Whitman Mayo
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| Whitman Mayo | |
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| Born | Whitman B. Mayo November 15, 1930 New York City, New York, USA |
| Died | May 22, 2001 (aged 70) Atlanta, Georgia, USA |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1966–2001 |
| Spouse | Gail Reid (1974-2001) Patricia Yorck (1966-1974) Melva Washington (m. 1956) |
| Website | |
| http://www.the-cape.com/the_cape/whit/biograph.htm | |
Whitman B. Mayo (November 15, 1930 – May 22, 2001) was an American actor best known for his character Grady Wilson on the 1970s television sitcom Sanford and Son.
Noted for portraying characters older than his actual age, Mayo was in his 40s when he played Grady on Sanford and Son.
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[edit] Biography
[edit] Early years
Mayo was born in New York City, New York and grew up in Harlem and Queens. He moved with his family to Southern California at age seventeen and from there entered the United States Army, serving from 1951 to 1953. Upon release, he studied at Chaffey College, Los Angeles City College, and UCLA. During this time he began acting in small parts, while waiting tables, working in the vineyards and as a probation officer as well as a variety of other small jobs. He also spent seven years as a counselor to delinquent boys.
[edit] Career
In the late 1960s, he joined the New Lafayette Theater repertory company in New York City and began settling down in an acting career. His call to Sanford and Son came shortly thereafter when a friend from the New Lafayette group who was by that time writing for Norman Lear recommended Mayo for a part in a single episode. His portrayal caught on and he lasted through the entire duration of the show, even filling in as the leading character while the star, Redd Foxx, held out for more pay. Mayo's character was Grady Wilson; Grady Demond Wilson is the birth name of the show's co-star, Demond Wilson, who played Fred Sanford's son. Having a plethora of experience with the tentative in his life, Mayo viewed his continuing success on the series as fleeting and ventured into other trades to assure financial stability. In 1975, for instance, he opened a travel agency in Inglewood, California. Mayo starred in an unsuccessful spin-off, Grady, in which his character moved in with his daughter and her husband in Beverly Hills.
In the late 1970s he appeared on the Los Angeles children's television program That's Cat, offering sage advice in a sweet manner to the main character, Alice.
In 1996, the show Late Night with Conan O'Brien wished to use him in a sketch, but was unable to locate him. The show mounted a highly publicized tongue-in-cheek search for Mayo called "Where's Grady?". After three weeks and over 50,000 calls to NBC from fans who claimed to have spotted him, Mayo finally appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien to a standing ovation from the audience, and the highest ratings Late Night with Conan O'Brien had seen in years. Mayo revealed that it was his mother who told him of the search after a repairman saw his picture in her house and told her she could be eligible for a reward.[1] At the time, Mayo was in Cape Canaveral, Florida as a member of the cast of the short-lived syndicated action/drama television show, The Cape. In the show, Mayo played Sweets, the lovable owner of the Moonshot Bar and Grill.
Though his role as Grady typecast him, Mayo did not let it define him. His professional growth took him some distance from the Watts junkyard of the NBC sitcom. He rounded out his career teaching drama at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as hosting Liars and Legends on Turner South.
Although best known for his television work, Mayo made several film appearances, including The Main Event with Barbra Streisand, D.C. Cab, Boyz n the Hood and Waterproof with Burt Reynolds.
Mayo also appeared as Reverend Banyon on the BET TV Movie Boycott in 2001 and in an episode of "Martin."
[edit] Personal life
Mayo died of a heart attack, at Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital. He had resided in Fayetteville, Georgia since 1994 and was survived by his children and by his third wife, Gail Mayo.
His son, Rahn Mayo, is currently a member of the Georgia House of Representatives[2] representing House District 91. He is also survived by his daughters Tanya Mayo, Suni Mayo Simpson, and daughter Pangi Raysor and son Jon-Jo Raysor of Brooklyn, New York.[3]
[edit] Filmography
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[edit] References
- ^ Henderson, Ashyia (2002). "Whitman Mayo". Contemporary Black Biography. vol. 32. Farmington Hills: Gale Group. ISBN 0787659134.
- ^ legis.state.ga.us
- ^ Staff writers (22 May 2001). "Whitman Mayo, 'Sanford & Son's' Grady, dies at 70". CNN. http://cnn.com/2001/SHOWBIZ/News/05/22/mayo.obit. Retrieved 2008-01-21.
–The Black Klansman (1966)
