Mary

Mary was a housekeeper which Lamont hires to keep house and look after Fred in the episode of Sanford and Son titled "The Light Housekeeper" in Season 2. The part of Mary is played by veteran stage, film, and TV actress, Mary Wickes, who, like S&S co-star Redd Foxx, is a St. Louis, Missouri native.

About the hiring of Mary
Fred doesn't want to be left at home alone, noting that "They never did catch that Zodiac Killer." The Zodiac Killer was a serial killer who operated in the Northern California Bay Area in the late 1960s and possibly into the early '70s. He also complained of the work in the junkyard not helping his ailments, particularly his "arthritis". Thus, Lamont hires Mary from an employment agency; Fred, upon finding that the new housekeeper is white, isn't too thrilled. Coupled with that, the only thing which she cooks is "a fine boiled mutton"!