Whitman B. Mayo (November 15, 1930 – May 22, 2001) was an American actor best known for his character Grady Wilson on the 1970s television sitcom Sanford and Son.
Noted for portraying characters older than his actual age, Mayo was in his 40s while he played Grady on Sanford and Son. Nearly thirty years later, his "Grady" role had just about caught up with him in terms of age and, in terms of Americana, had assumed something of a cult status.
Mayo was born in New York City, New York and grew up in Harlem and Queens. He moved with his family to Southern California at age seventeen and from there entered the United States Army from 1951 to 1953. Upon release, he studied at Chaffey College, Los Angeles City College, and UCLA. During this time he began acting in small parts, while waiting tables, working in the grape vineyards and as a probation officer and a variety of other small jobs.
In the late 1960s, he joined the New Lafayette Theater repertory company in New York City and began settling down in an acting career. His call to Sanford and Son came shortly thereafter when a friend from the New Lafayette group who was by that time writing for Norman Lear recommended Mayo for a part in a single episode. His portrayal caught on and he lasted through the entire duration of the show, even filling in for Redd Foxx as the leading character when Foxx held out for more pay during a salary dispute. Another interesting fact about the show is, the character played by Mayo, was Grady Wilson, and Grady Demond Wilson is Demond Wilson's birth name, who played Fred Sanford's son on the show. Having a plethora of experience with the tentative in his life, Mayo viewed his continuing success on the series as fleeting and ventured into other trades to assure financial stability in 1975, for instance, he opened a travel agency in Inglewood, California. Also to note, Mayo starred in a failed spin-off titled Grady in which he moved in with his daughter and son in law in Beverly Hills.
In the late 1970s he appeared on the Los Angeles children's television program That's Cat, offering sage advice in a sweet manner to the main character, Alice.
In 1996, the show Late Night with Conan O'Brien wished to use him in a sketch, but were unable to locate him. The show then started a highly publicized, tongue-in-cheek search for Mayo called "Where's Grady?". After three weeks and over 50,000 calls to NBC from fans who claimed to have spotted him, Mayo finally appeared on Late Night with Conan O'Brien to a standing ovation from the audience, and the highest ratings Late Night with Conan O'Brien had seen in years. Mayo revealed that it was his mother who told him of the search after a repairman saw his picture in her house and told her she could be eligible for a reward.
Though this single role tended to typecast his acting and contributions to the profession, Mayo did not let it define him. In fact, his professional growth took him some distance from the Watts junkyard of the NBC sitcom. He rounded out his career teaching drama at Clark Atlanta University in Atlanta, Georgia, as well as hosting Liars and Legends on Turner South.
Mayo appeared in the 1991 film Boyz in the Hood as well as the movie Waterproof with Burt Reynolds, April Grace and D.C. Cab.
Mayo also appeared as Reverend Banyon on the BET TV Movie "Boycott" in 2001.
On May 22, 2001, Mayo died of a heart attack at Atlanta's Grady Memorial Hospital, a hospital bearing the same name as the character for which he was most well-known. He had been residing in Fayetteville, Georgia since 1994 and is survived by his third wife Gail and their three children. He is also survived by his daughter Tanya Mayo from his first marriage.
