- Born
- Birth nameGrady Demond Wilson
- Demond Wilson was born on October 13, 1946 in Valdosta, Georgia, USA. He is an actor, known for Sanford and Son (1972), Mission: Impossible (1966) and The New Odd Couple (1982). He has been married to Cicely Loise Johnston since May 3, 1974. They have six children.
- SpouseCicely Loise Johnston(May 3, 1974 - present) (6 children)
- RelativesMary Mitchell(Cousin)
- Became a minister in 1984.
- His acting mentor was Redd Foxx.
- Wilson served in the United States Army from 1966 to 1968 and was in the 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam, where he was wounded.
- In 1994, he formed the Restoration House of America, which gives Spiritual guidance and vocational training to former inmates.
- Release of his book, "Second Banana: Bittersweet Memoir of Sanford and Son".
- Travel around, preachin' the Lord's gospel, that's what. If He wants me to do a film or be a pastor, we'll have to wrestle a little bit. But I'll do whatever He wants me to do.
- [When he was later called to be a minister rather than an actor]: I love preaching more than anything else I've ever done. I'm so happy now. I feel honored to be chosen. Even when you got everything - clothes, jewelry, nice house - you don't feel happy. I was like Jonah, running from the Lord.
- [When he made the change from being an actor to a preacher]: On your own, you can't make the transition, I questioned it, too. God makes you a new person. He says, 'Just be patient - I'll show you how.'
- God took me out of this world. He refined me and took my mind out of acting. I didn't have the desire to be in it anymore.
- [on his first experience attending a Pentecostal church with his grandmother]: That was my first experience with jumping and shouting about the Lord, of which I'm a part of now, of which I choreograph, of which I promote! Hey, ya'lls not jumpin' and shoutin' enough over there!
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