“You big dummy,” and “Elizabeth, I’m coming to join you,” were both catchphrases made famous by a comedian named John Elroy Sanford, better known as Redd Foxx. During the 70s and 80s, my brothers and I grew up watching Sanford and Son. The show was about a junk dealer named Fred Sanford and his son Lamont trying to get through life buying and selling other people’s junk. If you aren’t old enough to remember Sanford and son, I recommend you checking out some old episodes. Even today, the jokes are still funny.
Sanford, was born in St. Louis on December 9, 1922. Although poor, he found success as an entertainer and became a wealthy man. He then did what many wealthy people often do, or in Foxx’s case, don’t do—he didn’t pay his income taxes. I can remember watching the asset seizure on the news back in 1989.
The IRS seized his home and seven of his cars and other personal property to satisfy his unpaid taxes he incurred from 1983 to 1986. Foxx was left penniless. He then struggled to find new acting jobs and recover from his financial downfall. However, it wasn’t easy for an elderly man pushing 70 to make a comeback. Those who knew him said the stress of losing his home and possessions to the IRS broke him.
While filming on the set of a comedy called The Royal Family, Foxx collapsed from a heart attack. He died on October 11, 1991.
A famous Elvis impersonator named Jesse Garron bought Foxx’s former home from a tax sale. During the early 90s, a program called A Current Affair interviewed Garron about living in Foxx’s former home. Garron said he didn’t stay long and neither did his uncle who stayed with Garron.
He claimed he felt a ghostly presence in the home. Garron said a door opened by itself and lights also turned off and on by themselves. A longtime neighbor told Garron it could only be Foxx’s spirit because he loved the home so much. During the Current Affair episode, a séance was held. The psychic who held it claimed Foxx’s spirit haunted the house and was angered by changes Garron had made to the house.
Garron told Current Affair he didn’t feel comfortable sharing the home with a ghost. He later sold the house. It then became occupied by a business called Aqua Air. Paul Merlino, the owner also claimed to have experienced Foxx’s spirit. He said blinds would move as if it someone brushed past them and a door that was part of Foxx’s bedroom opened on its own. Merlino said he knew it was Foxx either entering or leaving the room.
Garron and Aqua Air have both left the property. Google Maps now lists the Las Vegas property on 5460 S. Eastern Avenue as a realty office.
I have often read stories about people who have become so attached to their earthly homes and other possessions that they want to stay after they die. Is it possible for someone to roam the Earth after they die because they cannot bear to leave a house or something else?
Foxx had built his beloved home in 1969 and had always expressed his love for Las Vegas. He once told a neighbor that when he died, he wasn’t going to Heaven or Hell, but he was staying in Las Vegas. Back in the days when Foxx began his comedy act, Las Vegas was the place for entertainers. Big name entertainers like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin and Sammy Davis Jr. made the place famous.
Redd Foxx departed from this life nearly 30 years ago. Fans can still watch reruns of Sanford and Son on video. Foxx was a legendary comedian. He paved the way for comics like Eddie Murphy and the late Richard Pryor. Does Foxx still live in the home seized from him by the IRS? I wouldn’t be surprised if he is still around telling dirty jokes to anyone willing to listen. His home is also included in a few Las Vegas ghost tours.
But when it comes to death, it’s a journey everyone must take alone. If Foxx’s spirit is restless and remains in Las Vegas, perhaps he will one day decide to entertain a crowd somewhere in the hereafter.
Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. You can visit his website at www.themarcabe.com, or contact him through Facebook: www.facebook.com/themarcabe or his Twitter account @themarcabe. And be sure to listen to his podcast at www.spreaker.com/show/the-marcabe.