‘Sanford and Son’ star Demond Wilson dies in Palm Springs

HOLLYWOOD >> Demond Wilson the last surviving core cast member of the 1970s hit sitcom “Sanford and Son” has died at his home in Palm Springs from complications related to cancer, according to TMZ. He was 79.

His son, Demond Wilson Jr., told TMZ his father was pronounced dead at his home Friday morning.

The younger Wilson said his father did not specify what type of cancer he had.

“I loved him. He was a great man,” his son told the outlet.

The elder Wilson co-starred with actor-comedian Redd Foxx on the classic sitcom from 1972 to 1977, playing son Lamont to Foxx’s Fred Sanford.

Set in a fictional Watts junkyard, Sanford and Son Salvage, Wilson was a bemused — at times exasperated — presence while tolerating his widower father’s antics, which included berating his son with the rejoinder “Hey, Dummy” and faking a heart attack by clutching his chest with some variation of the quip “This is the big one! I’m coming to join you Elizabeth.”

“The producers said we need a straight man for Redd,” Wilson said. “It was a little difficult at first because his outlook was totally alien to me, but we found a common ground and, after while, we fell in love with each other.”

Wilson later starred in the sitcoms “Baby … I’m Back” and a re-imagined version of the “Odd Couple” called the “New Odd Couple.” He also made guest appearances on shows including “All in the Family,” “The Love Boat,” “Mission: Impossible” and “Girlfriends.”

He also appeared in a handful of movies including “The Organization” in 1971 with Sidney Poitier and 1993’s “Me and the Kid” with Danny Aiello.

Born Grady Demond Wilson on Oct. 13, 1946 in Valdosta, Georgia, he grew up in Harlem and made his acting debut at age 4 on Broadway in the play “Green Pastures” with Ossie Davis.

He studied acting at the American Community Theater and Hunter College and was wounded while serving in Vietnam from 1966 to 1968.

In later years Wilson admitted to battling and beating an addition to cocaine and revisited his most famous acting role in the 2009 book “Second Banana: The Bitter Sweet Memories of the Sanford & Son Years.”

Wilson became an ordained interdenominational minister in 1984 and quit acting to provide spiritual guidance and vocational training to former inmates with his organization, Restoration House of America, which he founded in 1994.

He is survived by his wife of more than 51 years, stewardess turned model Cicely Loise Johnston, and their six children.