This article needs additional citations for verification .(July 2021) |
This article describes a work or element of fiction in a primarily in-universe style.(July 2024) |
Esther Anderson | |
---|---|
First appearance | "The Big Party" (Sanford and Son) |
Last appearance | "Here Comes the Bride: Part 2" (Sanford) |
Created by | Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin, based on Albert Steptoe created by Galton and Simpson |
Portrayed by | LaWanda Page |
In-universe information | |
Gender | Female |
Occupation | Deaconess |
Family | Elroy Winfield (father) Essie Winfield (mother) |
Spouse | Woodrow "Woody" Anderson |
Children | Clifford Daniel "Cliff" Anderson (son) (adopted) |
Relatives | Elizabeth Winfield Sanford (sister; deceased) Flossie Winfield (sister) Ethel Winfield (sister) Minnie Winfield (sister) Ellen Winfield (sister) Hazel Winfield (sister) Rosetta Winfield (sister) Elsie Winfield (sister) Fred Sanford (brother-in-law) Edgar (brother-in-law) Jake (brother-in-law) Paul (brother-in-law) Lamont Sanford (nephew) Elizabeth (niece) |
Esther Winfield Anderson, known as Aunt Esther, is a fictional character from the television series Sanford and Son . She was played by actress LaWanda Page, an acquaintance of series star Redd Foxx. Page was Foxx's first and only choice to play Esther. [1]
At first, Fred's main enemy on the show was in his sister-in-law and Lamont's aunt, Ethel (Beah Richards). Ethel's involvement in the Sanfords' family squabbles lasted only midway through the second season, whereupon she was replaced with her more tart-tongued sister, Esther. [2]
Fred and Esther's relationship as in-laws went on to become a major part of the series' legend, as each time Esther appeared, Fred would insult her and audiences were drawn to the show in greater numbers. Conversely, Esther's disdain for Fred stemmed back to when he and Elizabeth were dating; she had disapproved of Fred marrying her sister. He would often contort his face upon Esther's entrance and make disparaging remarks to her, comparing her with King Kong and Godzilla. Esther would refer to Fred as an "old heathen", and often used the Bible on her brother-in-law (both figuratively, by quoting the Good Book, and literally, by smacking Fred with the purse where she kept it.) Despite his stubbornness, Fred would sometimes redeem himself with acts of kindness toward Esther.
Esther Anderson is the Bible-toting sister-in-law of Fred Sanford. She is a staunchly religious Baptist who finds little use for humor and often criticizes Fred. Elizabeth, Esther's sister, was married to Fred, and Esther and the rest of the Winfield family were against the marriage from the outset. However, Esther often expressed that if anything good came out of the marriage it was her nephew, Fred's son, Lamont.
Lamont adored his aunt Esther, and would, against Fred's and Grady's wishes, allow her to stay in their house and often defended her against their insults. Since Esther and her family were the only real connection he had to his late mother, Lamont welcomed her often. She, in turn, was there to counsel Lamont on his life, and did her best to help him to get out of living in his father's junkyard house. She did so because she felt that Elizabeth would not have wanted Lamont, whom Esther felt was very intelligent, to remain in such a limited life.
Fred responded to Esther's entrances by making exaggerated grimaces followed by colorful insults ("I thought I already flushed my toilet"). He would then proceed to ruthlessly insult her, likening her to animals and fictitious movie monsters. Fred often focused on Esther's looks, once telling her, "I could stick your face in some dough and make gorilla cookies!" He also often insulted her by calling her "ugly" and pronouncing it Ug-leee!.
Esther's usual reactions to Fred's antics were to scowl and say, "Watch it, sucka!" Sometimes, cracking from the constant barrage of insults, she would swing her purse wildly in Fred's direction while angrily calling him an "old fish-eyed fool" or "heathen", among other names. Once, during a public prayer, Esther made reference to Fred, calling him a "snaggle-toothed jackass." She also clashed with Fred's friend Grady Wilson, whom she disliked because he was Fred's friend.
Despite their constant arguments, some episodes reveal that Esther and Fred were capable of kindness towards each other, such as when Fred helped her adopt a child. In one episode, Fred gave Esther $100 he won gambling to help her church, leaving him 35 cents.
Esther's long-suffering but loving alcoholic husband Woodrow (played by Raymond Allen) appeared infrequently later in the series. Woodrow was constantly drunk and somewhat henpecked. He eventually became sober so he and Esther could adopt a young orphan, Daniel (Eric Laneuville) in "Aunt Esther Meets Her Son".
In the final two seasons of Sanford and Son, as well as its failed spin-off Sanford, Esther ran the Sanford Arms, boarding house owned and run by Fred, which was located next to his junk shop.
Esther also made a cameo appearance at the beginning of the movie Friday.
Esther was a devout churchgoer, always armed with the Bible, and whenever she went to do battle with Fred, which was often, she was usually aided by some women from her church, or by her drunken husband, Woodrow; or would simply show up at Fred's house quoting the Bible. Usually, at any random moment, even in mid-sentence, Esther would throw her hands up and exclaim, "Oh, Glory!" (though it came out as H'ah Glory), even during her most heated arguments with Fred.
Her upright image was deflated when it was revealed that she had sex with a man called "Big Money Grip" in her youth. Grip had mistaken Esther for the beautiful Elizabeth in the dark, which led Grip to claim he was Lamont's real father.
Page's convincing portrayal of the "church lady" image of Aunt Esther was in marked contrast to the "blue" material of her stand-up act and record albums.
