Hollywood Mourns Another Loss!
Beloved TV actor Grady Demond Wilson, best known for his role as Lamont Sanford on the groundbreaking NBC sitcom Sanford and Son, has died at age 79. His family confirmed that he passed away yesterday morning (January 30, 2026), at his home in Palm Springs, California, after complications related to cancer. The specific type of cancer has not been publicly disclosed.
Born Grady Demond Wilson on October 13, 1946, in Valdosta, Georgia, he became a household name playing the hardworking and steady-minded son to Redd Foxx’s Fred Sanford on Sanford and Son, which aired on NBC from 1972 to 1977. The series was one of the most popular comedies of the 1970s and helped redefine Black representation in prime-time television.
After Sanford and Son, Wilson continued working in television. He starred as Raymond Ellis on Baby… I’m Back! and took the lead in The New Odd Couple in the early 1980s. He also appeared in the 1993 film Me and the Kid and made one of his final screen appearances in the 2023 drama Eleanor’s Bench.
Outside of acting, Wilson lived a life of faith and service.
He became an ordained Christian minister in the 1980s and authored several books, drawing on his experiences both in show business and in life. Wilson is survived by his wife, Cicely Johnston, and their six children.
