Stubborn Fred G. Sanford (Redd Foxx) is a 65-year-old junk dealer in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. After the death of his beloved wife Elizabeth twenty years ago, Fred was left to raise their only son, Lamont (Demond Wilson), by himself. Fred doesn’t have many redeeming qualities as he’s usually lazy, sarcastic and stubborn — attributes that Elizabeth’s Bible-touting sister, Esther Anderson (LaWanda Page), is all too happy to renounce.