Whitman Blount Mayo was born on 15 November 1930, in Atlanta, Georgia USA, and was an actor, best known for being part of the 1970s television sitcom entitled “Sanford and Son”, playing the role of Grady Wilson which would earn him a lot of popularity. All of his efforts have helped put his net worth to where it was prior to his passing in 2001.
How rich was Whitman Mayo? As of early-2017, sources inform us of a net worth of $1 million, mostly earned through a successful career in acting. He appeared in numerous stage plays and was also a guest on many popular television shows. All of these achievements ensured the position of his wealth.
Whitman Mayo Net Worth $1 million
Mayo grew up in Queens and Harlem, until at the age of 17 his family moved to Southern California, and from there he decided to join the US Army, serving during the Korean War from 1951 to 1953. He then attended Chaffey College, Los Angeles City College, and UCLA. While studying, he started foraying into acting, mainly in small parts. He also worked as a probation officer, counselor and waiter, doing numerous small jobs to help his income.
His acting career started in the late 1960s, but it wasn’t until the 1970’s when he would start to increase his net worth significantly. He worked at the New Lafayette Theatre and was then offered a part in “Sanford and Son”, his character Grady Wilson was based on the character Grady Demond Wilson who played Sanford. The sitcom ran from 1972 to 1977 and is considered a precursor to many African American sitcoms, and ranked by Time as one of the “100 Best TV Shows of All Time”. Whitman starred in the unsuccessful spin-off “Grady”, this led him to return to “Sanford and Son” until the final season. In 1977, he appeared in another spin-off – “Sanford Arms” alongside Theodore Wilson, and two episodes of “Sanford”.
Whitman then appeared in “That’s Cat”, a children’s television program aired on KNBC, and showed Mayo’s character giving sage advice to the main character of the show Alice. He would then have a number of small roles and guest appearances, until his next notable role in 1990, when he appeared in an episode of the drama “In the Heat of the Night”, based on the film and novel of the same name. Whitman also appeared in an episode of “Full House” which was one of the most critically successful shows on ABC. In 1996, he had a segment in “Late Night with Conan O’Brien”, after Conan spent several weeks persuading him to appear on the show. He also made a guest appearance on Nickelodeon’s “Kenan and Kel”. His next role would be in “The Cape”, and he also made several film appearances, including in “Boyz n the Hood”, “The Main Event”, and “Boycott”. Later in his career, he was employed at Clark Atlanta University teaching drama, and also owned a travel agency.
For his personal life, it is known that Mayo married Melva Washington in 1956 but they divorced, and he then married Patricia York in 1966, but divorced in 1974. Thirdly he married Gail Reid in 1974, and it lasted until his death in 2001, with Whitman passing away due to a heart attack, survived by his third wife and son. His son Rahn Mayo became a member of the Georgia House of Representatives in 2009.
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