Esther Winfield-Anderson, known and feared as "Aunt Esther", is a fictional character in the television series,
Sanford and SonSanford and Son was an American sitcom that premiered on the NBC television network on January 14, 1972, and was broadcast for six seasons. The final original episode aired on March 25, 1977. The show was based on the BBC sitcom Steptoe and Son....
. She was played by the late actress
LaWanda PageLaWanda Page, born Alberta Peal was an American actress best known for her portrayal of Aunt Esther in the 1970s sitcom Sanford and Son....
, a long-time friend of
Redd FoxxRedd Foxx , born John Elroy Sanford, was an American comedian and actor, best known for his starring role on the sitcom Sanford and Son.-Early life and career:...
; she was Foxx's first and only choice to play Aunt Esther.
At first, Fred's main foil on the show was in his sister-in-law and Lamont's aunt, Ethel (
Beah RichardsBeah Richards was an American actress of stage, screen and television. She was a poet, playwright and author....
). Ethel's involvement in the Sanford's family squabbles lasted only midway through the second season, whereupon was replaced with her more tart-tongued sister, Esther.
Fred and Esther's relationship as in-laws went on to become a major part of the series' legend, as Fred loved to put down Esther on a regular basis with a burning passion. Esther's disdain for Fred stemmed back to when he and Elizabeth were dating; she had disapproved of Fred marrying her sister. He would often contort his face upon Esther's entrance and make disparaging remarks to her, comparing her with King Kong and Godzilla and using colorful metaphors to describe her. Despite his stubbornness, Fred would sometimes redeem himself with acts of kindness, even to those (like Esther) who he insists he doesn't like.
Brief character history
Esther Anderson (
LaWanda PageLaWanda Page, born Alberta Peal was an American actress best known for her portrayal of Aunt Esther in the 1970s sitcom Sanford and Son....
), also known Aunt Esther, is the
BibleThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
-toting sister of her nemesis, Fred Sanford's late wife Elizabeth. Esther is a staunchly religious
BaptistA Baptist is a Christian who subscribes to a theology and may belong to a church that, among other things, is committed to believer's baptism and, with respect to church polity, favors the congregational model...
who finds little use for humor. Fred has an intense dislike for Esther. Elizabeth, Esther's younger sister, was married to Fred, and she and the rest of the Winfield family were against the marriage from the very outset. However, they felt that if anything good ever came out of their marriage, it was her nephew, Lamont.
Fred's trademark response to Esther's entrance is to make an exaggerated grimace. He would then spew forth colorful insults and liken her to animals and fictitious monsters such as King Kong and Godzilla. Her usual reactions to his antics is to cringe her face and yell, "Watch it, sucka". Sometimes, cracking from the constant barrage of insults, she would swing her purse wildly in Fred's direction while angrily calling him a "fish-eyed fool" or "heathen".
Her long-suffering but loving alcoholic husband Woodrow (played by
Raymond AllenRaymond Allen may refer to:*Raymond Allen , best known for his recurring roles on Good Times and Sanford and Son*Raymond Allen , who appeared in numerous light operas from the 1950s through the 1980s...
) began appearing infrequently later in the series. Woodrow was massively inebriated and somewhat henpecked. He eventually became
sober-Computers:* Sober , variety of computer popcorn* SOBER , family of synchronous stream ciphers* SOBER-128, synchronous stream cipher-Entertainment:* Sôber, Spanish rock band* "Sober" , from the 1993 album Undertow...
so he and Esther could adopted a young orphan, Daniel, played by
Eric LaneuvilleEric Laneuville is an American television director and actor. His first prominent acting roles were in the 1971 science-fiction film The Omega Man with Charlton Heston and the ABC television series Room 222, which ran from 1969 to 1974...
in "Aunt Esther Meets Her Son".
Unlike her adversarial relationships with Fred and Grady, she had a loving relationship with Lamont, who loved her too. In fact, Esther had always been his favorite aunt. Lamont's other favorite relatives are his Aunt Ethel, (played by
Beah RichardsBeah Richards was an American actress of stage, screen and television. She was a poet, playwright and author....
; later played by Jane Lambert) and his aunts Flossie (Dorothy Meyer) and Minnie (Esther Sutherland). Aunt Esther thought the world of Lamont (whom she called, "baby"), and wished with all her heart that she could help get him out of the miserable existence his father had made. Her reason was that she felt his late mother wouldn't want him living in a
junkJunk may refer to:*Waste, any undesired thing or substance**Scrap, recyclable waste used to build new things*Junk Slang and lingo:*Junk DNA, DNA without a known function for the organism*Junk food, food with little or no nutritional value...
shop. Esther thought Lamont was suited for bigger and better things, and would often be in his corner in helping him try to get out from under Fred's thumb. She would help him out in his life, and Lamont, because she and her family were the only real connection he had to his deceased mother and that he loved her dearly, often helped her out and was usually on her side in her disputes with Fred and also with Grady. Also, Flossie and Minnie loved Lamont dearly and considered him their favorite nephew.
Esther, married to a massively inebriated and henpecked man named Woodrow Anderson, is the arch-nemesis of junkyard owner Fred Sanford. Esther's younger sister, Elizabeth, was married to Fred, and she and the rest of her family were against the marriage from the very outset. However, she felt that if anything good ever came out of their marriage, it was her nephew, Lamont. She also had other siblings, besides Elizabeth. They were Flossie, Minnie, Ellen, Ethel, Hazel, and several brothers.
