Redd Foxx was a man of legendary appetites, incredible timing, and a heart that was often bigger than his bank account. Most people remember him as the cantankerous Fred Sanford, clutching his chest and calling out to "Elizabeth" while pretending to have the "big one." But off-camera, his life was a whirlwind of high-stakes gambling, IRS battles, and a string of marriages that kept the tabloids busy for decades. By the time he reached the end of his life on the set of The Royal Family in 1991, one woman stood at the center of his chaotic world: his fourth wife, Ka Ho Cho.
She wasn't who people expected.
When you look back at the history of Redd Foxx and wife Ka Ho Cho, you aren't just looking at a Hollywood romance; you're looking at a survival story. Redd was broke. The IRS had famously stripped his Las Vegas home of everything—even his cars and jewelry—leaving him essentially starting from scratch in his late 60s. Ka Ho, a woman of Korean descent who was significantly younger than the comedy icon, became his gatekeeper, his protector, and eventually, the administrator of an estate that was more debt than gold.
The Las Vegas Meeting That Changed Everything
They met in Las Vegas. Redd lived there for years, mostly because the city embraced his "blue" comedy when television censors wouldn't touch him. Ka Ho Cho was a cocktail waitress, though some reports from the era described her as a businessman's associate. It didn't matter. Redd was smitten. He had a thing for the finer things, and he saw Ka Ho as a stabilizing force in a life that was spinning out of control.
They married in July 1991. It was a quick ceremony at Little White Wedding Chapel. Just months later, he was dead.
The brevity of their marriage—barely four months—is why so many fans and family members felt uneasy. You’ve got to remember the context of the early 90s. Redd was making a massive comeback. Eddie Murphy had basically forced CBS to give Redd a new sitcom. The money was finally starting to flow again. Then, suddenly, he's gone, and this woman nobody really knew is in charge of the legacy.
A History of Marital Turbulence
To understand why the relationship with Ka Ho was so scrutinized, you have to look at the track record. Redd wasn't exactly great at being a husband.
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His first marriage to Eleanor June Ward lasted a few years in the late 40s. Then came Betty Jean Harris. That was the big one. They were married for nearly 20 years, and she was there for the rise of Sanford and Son. When they divorced in 1974, it was ugly. It was expensive. Redd reportedly had to pay out a massive settlement that began his lifelong resentment toward "the system."
Then came Yun Chi Chung. He married her in 1976. That lasted five years.
By the time he got to Ka Ho, he was a man who had been through the wringer. He was tired. His health was failing, though he hid it well with humor. People close to him, like his daughter Debraca Denise (whom he adopted during his marriage to Betty Jean), were reportedly wary. There’s always that tension, right? The aging superstar and the new, younger wife. It’s a cliché for a reason, but in Redd’s case, there wasn't much "wealth" to steal—only the potential for future earnings.
That Tragic Day on Set
October 11, 1991. Redd was rehearsing for The Royal Family. He collapsed. Because his "I'm coming to join you, Elizabeth!" bit was so famous, everyone thought he was joking.
He wasn't.
Ka Ho Cho was thrust into a nightmare. Not only had she lost her husband of a few months, but she was also immediately locked in a legal battle with Debraca. The fight over the estate of Redd Foxx and wife Ka Ho Cho became a staple of Jet Magazine and Ebony for the next several years.
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The estate was a mess. Redd owed millions to the IRS. There were claims that Ka Ho was mismanaging what little money was left. Debraca even filed court documents seeking to remove Ka Ho as the administrator, alleging that she wasn't paying the bills or protecting Redd's image. It was a sad, public end for a man who just wanted to make people laugh.
The Reality of the "Gold Digger" Narrative
Was Ka Ho Cho a gold digger? Honestly, if she was, she picked a terrible target. Redd was famously "flat broke" when they were together. The IRS had taken his 1975 silver-and-black customized Zimmer. They took his jewelry. They even took his dogs at one point to try and settle a $3.5 million tax lien.
Ka Ho was with him when he was living in a rented house, trying to rebuild his career from the dirt. She was there when he was doing stand-up gigs in small clubs just to pay the electric bill.
The controversy mostly stemmed from the fact that she was an "outsider." The Black community felt a deep ownership of Redd Foxx. He was an icon of the Chitlin' Circuit. He was the man who broke barriers. To see his final days managed by someone who hadn't been there for the "struggle" years sat wrong with many.
Legal Battles and the Estate's Legacy
The court battles dragged on. Eventually, the dust settled, but the damage was done. Redd’s legacy was tarnished for a while by the infighting. It took years for the public to move past the drama of his death and get back to appreciating the genius of his comedy.
Ka Ho Cho eventually faded from the public eye. She didn't write a "tell-all" book. She didn't try to stay in the limelight. In a way, her silence after the legal battles ended speaks volumes. She lived her life, handled the estate as best as the law allowed, and let the work of Redd Foxx speak for itself.
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What You Can Learn from the Foxx Estate Mess
If there is any takeaway from the saga of Redd Foxx and wife Ka Ho Cho, it’s about the brutal importance of estate planning—even when you think you’re broke.
- Keep your taxes straight. Redd’s biggest mistake wasn't his marriages; it was ignoring the IRS. It gave him no leverage in his personal life because he was always running from a debt.
- Update your beneficiaries. If you’ve been married four times, make sure your paperwork reflects who you actually want to have your assets. Redd’s lack of a clear, updated will led to years of fighting between his daughter and his widow.
- Communication is everything. The rift between Debraca and Ka Ho might have been avoided if Redd had facilitated a better relationship between the two most important women in his life before he passed.
Honoring the King of Comedy
Redd Foxx deserved better than a heart attack on a cold soundstage, and he certainly deserved better than a posthumous legal circus. But that was his life—fast, loud, and complicated.
Ka Ho Cho was the woman who held his hand at the finish line. Whether people liked her or not, she was the one he chose. Today, we should probably spend less time worrying about the four months they were married and more time watching old clips of Sanford and Son or listening to his raunchy party records from the 50s. That’s where the real Redd Foxx lives.
To truly honor his memory, look into the efforts of organizations like the Official Redd Foxx Estate or archival projects that preserve Black comedy history. They’ve done the hard work of untangling the legal knots Ka Ho and Debraca left behind, ensuring that future generations can still hear that gravelly voice shouting about "big ones" for decades to come.
Check out the documentary Why We Laugh or read more about the history of the Chitlin' Circuit to see just how much Redd did for the industry. His personal life was a wreck, sure. But his professional life changed the world. Focus on the work. That’s what Redd would have wanted—well, that and a tax break.