In 1946, he, his wife Elizabeth Winfield[3] and their son Lamont (Demond Wilson) moved to the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles.

When Lamont would express an interest in having a life for himself, Fred tries to convince him of the importance of running the family business (which he refers to as "the empire") after he is gone.

Fred often feigned illness in attempt to guilt his son into staying home and taking care of him whenever Lamont had plans to go out.

Similarly, Fred often ruined Lamont's efforts to have a quiet romantic night at home with a lady companion.

Fred, pretending to be foolish, convinces the sharps to let him play a few rounds and proceeds to win all of the money by means of a rigged deck of cards.

Another trademark involves Fred becoming riled by somebody, assuming a fight stance, and wildly swinging his fists in multiple directions; often he would pose the question, "How would you like one across yo' lips?"

He also frequently attempts to avoid any kind of labor, especially when asked by Lamont, by referring to his arthritis (which he pronounced "arthur-itis") while holding up a deliberately gnarled fist.

Fred spends much of his free time watching television (having an affinity for daikaiju films such as the Godzilla series) and drinking a favorite cheap wine called Ripple.

In what would become the character's best known trademark, when something would alarm him, or when things did not go the way he wanted them, Fred would inevitably have a simulated heart attack, accentuated by clutching his chest and crying out to his late wife, "Oh, this is the big one!

Fred often clashed with Elizabeth's older sister, Lamont's aunt Esther Anderson (LaWanda Page).

He often insults his Puerto Rican neighbor Julio in various ways, including deprecating his culture and making fun of his accent.

After Julio greeted him with "Buenos dias, Mr. Sanford," Fred mocked the expression by responding, "And beans and disease to you, too."

His ignorance towards other cultures causes him a severe embarrassment when a Japanese family, interested in buying Fred's land, invites him and Lamont to dinner.

During a later episode, Fred attempts to trace his family tree and is mistakenly led to believe he has Jewish ancestry.

In addition to his longtime girlfriend Donna, Fred attempted to hook up with topless waitress "Fast" Fanny, a traveling saleswoman named Carol, and even celebrities such as Lena Horne and Della Reese.

Sometimes, it could come back to bite him, as a woman he once wooed over a few too many drinks came looking for him during the episode, "Will the Real Fred Sanford Please Do Something" (one of the episodes filmed in Foxx's absence), to take him up on a wedding proposal, and is stuck thinking every person in the room is Fred at one point, starting with Grady and ending with the Caucasian Hoppy (who was rather amused by this), before finally being taken away by Hoppy and Smitty.

Whenever Hoppy explains a situation in police jargon, Fred and Lamont look to Smitty, who gives the interpretation in "street jive".