John Elroy Sanford, better known by his stage name Redd Foxx, was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Foxx gained success with his raunchy nightclub act before and during the civil rights movement. Known as the "King of the Party Records", he performed on more than 50 records in his lifetime. He portrayed Fred G. Sanford on the television show Sanford and Son and starred in The Redd Foxx Show and The Royal Family, where he played the husband of Della Reese and grandfather of Larenz Tate.
Sanford and Son is an American sitcom television series that aired on NBC from January 14, 1972, to March 25, 1977. It was based on the British sitcom Steptoe and Son, which initially aired on BBC1 in the United Kingdom from 1962 to 1974.
Grady Demond Wilson is an American actor and author. He played Lamont Sanford, the son of Fred Sanford on the NBC sitcom Sanford and Son (1972–77). He also portrayed Oscar Madison on The New Odd Couple (1982–83) and appeared in the film Me and the Kid (1993).
Whitman Blount Mayo Jr. was an American actor, best known for his role as Grady Wilson on the 1970s television sitcom Sanford and Son.
LaWanda Page was an American actress, comedian and dancer whose career spanned six decades. Crowned "The Queen of Comedy" or "The Black Queen of Comedy", Page melded blue humor, signifyin' and observational comedy with jokes about sexuality, race relations, African-American culture and religion. She released five solo albums, including the 1977 gold-selling Watch It, Sucker!, and collaborated on two albums with the comedy group Skillet, Leroy & Co. As an actress, Page is best known for portraying the Bible-toting and sharp-tongued Esther Anderson on the popular television sitcom Sanford and Son, which aired from 1972 until 1977. Page reprised the role in the short-lived television shows Sanford Arms (1976–1977) and Sanford (1980–1981). She also costarred in the 1979 short-lived series Detective School. Throughout her career, Page advocated for fair pay and equal opportunities for black performers.
Donald Thomas Bexley was an American actor and comedian, best known for playing Bubba Bexley on the 1970s television sitcom Sanford and Son.
Nathaniel Taylor was an American television and film actor best known for portraying Rollo Lawson on the 1970s sitcoms Sanford and Son, Grady and the 1980s sitcom Sanford.
Fred G. Sanford is a fictional character portrayed by actor/comedian Redd Foxx on the 1972–1977 NBC sitcom Sanford and Son and the 1980–1981 NBC sitcom Sanford.
Melvin Edward "Slappy" White was an American comedian and actor. He worked with Redd Foxx on the Chitlin' Circuit of stand-up comedy during the 1950s and 1960s. He appeared on the television shows Sanford and Son, That's My Mama, Blossom, and Cybill and in the films Mr. Saturday Night and Amazon Women on the Moon.
Grady is an American sitcom and a spin-off of Sanford and Son that aired on NBC from December 4, 1975, to March 11, 1976. Whitman Mayo reprises his role as Fred Sanford's widower friend Grady Wilson, who leaves Watts to move in with his daughter and her family in Westwood. Executive producer Norman Lear served as a consultant to the show.
The Royal Family is an American sitcom television series that ran on CBS between September 18, 1991, and May 13, 1992. The series was created by executive producer Eddie Murphy, as part of a development deal Murphy had with CBS, and produced by David Garber, Shelley Jensen, Deborah Leschin, Leslie Ray, and David Steven Simon. Other executive producers alongside Eddie Murphy are Mark McClafferty and Greg Antonacci. It was presented by Eddie Murphy Television in association with Paramount Television, the television arm of Paramount Pictures, a Paramount Communications Company, with which Murphy had long been associated. The series starred Redd Foxx and Della Reese.
Sanford is an American sitcom television series and a sequel to the original 1972–1977 sitcom Sanford and Son. It was broadcast on NBC from March 15, 1980, to July 10, 1981.
Sanford Arms is an American sitcom television series produced as a spin-off and continuation of Sanford and Son, that aired on NBC from September 16 to October 14, 1977.
Grady Wilson is the name of a fictional recurring character on the NBC sitcom Sanford and Son played by Whitman Mayo. The character's name first appeared in the 1972 episode "The Dowry"; however, in this episode he was played by Albert Reed Jr. and he was Fred's cousin. Once Mayo took the role, Grady became a regular on the show.
"Nagasaki" is an American jazz song by Harry Warren and Mort Dixon from 1928 and became a popular Tin Pan Alley hit. The silly, bawdy lyrics have only the vaguest relation to the Japanese port city of Nagasaki; part of the humor is realising that the speaker obviously knows very little about the place, and is just making it up. It was one of a series of US novelty songs set in "exotic" locations popular in the era starting with Albert Von Tilzer's 1919 hit "Oh By Jingo!"; "Nagasaki" even makes reference to the genre's prototype in the lyrics. Even more directly the song "On the Isle of Wicki Wacki Woo" was written by Walter Donaldson and Gus Kahn in 1923.
Watch It, Sucker! is the second and most acclaimed album released by American comic and actress LaWanda Page, who released the album in 1977 under the name of simply LaWanda.
Shirley Washington is a television and film actress who appeared in television shows from 1970. She appeared in two episodes of Mission: Impossible playing a Stewardess in the 1970 TV episode Flight and as a Travel Agent in the 1972 TV episode The Puppet and as Maggie in a Wonder Woman TV episode, "Chinese Puzzle". In the mid 1970s she starred in some Blaxploitation films as Mrs Jefferson in Bamboo Gods and Iron Men 1974, T.N.T. Jackson in 1975, as Theda in Darktown Strutters 1975 and in Disco 9000 in 1976.
Pipe Layin' Dan is the fourth solo release by American comedian and actress LaWanda Page, billed as simply LaWanda, released on Laff Records in 1973.
Esther Sutherland was an American film actress who made a name for herself in several features of the 1970s and 1980s often portraying nurses, maids, spinster aunts, Jamaican women, cleaning ladies, and matriarch types.