Esther was a devout churchgoer, always armed with the
BibleThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
, and whenever she went to do battle with Fred, which was often, she was usually aided by some women from her church, or by her drunken husband, Woodrow; or would simply show up at Fred's house quoting the
BibleThe Bible contains the central religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. Modern Judaism generally recognizes a single set of canonical books known as the Tanakh, or Hebrew Bible, as it is written almost entirely in the Hebrew language, with some small portions in Aramaic...
(generally, to a scornful glare, and insults from Fred; paradoxically, Page's convincing portrayal of the "church lady" image of Aunt Esther, lay in direct contrast to the "
blueThe term off-color humor is an Americanism used to describe jokes, prose, poems, black comedy, blue comedy and skits that deal with topics that are considered to be in poor taste or overly vulgar by the prevailing morality of a culture. Most commonly labeled as "off-color" are acts concerned with...
" material of her stand-up act and record albums.) Usually, at any random moment, even in mid-sentence, Esther would throw her hands up and exclaim, "Oh, Glory!" (though it came out as H'ah Glory), even during her most heated arguments with Fred. Her upright image was deflated when it was revealed that in her youth, a man called "Big Money Grip" had sneaked into her bedroom and had sex with her – Grip had mistaken the ugly Esther for the beautiful Elizabeth in the dark, which led Grip to claim he was Lamont's real father.
Fred and Esther always fought over anything and everything. He despised her and the feeling was clearly mutual. She often came over to his house, (often against Fred's wishes) and tried to get him to change his life and his ways. Her words always fell on deaf ears. In fact, Fred would always make sure he knew where she should be, and that usually was "back to your cave, you old bat!" Esther often called Fred a "fish-eyed fool" and a "heathen", and when he upset her, she would tell him to "Watch it, sucka!" She also clashed with Fred's friend,
Grady WilsonGrady Wilson is the name of a fictional recurring character on the NBC sitcom Sanford and Son played by the late Whitman Mayo. The character's first appearance was in the 1972 episode "The Dowry;" however, in this episode he was played by Albert Reed, Jr., not Whitman Mayo...
, for whom she had just as much dislike as she had for Fred.
In the episode "Aunt Esther and Uncle Woodrow, Pffft!", Grady brazenly interferes in a spat between Esther and Woodrow. He egged on Woodrow, who is normally meek, to stand up to Esther, and causes him to lock her out of the house. (She previously locked him out of the house) At the end, the two reconcile, when Grady's deception is discovered and the entire family confronts him. He called Esther a "battle-ax"; Woodrow a "cream puff" and Flossie and Minnie "The two brides of Frankenstein", which thoroughly angers Lamont who stands up for his family.
Unlike her adversarial relationships with Fred and Grady, she had a loving relationship with Lamont, who loved her too. In fact, Esther had always been his favorite aunt. Lamont's other favorite relatives are his Aunt Ethel, (played by
Beah RichardsBeah Richards was an American actress of stage, screen and television. She was a poet, playwright and author....
) and his aunts Flossie and Minnie. Aunt Esther thought the world of Lamont (whom she called, "baby"), and wished with all her heart that she could help get him out of the miserable existence his father had made. Her reason was that she felt his late mother wouldn't want him living in a
junkJunk may refer to:*Waste, any undesired thing or substance**Scrap, recyclable waste used to build new things*Junk Slang and lingo:*Junk DNA, DNA without a known function for the organism*Junk food, food with little or no nutritional value...
shop. Esther thought Lamont was suited for bigger and better things, and would often be in his corner in helping him try to get out from under Fred's thumb. She would help him out in his life, and Lamont, because she and her family were the only real connection he had to his deceased mother and that he loved her dearly, often helped her out and was usually on her side in her disputes with Fred and also with Grady. Also, Flossie and Minnie loved Lamont dearly and considered him their favorite nephew.
She and Woodrow adopted a son, Daniel (played by
Eric LaneuvilleEric Laneuville is an American television director and actor. His first prominent acting roles were in the 1971 science-fiction film The Omega Man with Charlton Heston and the ABC television series Room 222, which ran from 1969 to 1974...
) in
Aunt Esther Meets Her Son, then appearing in the episode,
The Will. He wasn't seen or heard from until the 1980-1981 spin-off,
SanfordSanford was a short-lived American situation comedy, which was the revival of the 1972-1977 sitcom Sanford and Son.-Background:In 1977, after six seasons of Sanford and Son, Redd Foxx decided to leave the NBC show to star in a variety show for ABC. His new show, The Redd Foxx Comedy Hour, was...
, as "Cliff," now being played by Clinton-Derricks Carroll as a college student.
Fred often teased her about her looks, once telling her, "I could stick your face in some dough and make some gorilla cookies!" He would also insult her by using the term,
"Ugly" or as he would pronounce it,
"Ug-leee!". She would generally respond with wisecracks about his conniving and sometimes downright devious ways. Once, during a public prayer, Esther made reference to Fred, calling him a "Snaggle-toothed jackass."
Despite their constant arguments, some episodes reveal that Esther and Fred actually cared about each other, such as when Fred helped her adopt a child or when Esther became upset when she thought she had hit Fred too hard with her silver-plated Bible. In one episode, Fred also gave Esther $100 he won gambling (leaving himself with $.35) to help her church.
In the final two seasons of
Sanford and Son, as well as its failed spin-off
Sanford, Esther lived next door to him at the Sanford Arms, the boarding house owned and run by Fred, located on the same land as his junkyard.