Wednesday, February 6, 2008

LaWanda Page ("Aunt Esther")

One of my favorite tv sitcoms of the 1970s was "Sanford and Son", which starred Redd Foxx. Foxx was a veteran comedian and actor of the black theater circuit. His tv show became very popular and he was highly paid, and was given some decision-making authority when it came to selecting his costars. He chose to feature, in recurring roles, other veterans of black theater.

One was LaWanda Page, who played the role of "Esther", sister-in-law of Foxx's character Fred Sanford. She quickly became one of my favorite character actresses, and I sent her a request for an autographed photo, as I was unable (believe it or not) to find a suitable portrait photo to send her.

She complied quite generously, by sending four photos! Unfortunately, none was as her "Esther" character (though on the 3rd photo, she did sign it using one of that character's catchphrases, "Watch it Sucker - Aunt Esther") but these photos show that she was an attractive woman, nothing like "Esther".

Here they are: #1, #2, #3, and #4.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I only received one signed photo of her and it was an "Aunt Esther." It's funny that she was so closely identified with her character that she would sign her autographs that way. Watch it suckah!