Demond Wilson

Grady Demond Wilson was born on October 13, 1946, in Valdosta, Georgia, and grew up in Harlem, New York City. His mother, Laura, was a dietitian and his father, Grady Wilson, was a tailor (Los Angeles Times). He learned tap dance and ballet as a child, made his Broadway debut at the age of four with William Marshall and Ossie Davis in a revival of The Green Pastures, and danced at Harlem's Apollo Theater at 12.

He was raised Catholic and served as an altar boy, and at 14 he seriously considered becoming a priest. Summers were spent with his grandmother Ada Mitchell, who was Pentecostal. At about 12 his appendix ruptured and almost killed him, and he later said he vowed then to serve God as an adult in some ministerial capacity.

Wilson studied acting at the American Community Theater and at Hunter College in New York before he was drafted (The Hollywood Reporter). He served in the United States Army from 1966 to 1968 with the 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam, where he was wounded during a 13-month tour. His official biography describes him as a decorated veteran. In a 2015 Veterans Day post he wrote, "Sgt E5 Grady D. Wilson US Army 4th Infantry Division Central Highlands, Pleiku Vietnam 1966-1968."

After Vietnam, Wilson worked in Broadway and off-Broadway productions, then moved to Hollywood. In 1971 he appeared in The Organization with Sidney Poitier, in an episode of Mission: Impossible, and in the All in the Family episode "Edith Writes a Song" as a burglar alongside Cleavon Little. That role won him the part of Lamont Sanford in Sanford and Son, developed by Bud Yorkin and Norman Lear from the British series Steptoe and Son. Johnny Brown of Laugh-In was also considered, and Wilson said producers had thought about Richard Pryor before he argued that the show needed a straight man.

Sanford and Son premiered on NBC on January 14, 1972, and became one of the biggest hits of the decade, reaching No. 2 in two seasons and staying in the top 10 for five. When Redd Foxx walked out over pay in 1974, Wilson kept the show going. After Foxx left in 1977, Wilson declined to lead the series alone. He appeared in 135 episodes.

He then starred in CBS's Baby... I'm Back! (1978, 13 episodes) and as Oscar Madison opposite Ron Glass in ABC's The New Odd Couple (1982-1983, 18 episodes). Later work included the films Full Moon High (1981), Me and the Kid (1993) and Hammerlock (2000), the BET program Demond Wilson and Company, a recurring role as Kenneth Miles on Girlfriends (2004-2005), and a final appearance in Eleanor's Bench (2023).

In the early 1980s Wilson overcame an admitted cocaine problem and in 1983 accepted what he called the call on his life. He sold his mansion and Rolls-Royce, was ordained as a minister in 1984 and became a full-time evangelist, preaching across America and abroad. "I love preaching the gospel more than anything I've ever done," he said in 1985. He moved his family to Mission Viejo, telling the Los Angeles Times in 1986, "We've left the rat race and false people behind."

In 1995 he founded Restoration House of America to rehabilitate former prison inmates across the racial divide. He appeared often on Trinity Broadcasting Network's Praise the Lord and was a friend of fellow actor and minister Clifton Davis.

Wilson married Cicely Johnston, a flight attendant turned model, on May 3, 1974, in Los Angeles. They had six children, Nicole, Melissa, Christopher, Demond Jr., Tabitha and Sarah, and two grandchildren, Madison and Isabella (Los Angeles Times). The family lived in Mission Viejo in Orange County after he left Hollywood, and he later lived in Palm Springs. He was a keen tennis player and an outspoken sports fan.

Wilson's Christian faith shaped the second half of his life. He wrote critically about the New Age movement in The New Age Millennium (1998), which he called an expose of its symbols and slogans, and took part in a 1984 Face the Nation discussion on school prayer. He was candid about his disillusionment with acting, telling the Los Angeles Times in 1986, "It wasn't challenging. And it was emotionally exhausting because I had to make it appear that I was excited about what I was doing." In later interviews he spoke frankly about pay in Hollywood, Redd Foxx's finances and the treatment of Black performers.

Sanford and Son was among the first American sitcoms with a mostly Black cast to become a national hit, and Wilson's grounded, exasperated Lamont gave Redd Foxx's comedy a steady foundation. The show has stayed in syndication and streaming for more than 50 years, and the Lamont and Fred exchanges remain some of the most quoted lines in television. theGrio wrote on his death that he helped define a golden era of Black sitcoms and influenced generations of TV that followed. His ministry to former prisoners through Restoration House of America and his books are part of the legacy he valued most.

Wilson did not receive major entertainment industry awards for his acting. His military service in Vietnam, where he was wounded, is described in his official biography as that of a decorated veteran. In 1984 he was received at the White House, where he prayed with President Ronald Reagan alongside Rosey Grier and Meadowlark Lemon.

Books: The New Age Millennium: An Expose of Symbols, Slogans and Hidden Agendas (1998); Second Banana: The Bittersweet Memoirs of the Sanford and Son Years (2009); and 11 children's books. He also wrote the screenplays Nat Tyler Freedom Fighter and Bay City Blues and a sitcom script, Hawkins for the Defense (official biography).

Selected screen work: All in the Family (1971), Mission: Impossible (1971), The Organization (1971), Dealing: Or the Berkeley-to-Boston Forty-Brick Lost-Bag Blues (1972), Sanford and Son (1972-1977), Baby... I'm Back! (1978), The Love Boat (1979, 1981), Full Moon High (1981), The New Odd Couple (1982-1983), Me and the Kid (1993), Hammerlock (2000), Girlfriends (2004-2005), Eleanor's Bench (2023). Stage: The Measure of a Man (touring, 2011).

Wilson's manager, the theatrical producer Roy Radin, was murdered in May 1983 in a case tied to a dispute over the film The Cotton Club. In 1990 Wilson was a key witness at the Los Angeles Superior Court trial of four people accused of the killing, testifying that Radin, fearing an attempt on his life, had asked him to follow the limousine he rode in on May 13, 1983 (Los Angeles Times).

His relationship with Redd Foxx cooled after 1977. Wilson said he learned Foxx was quitting the show from a newscaster in an NBC hallway and saw him only once more, around 1983. He did not appear in Foxx's 1980-1981 revival, Sanford, and is not reported to have attended Foxx's funeral in 1991, though he insisted, "I forgave him and I loved Redd."

Demond Wilson died in his sleep on Friday, January 30, 2026, at his home in Palm Springs, in California's Coachella Valley, at the age of 79. His son Demond Wilson Jr. told TMZ he died of complications from cancer, and his son Christopher told The New York Times he had prostate cancer. Publicist Mark Goldman said, "Demond was surrounded by love throughout his final days," and that the family asked for privacy. He was survived by his wife, Cicely, their six children and two grandchildren. Funeral and burial details were not made public. Tributes came from TV One, BET, ABC, CBS and many fans.