Grady Wilson

Grady Wilson is a character on the NBC sitcom Sanford and Son, who was one of Fred Sanford's best friends, portrayed by Whitman Mayo. However, in The Dowry, a character named Grady who supposedly was Fred's cousin, was portrayed by Albert Reed, Jr. Grady is the sometimes scatterbrained friend of Watts junk dealer Fred G. Sanford (Redd Foxx), and is often involved in, if not a foil to, Fred's schemes and antics. Grady, who hailed from Chicago, Illinois, is also the godfather of Fred's son Lamont (Demond Wilson). Grady is actually named after Demond Wilson, whose full name is Grady Demond Wilson. Grady's catchphrases are "Good goobliy goop!" and "Great googly moogly!", which he utters when surprised, or startled. Grady was 65 in the Season 4 episode "The Way to Lamont's Heart" which aired in March of 1974, making Grady to have been born in 1908 or 1909, and would have to been 1-4 years younger than his best friend, Fred G. Sanford.

Character description
Grady is extremely absent-minded and regularly forgets the names of people he knows—- especially Lamont, who is Grady's godson. When Grady asks him his name, Lamont often responds by sarcastically giving him a similar name (such as "Lucas" or "Lawrence"), which Grady then acknowledges. (Ironically, Grady is actually named after Demond Wilson, the actor who played Lamont on the series. His full name is Grady Demond Wilson.) He frequently confuses certain words, upon hearing them, for anything similar-sounding (such as referring to the "munchies" as "Munchkins"). Grady often refers to his old age, or his impending death, or the deaths of his and Fred's friends. He also frequently inadvertently insults Fred's sister-in-law Esther, by telling her something Fred has said about her. He is often easily alarmed or surprised, and when excited, he is known to exclaim his catch phrases, "Good goobily goop!" or "Great googly moogly!". Grady also has a habit of being easily upset, usually when complimented, accidentally offended or hearing of illness or impending death striking a friend, sobbing uncontrollably and blowing his nose loudly (Fred often responds to this by telling him irritably "Don't do that, you gonna blow somethin' outta your head that you need!")

For a time during the series' run, Fred was "out of town" (due to a salary dispute between Foxx and NBC), leaving Grady in charge of Fred's business, effectively making Grady the main character on the show. During Fred's absence, Grady moved into Fred's house, and also took over the role of Lamont's comic foil. Like Fred before him, he also quite frequently ran afoul of Lamont's formidable Aunt Esther.

Grady appeared on Sanford and Son from 1973 until 1977. During this time, Mayo also starred in a TV series about the character, Grady. In this series, Grady moves out of Watts to live with his daughter. The show was short-lived, and he eventually returned to Sanford and Son. Mayo reprised the role of Grady again in the show's short-lived spin-off The Sanford Arms, in which Grady is married to his former girlfriend, Dolly.

Trivia
Grady Wilson was also the name of a Christian pastor who was a childhood friend of reknowned evangelist Billy Graham, and who at the time of Sanford and Son was still serving as Vice-President of the Billy Graham Evangelical Association.