LaWanda Page is better known as Aunt Esther from the 1970's television show Sanford and Son, but she had a very colorful career as an entertainer before and after that series aired.
Had she been born twenty years later, I believe that she could have had a Whoopi Goldberg type career. Unfortunately, LaWanda Page was working in a time when black character actresses were regulated to second banana roles, which she mastered to perfection.
With the exception of Sanford and Son, LaWanda Page was rarely given the opportunity to shine, but based on her work in that series, as well as her short but memorable moments in the films Friday, Shakes the Clown and Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, she proved that she was a gifted actress that made the most of every opportunity, no matter how small the part was.
I salute the talents of LaWanda Page. Whatever she was in I found myself always wanting more, and now that she's gone I can't help but wonder of the amazing work she could have left the world, had she had the opportunities of today.
Had she been born twenty years later, I believe that she could have had a Whoopi Goldberg type career. Unfortunately, LaWanda Page was working in a time when black character actresses were regulated to second banana roles, which she mastered to perfection.
mWith the exception of Sanford and Son, LaWanda Page was rarely given the opportunity to shine, but based on her work in that series, as well as her short but memorable moments in the films Friday, Shakes the Clown and Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood, she proved that she was a gifted actress that made the most of every opportunity, no matter how small the part was.
I salute the talents of LaWanda Page. Whatever she was in I found myself always wanting more, and now that she's gone I can't help but wonder of the amazing work she could have left the world, had she had the opportunities of today.
LaWanda was also the only good part in the low budget horror film "Mausoleum" as the voice of reason, as the maid, and the only one smart enough to just leave the house, when she got scared once!
ReplyDeleteShe was very different from her Aunt Esther role in real life. In real life, Lawanda Page did a lot of raunchy comedy where she almost always dropped the "F" bomb. In fact, it was Redd Foxx himself who gave Lawanda the part of Aunt Esther. He did it because he wanted her to be noticed not only by the network doing "Sanford and Son" but by the people as well. And it worked. They remained lifelong friends. I can't think of any other actor who would be so willing as to do that for a friend. Redd and Lawanda truly were legendary. Watch it sucka!
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