s Opus, where he played a character from 30 to 60, looked 30 in real life and had to put on old makeup for the later parts of the film.

Turned out he put on a wig and younger makeup for the earlier parts of the film and had relatively minimal makeup playing a 60 year old.

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WranglerVegetable512 t1_jbn8ewe wrote

But what’s with his walk, was that fake like his make-up to look like an older guy?

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AdobayAkeechayWah t1_jbn9tmr wrote

His real name was John Sanford, and his character was named in honor of his late brother Fred.

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EternamD t1_jbne0cj wrote

Is that the USA version of Steptoe and Son?

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truth123ok t1_jbneu3z wrote

This means Pedro Pascal now is the same age as Redd Foxx then ....i feel so confused

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Bama_Peach t1_jbnnyuu wrote

I didn’t previously know this but as soon as I read your comment my first thought was, “Of course it was”! He produced so many iconic songs of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s.

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ebookit t1_jbnrwsw wrote

I watched Sanford and Son when I was little. All in the Family and The Jeffersons too. Archie Bunker and George Jefferson would get into arguments you can't air on TV these days.

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RangeWilson t1_jbnynl8 wrote

They didn't have meth back then, unfortunately.

0

LipTrev t1_jbnziu0 wrote

Wilford Brimley was only 50 when Cocoon was filmed/

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MillionEgg t1_jbnzzzu wrote

I think Whitman Mayo (white bearded friend Grady) was even younger, maybe 40 when the pilot aired. I’ll be damned if I’m checking tho.

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archangel7164 t1_jbo2ueu wrote

The worst thing is Caroll O'Connor was only about 46 years old when All In The Family was first recorded.

I thought he was around 65 or 70.

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jreed66 t1_jbo58sx wrote

Next week on TIL

Estelle, known for playing the old lady on Golden Girls, was a year younger than Betty and Bea. She wore makeup to look older.

Like no shit

3

Complicated-HorseAss t1_jbo5iga wrote

"You're pretty, if you were just darker, I don't want no white women, you see me with a white woman it's because I'm holding her for the police"

"She was so ugly she looked like crime in her face"

"My great great great grandfather was the first black politician in Mississippi, he ran for the boarder"

Dude was the inspiration for comedians like Eddie Murphy.

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pembroke529 t1_jbo6ahj wrote

If you're Las Vegas and have some free time, visit Redd's grave site. It's basically a grave marker in the ground (not an upright tombstone) with a graphic of an animal fox.

Also, nearby is my favorite simple grave marker for Sonny Liston. It's simply his name, birth year, death year and "A Man" epitaph.

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TIGHazard t1_jbo81np wrote

Same with UK comedian Tommy Cooper. Except this was on live TV :(

> On 15 April 1984, Cooper collapsed from a heart attack in front of 12 million viewers, midway through his act on the London Weekend Television variety show Live from Her Majesty's, transmitted live from Her Majesty's Theatre in Westminster, London. An assistant had helped him put on a cloak for his sketch, while Jimmy Tarbuck, the host, was hiding behind the stage curtains waiting to pass him different props that he would then appear to pull from inside his gown. His last words seemed to be "Thank you, love," to the assistant seconds before collapsing. The assistant smiled at him as he slumped down, believing that it was part of the act. Likewise, the audience laughed as he fell backwards.

> As Cooper lay dying on the floor, the audience continued to laugh at him believing it was part of an act. Cooper then began snorting and snoring, and died after. Around this time, Jimmy Tarbuck, Alasdair MacMillan (the director of the television production), and the crew behind the curtain who witnessed the incident realised that what was happening to him was not part of the act.

> After realising what had happened, Alasdair MacMillan cued the orchestra to play music for an unscripted commercial break (noticeable because of several seconds of blank screen while LWT's master control contacted regional stations to start transmitting advertisements) and Tarbuck's manager tried to pull Cooper back through the curtains.

> It was decided to continue with the show. Dustin Gee and Les Dennis were the act that had to follow Cooper, and other stars proceeded to present their acts in the limited space in front of the curtains. While the show continued, efforts were being made backstage to revive Cooper. It was not until a second commercial break that paramedics moved his body to Westminster Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on arrival. His death was not officially reported until the next morning, although the incident was the leading item on the news programme that followed the show.

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palordrolap t1_jbo8fzz wrote

Had to look that up. Awful way to go.

At least it wasn't live on TV like Britain's Tommy Cooper. People also thought that was an unscripted bit. Until they realised that it very much wasn't.

