Sanford and Son star Demond Wilson died Friday, January 30, 2026, due to complications from prostate cancer. He was 79 years old.

Wilson played Lamont Sanford the titular “son” in Sanford and Son. His character was the progressive, levelheaded half of the junk dealing business who tried to encourage his grumpy and politically incorrect father to be more openminded. The show ran for six seasons from 1972 to ’77.

Grady Demond Wilson was born on October 13, 1946, in Valdosta, Georgia and grew up in New York City. He studied tap dance and ballet, debuting on Broadway when he was just 4 years old and he danced at the Apollo Theater when he was 12. He served in the US Army in the late 1960s, and starred in Broadway and off-Broadway productions when he returned from Vietnam.

Wilson’s onscreen career began in 1970’s Cotton Comes to Harlem, then he appeared in All in the Family, The Organization with Sidney Poitier, an episode of Mission: Impossible, and Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In. After Sanford and Son ended, he starred in the short-lived Baby… I’m Back, a few episodes of The Love Boat, and The New Odd Couple series.

Following a ten-year break from acting onscreen, Wilson appeared in Me and the Kid in ’93, was in Hammerlock in 2000, appeared in a few episodes of Girlfriends, and his finale role was in a 2023 episode of Eleanor’s Bench.

Wilson was ordained as a minster for the Church of God in Christ in 1984 and spent much of his adult life working in the church. He wrote several Christian books, children’s books, and his memoir, Second Banana: The Bittersweet Memoirs of the Sanford & Son Years.