The versatile actor and author Grady Demond Wilson, who became a household name as the long-suffering son Lamont Sanford on the classic 1970s sitcom Sanford and Son, has passed away. He was 79. Wilson died on Friday, January 30, 2026, at his residence in the Palm Springs area. His son, Demond Wilson Jr., and publicist Mark Goldman verified the news by saying that the actor died after a brave struggle with prostate cancer.
The "Straight Man" of Watts
Born in Valdosta, Georgia, and raised in New York City, Wilson began his career as a dancer before serving in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. When he came back, he returned to acting, landing the role that later became the hallmark of his career. Between 1972 and 1977 Wilson starred opposite the legendary Redd Foxx in Sanford and Son. Wilson played Lamont, the “dummy” to Fred Sanford’s cantankerous junk dealer, delivering the crucial grounded foil to Foxx’s wild ways.
The interaction broke those barriers and earned the show one of the highest-rated shows of the decade. “Redd and I were making history then,” Wilson wrote in his 2009 memoir, Second Banana. “We were the first Blacks to have TV in that capacity and we paved the way for all those other shows that came after us.”
A Life Beyond the Junk Yard
Wilson spent decades working in television after Sanford and Son concluded in 1977, starring in Baby... I'm Back! that included a 1980s reboot of The New Odd Couple. But his life would take a spiritual turn in the 1980s, when he became an ordained minister, which altered his outlook to a larger one. For much of his later life, Wilson devoted himself to his faith, founding the Restoration House of America, a facility devoted to the rehabilitation of former prison inmates. He also authored several books on Christian theology and his Hollywood experiences and became an author.
Legacy and Survivors
Wilson is survived by his wife of over 50 years, former model Cicely Johnston, and their six children. Where his fans will certainly remember him for Fred’s persistent threats to accompany “Elizabeth” on a run out to the big junk yard in the sky, Demond Wilson’s actual legacy is one of grace, pioneering in representation, and deep in-touch commitment to community and faith.
