Editing Redd Foxx (section)

==Early life==
John Elroy Sanford was born on December 9, 1922 in [[St. Louis]], Missouri and raised on [[South Side, Chicago|Chicago's South Side]]. His father, Fred "Freddie" Sanford (1897-1944), was from [[Hickman, Kentucky]], served during [[World War I]] in the 823rd company of [[U.S. Army]] [[Transportation Corps|U.S. Transportation Corps]] and worked as an electrician and an auto mechanic, but left his family sometime after 1930. He was raised by his half-[[Seminole]] mother, Mary Hughes (1903-1993) from [[Ellisville, Mississippi]], his grandmother, and his [[Minister of religion|minister]]. Foxx attended [[DuSable High School]] in Chicago's Bronzeville neighborhood with future [[Mayor of Chicago|Chicago mayor]] [[Harold Washington]]. Foxx had two older brothers, Fred Jr., and Leonard, who died shortly after his birth in 1921.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a7vcX2uNPK4C&q=Redd+Foxx+%22draft%22&pg=PA18 |title=Black and Blue: The Redd Foxx Story |isbn=9781557838520 |last1=Starr |first1=Michael Seth |date=September 2011 |publisher=Applause Theatre & Cinema }}</ref> On July 27, 1939, at the age of 16, Foxx performed on the [[Major Bowes Amateur Hour]] radio show as part of the Jump Swinging Six.{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}

In the 1940s, he befriended Malcolm Little, later known as [[Malcolm X]], a fellow dishwasher at Jimmy's Chicken Shack in Harlem. Both men had reddish hair, so Sanford was called "Chicago Red" after his hometown and Malcolm was known as "Detroit Red".<ref name="NYT" /> In [[The Autobiography of Malcolm X|Malcolm's autobiography]], Foxx is referred to as "the funniest dishwasher on this earth". During [[World War II]], Foxx dodged the [[Selective Training and Service Act of 1940|draft]] by eating half a bar of soap before his physical, a trick that resulted in [[palpitation|heart palpitations]].<ref name=":7">{{Cite book|title=Black and Blue: The Redd Foxx Story|last=Starr|first=Michael Seth|publisher=Applause Theatre & Cinema Books|others=hoopla digital.|year=2011|isbn=9781557838520|location=[United States]|oclc=1098560325}}</ref> On September 30, 1946, Foxx recorded five songs for the [[Savoy Records|Savoy label]] under the direction of [[Teddy Reig]].{{citation needed|date=September 2018}}