Cleavon Little (1939-92) Redd Foxx, Sanford and Son, TV, 1972-1977.    The producers' original choice for Fred Sanford was Little - two years before he hit big  as Sheriff Bart  in Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles. Cleavon wasn’t available and he suggested NBC go Redd.  Copyright © 2023 Crawley's Casting Calls. All Rights Reserved. Joomla! is Free Software released under the GNU General Public License.