ATLANTA (AP) – New York City-born actor Whitman Mayo, who played Grady Wilson on the 1970s television series “Sanford and Son,” died Tuesday. He was 70. Mayo taught drama at Clark Atlanta University since 1996. Recently, he worked as the host of Turner South’s original weekly series “Liars & Legends.” The family did not disclose the cause of death.
Although he had dozens of television and movie credits, Mayo forever will be remembered as the sidekick of junk dealer Fred Sanford, played by Redd Foxx. The Grady character became so popular that in 1975 NBC briefly aired Mayo’s own show, “Grady.” After “Sanford and Son,” Mayo continued to work in television and movies. He appeared in such television shows as, “Diff’rent Strokes,” “In the Heat of the Night” and “ER.” His movie credits include “Of Mice and Men,” “The Main Event” and “Boyz N the Hood.”
Mayo was born Nov. 15, 1930. He attended Los Angeles City College and the University of California at Los Angeles. After college he became a counselor in an institution for delinquent boys. After seven years as a counselor, he decided to pursue his first love, acting.
Omigod, Sofa . . . I just did some math and realized that when “Sanford and Son” premiered in 1972, GRADY WAS YOUNGER THAN I AM NOW. Next thing you know, I’ll find out Irene Ryan was only 28 when she played Granny Clampett, and Fred Mertz was a teenager in a bald wig.
If you’ll excuse me, I have to go lie down now . . .
Omigod, Sofa . . . I just did some math and realized that when “Sanford and Son” premiered in 1972, GRADY WAS YOUNGER THAN I AM NOW. Next thing you know, I’ll find out Irene Ryan was only 28 when she played Granny Clampett, and Fred Mertz was a teenager in a bald wig.
If you’ll excuse me, I have to go lie down now . . .
I don’t know about William Frawly being a teenager, but I do recall that Vivian Vance was younger than Lucille Ball and resented the hell out of the fact that she had to play an older woman AND be married to Fred Mertz.
According to the IMDB, William Frawley was born February 26, 1887.
When I worked at Universal (the theme park), they told us a lot of trivia with which to inform the guests. If you look closely at reruns of Lucy, you’ll notice that Fred rarely takes his hands out of his pockets…because Frawley was an alcoholic and always had those tremors.
I thought he seemed like such a nice guy.
He probably was.
I remember fondly a few years ago, Conan O’Brien had a whole thing Find Grady, pretending they were looking for him. Finally, they had him on.
Anyone else recall this?
He will be missed.
A correction – according to the IMDb, Lucille Ball was born in 1911, and Vivian Vance was born in 1909, so Vance was definitely older than Ball. HOWEVER, what you DO remember correctly is that Vivian was younger than William Frawley – a whopping TWENTY-TWO YEARS younger than William Frawley!
I have, like you, also heard that she resented being linked to an older man, as it made her seem much older.
My brother’s dog (an enormous beast with the strange tendency to “lean” on you) is named Grady, in honor of the character. I’ve mailed him about the loss. He’ll be crushed.