Faking heart attacks, at least not to that degree, wasn't even one of his bits, unlike Foxx.

Being messed around by the production crew to the point of annoyance definitely won't have helped in Foxx's case. It's probably what pushed him over the edge. It might not be live on TV but it's still no way to go.

Regarding Cooper: Don't go looking for the video of his collapse if you don't want to feel sad. Go looking for other videos. Very funny man.

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Bebilith t1_jboa16d wrote

TIL the Americans copied Steptoe and Son.

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SilentResident1037 t1_jbobl3l wrote

Maybe tomorrow you'll learn Estelle Getty was actually younger than Bea Arthur and Betty White even though she played the mom...

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AssCakesMcGee t1_jboow6k wrote

Christopher Lloyd was only 47 when he played Dr. Emmet Brown at the age of 35 and 65. He wore no makeup.

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papagarry t1_jbovq0q wrote

I don't think there are enough Redds today. We had Foxx, Skeleton,Green, Clifford. So many Redds.

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bolanrox t1_jbp35o7 wrote

how old was the guy who played Palaptine in the OG starwars?

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Bpump1337 t1_jbp36oq wrote

Da da NA na. Da da NA na na na nahhh

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bolanrox t1_jbp3r7k wrote

Wilfred Brimley was not that old either when he did Cacoon.

And Harrison Ford and Sean Connery were only 10 years or so apart in age.

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starmartyr t1_jbp55p9 wrote

In 1971 on an episode of the Dick Cavett show, the guest was Jerome Rodale. Rodale was a health guru who claimed he was going to live to 100. During the interview, Rodale slumped back in his chair and made a snoring sound. Cavett allegedly quipped "are we boring you Mr. Rodale" only to find out shortly afterward that he was dead. The episode never aired and the tape has never been made public.

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DBDude t1_jbpjnid wrote

If you watch the more current series Mrs. Brown's Boys (Brendan O'Carroll in old woman drag), he is constantly roasting the shit out of his neighbor, who in real life is his sister. His wife also plays one of his kids, and his son and daughter also have roles.

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DBDude t1_jbpk8fg wrote

AFV was okay, Full House, eh, but Saget doing comedy otherwise was frickin' hilarious.

Also, watch Brad Williams to see a practical joke Saget played on John Stamos using Brad.

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BabyDeezus t1_jbqdg9h wrote

Yes you for sure could lol. There are just such a wide variety of programs now that it’s easy to point to some super PC ones and go “oh these days…”

Meanwhile the party that usually complains about sensitive snowflakes gets offended by the lyrics in rap music.

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Cycleofmadness t1_jbqmaxn wrote

He may of been 49 on the outside but all the drinking & smoking aged his insides to Sanford's age.

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sport63 t1_jbquby5 wrote

We all knew that you fish-eyed fool

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LOCKN355 t1_jbqvjq1 wrote

Sherman Hemsley was only 37 years old when The Jeffersons first aired.

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Wyrmslayer t1_jbr200s wrote

There’s an actual Sanford and son junkyard that predates the show in Tiverton RI. They have a newspaper article in their waiting room about it.

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CassandraVindicated t1_jbr8nw7 wrote

I used to love this show. Very funny. I haven't seen it around in decades though.

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TimmJimmGrimm t1_jbrbtij wrote

Let me be the asshole and say... is it such a bad way to go?

Rather than be one of those kids blown up in the sky in WW2, or someone slaughtered by advancing fanatics of whatever nationality, this guy got to go out with a laugh from adoring fans. Or slowly dying of some disease in your tweens, like meningitis before 1941.

Too soon? Yes. For sure. Most people like the idea of dying at 88 years of age or so. But a bad way to go? Please, let us agree to disagree.

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Aiku t1_jbrnoas wrote

I was playing at a Blackjack table in Caesar's at 3am, when Red Foxx showed up completely shitfaced. He blew about 3 grand on two hands, then went to the refreshments table and literally folded up the tablecloth and went off to his room with about two dozen donuts and a couple of serving plates.

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Timmy26k t1_jbrro6i wrote

My grandfather has every season on DVD and has memorized every word of every single show and it was the only show he watched when I grew up in his house

Edit: he is also a hoarder

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notsurewhy2021 t1_jbvqvhe wrote

Grady’s name came from Lamont’s real first name. Demond Wilson was born Grady Demond Wilson

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Draano t1_jc2f6xj wrote

It's like Cedric the Entertainer took a page out of old Redd's book when, at 38 years old, he played Eddie, the old-timer barber in Barber Shop.

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