PALM SPRINGS—On February 1, the news of the death of actor and comedian Grady Demond Wilson. He was best known for his acting role as Lamont, in the 70s sit-com Sanford and Son. Wilson died on January 30, in his California home, from complications of cancer. He was 79.

On Sanford and Son, actor Redd Foxx was the crazy father, referring to his son, Lamont, as, “You, big dummy!” “Lamont,” played the son of reason always trying to make sense of things in a chaotic world as their characters portrayed them as a junk dealing duo who argued constantly.

Sanford & Son first premiered on NBC in 1972 and kept a captivated audience through 1977. Wilson appeared in 135 out of the 136 total episodes.

Wilson was the last member the Sanford and Son cast to die. Redd Foxx died in 1991. His friend and fellow actor, Eddie Murphy paid for his friend’s funeral to ensure he had a proper send off. Murphy is not one to attend funerals. But reports indicate that he would cover the cost of their funeral. In a memoir Murphy indicated that the early comedians weren’t always paid well and didn’t always manage money well when they were paid.

Prior to Sanford and Son, Wilson starred in the action-thriller, “The Organization,” and “Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues.” (1971).

In the mid-70s Wilson also made some guest appearances on the “All in the Family,” sit-com playing a burglar who with another burglar held Archie Bunker hostage.

He also starred in the CBS family sit-com, “Baby I’m Back (1977-1978) and ABC’s television series, “The New Odd Couple” (1982-1983)

In 1986, Wilson moved away, leaving Hollywood behind. Wilson made occasional guest appearances after that in “Me and the Kid,” “Hammerlock,” and had a recurring role on UPN’s “Girlfriends” (2023).

He was ordained a minister in the 80s in the Church of God in Christ. He was a journalist who published; “the New Age Millennium: An Exposé of Symbols, Slogans and Hidden Agendas,” his memoir “Second Banana: The Bittersweet Memoirs of Sanford and Son Years.” He also published children’s books: “Lil’ Mowande,” “Mr. Fish Takes a Wife,” and “John Neuman Smith,” (1999).

Demond Wilson is survived by his wife of 48 years, Cicely Johnston, their six adult children, Christopher, Nicole, Melissa, Sarah, Tabatha, and Demond Jr., and two grandchildren.