DJ StoopNig
08-12-2008, 09:14 PM
Redd Foxx made millions of dollars but was completely broke when he died. In fact, he died of a heart attack during an ironic interview with Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous. People thought he was joking, but the cardiac arrest was real. What a way to go!
Read all about it here: http://www.roctober.com/roctober/greatness/foxx.html
By 1983 Redd made millions a year in appearances, but alimony and debt made him declare bankruptcy. By ‘86 he was making 4 million a year in Vegas, but was having problems with the IRS. When his marriage to Joi dissolved, and his coke, gambling and womanizing habits didn’t, he soon found himself in a worse position than he could have dreamed of. On November 28, 1989 the IRS swooped in and like stormtroopers and seized all his possessions as Redd stood in the street in his underwear shaking his head, all the ugliness captured and broadcast by TV news cameras. To partially satisfy his elephantine debt to the agency they auctioned off nearly all of his possessions, including his model T, his uzi , his Redd Foxx records, his ukele, the watch Elvis gave him, his personal photographs, his Asian room furniture, and everything else. Though he had been paid half a million dollars earlier that year to appear in Eddie Murphy’s "Harlem Nights," (See FOXX FILMS/VIDEOS in Roctober #28) he had spent it all on partying and didn’t save a penny for Uncle Sam. This humiliation broke Redd’s spirit and he became a bitter, angry shell of what he once was, blaming racism, the government and everyone but himself for his predicament.
Eddie Murphy bailed Foxx out, somewhat, by developing a TV show for him and Della Reese, with whom he’d had good chemistry in "Harlem Nights." "The Royal Family" debuted in September 1991, and was a modest success its first few weeks on the air. On the set on October 11th Redd was filming an interview with (ironically) "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" when a "Royal Family" staff member insisted, with Robin Leach’s camera’s still rolling, that Redd cut the interview short to come block some lighting. This was clearly something anyone, or even a sandbag, could do, but the producers must have been warned to try to keep an upper hand with Redd and keep his spirit broken as to avoid NBC’s "Sanford" problems. It backfired. Raw footage shows Redd visibly upset at this indignity, muttering, hateful and embarrassed to have this happen in front of the interviewer. He starts breathing heavily and becomes agitated. Moments later he would drop dead from the heart attack initiated by the incident. People thought at first it was a pratfall. It wasn’t.
Read all about it here: http://www.roctober.com/roctober/greatness/foxx.html
By 1983 Redd made millions a year in appearances, but alimony and debt made him declare bankruptcy. By ‘86 he was making 4 million a year in Vegas, but was having problems with the IRS. When his marriage to Joi dissolved, and his coke, gambling and womanizing habits didn’t, he soon found himself in a worse position than he could have dreamed of. On November 28, 1989 the IRS swooped in and like stormtroopers and seized all his possessions as Redd stood in the street in his underwear shaking his head, all the ugliness captured and broadcast by TV news cameras. To partially satisfy his elephantine debt to the agency they auctioned off nearly all of his possessions, including his model T, his uzi , his Redd Foxx records, his ukele, the watch Elvis gave him, his personal photographs, his Asian room furniture, and everything else. Though he had been paid half a million dollars earlier that year to appear in Eddie Murphy’s "Harlem Nights," (See FOXX FILMS/VIDEOS in Roctober #28) he had spent it all on partying and didn’t save a penny for Uncle Sam. This humiliation broke Redd’s spirit and he became a bitter, angry shell of what he once was, blaming racism, the government and everyone but himself for his predicament.
Eddie Murphy bailed Foxx out, somewhat, by developing a TV show for him and Della Reese, with whom he’d had good chemistry in "Harlem Nights." "The Royal Family" debuted in September 1991, and was a modest success its first few weeks on the air. On the set on October 11th Redd was filming an interview with (ironically) "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" when a "Royal Family" staff member insisted, with Robin Leach’s camera’s still rolling, that Redd cut the interview short to come block some lighting. This was clearly something anyone, or even a sandbag, could do, but the producers must have been warned to try to keep an upper hand with Redd and keep his spirit broken as to avoid NBC’s "Sanford" problems. It backfired. Raw footage shows Redd visibly upset at this indignity, muttering, hateful and embarrassed to have this happen in front of the interviewer. He starts breathing heavily and becomes agitated. Moments later he would drop dead from the heart attack initiated by the incident. People thought at first it was a pratfall. It wasn’t.