Fred G. Sanford is a fictional character portrayed by actor/comedian Redd Foxx on the 1972-1977 NBC sitcom Sanford and Son. Foxx, whose real name was John Elroy Sanford, modeled the character after his real-life brother, whose name in fact was Fred Glenn Sanford (who was the older of two children and died in 1965, seven years before the show premiered). The character Fred is an elderly, widowed, sarcastic, and cantankerous junk dealer. He is the proprietor of "Sanford and Son", a junk and antique dealership which he ran out of his home, along with his son Lamont. Foxx appeared in all but 9 of the episodes of the series, the exception being because Foxx had a contract dispute with NBC in 1974.