Yun Chi Chung: The Life of Redd Foxx’s Third Wife ‘Joi’

Yun Chi Chung isn’t a name most people recognize on its own, but mention her nickname — Joi — and her connection to Redd Foxx, and the story starts to come together. She was the third wife of one of America’s most influential comedians, and their relationship was one of the more colorful chapters in Foxx’s turbulent personal life.

Chung and Foxx married on New Year’s Eve 1976 at the Thunderbird Hotel in Las Vegas, capping off a two-year courtship that began when she was working as a cocktail waitress at the Las Vegas Hilton. She was roughly 20 years younger than Foxx, who was already a massive star thanks to Sanford and Son. Their marriage lasted about five years before ending in divorce, making it the third of Foxx’s four marriages.

Despite the brevity of their union, Yun Chi Chung’s place in pop culture history is secured through her tie to one of standup comedy’s true originals. Here’s what we know about her life, their marriage, and what happened after they went their separate ways.

Early Life and Background

Korean Roots

Yun Chi Chung was born around 1942 in Korea. Very little has been documented about her childhood, her parents, or her upbringing. What’s clear is that she eventually immigrated to the United States, where she settled in Las Vegas — a city that would come to define the next chapter of her life.

The details of when exactly she arrived in the U.S. remain unknown. By the mid-1970s, she was living and working in Las Vegas, a city that attracted entertainers, performers, and ambitious people from all walks of life.

Career Before Redd Foxx

Before meeting Foxx, Chung worked as a cocktail waitress at the Las Vegas Hilton, one of the city’s premier entertainment venues. The Hilton was a hotspot for major acts during that era — Elvis Presley held his famous residency there, and dozens of top-tier comedians and musicians performed regularly.

Some sources also describe Chung as a singer and entertainer in her own right, though no specific performances or recordings have been documented. It’s possible she performed in smaller venues around Las Vegas before her life became intertwined with Foxx’s.

How Yun Chi Chung Met Redd Foxx

Their meeting happened around 1974 at the Las Vegas Hilton, where Chung was working as a cocktail waitress and Foxx was performing. By that point, Foxx was already one of the biggest names in American entertainment. Sanford and Son had debuted in 1972 and quickly became one of NBC’s highest-rated shows.

Foxx, who was in his early fifties at the time, was drawn to the young Korean-American woman who was about 20 years his junior. He gave her the nickname “Joi,” and the two began a relationship that would lead to marriage roughly two years later.

The age gap between them was significant — Foxx was born in 1922 and Chung around 1942 — but it didn’t seem to be a source of public friction during their courtship. Foxx had already been through two previous marriages by that point, and he wasn’t one to let convention dictate his personal choices.

Marriage to Redd Foxx

The New Year’s Eve Wedding

Yun Chi Chung and Redd Foxx tied the knot on December 31, 1976, at the Thunderbird Hotel in Las Vegas. It was a fitting setting — Foxx had made Las Vegas his second home, performing there regularly throughout the 1970s. A New Year’s Eve wedding in Vegas was about as on-brand as it gets for a comedian known for his larger-than-life personality.

This was Foxx’s third marriage. He’d previously been married to Evelyn Killebrew (1956–1974) and, before that, to his first wife from the late 1940s. Chung became wife number three, and she stepped into a life that was equal parts glamorous and chaotic.

Life Together

During their years as a married couple, Foxx was still riding high from the success of Sanford and Son, though the show had ended its original run in 1977. He remained a major draw in Las Vegas and continued performing standup comedy to sold-out crowds.

Chung, as “Joi,” was by Foxx’s side during this period. She experienced firsthand the highs and lows of being married to a celebrity — the wealth, the attention, and the well-documented financial troubles that would plague Foxx for the rest of his life. Foxx was notorious for his spending habits and his ongoing battles with the IRS, issues that predated and outlasted his marriage to Chung.

The Divorce

The marriage lasted approximately five years. By around 1979, the couple had separated, with the divorce finalized sometime between 1979 and 1981 (exact dates vary depending on the source). The reasons behind the split haven’t been discussed publicly in any detail by either party.

After the divorce, Chung largely retreated from public life. Some reports suggest she returned to Korea, while others indicate she simply chose to live quietly away from the entertainment world. Either way, she stopped being a public figure almost entirely after parting ways with Foxx.

Who Was Redd Foxx?

To understand Yun Chi Chung’s story, you have to understand the man she married. Redd Foxx — born John Elroy Sanford on December 9, 1922, in St. Louis, Missouri — was one of the most important comedians of the 20th century.

Foxx started performing standup in the 1940s and 1950s, building a reputation in Black comedy clubs and on the so-called “chitlin’ circuit.” His comedy was raw, profane, and groundbreaking. He released over 50 comedy albums during his career, many of which were considered too explicit for mainstream audiences at the time but sold millions of copies.

His biggest breakthrough came with Sanford and Son, the NBC sitcom that ran from 1972 to 1977. Foxx played Fred G. Sanford, a cantankerous junk dealer in the Watts neighborhood of Los Angeles. The show was a massive hit and made Foxx a household name across all demographics.

Beyond Sanford and Son, Foxx appeared in several other TV shows and films, including The Redd Foxx Show (1986) and Harlem Nights (1989) alongside Eddie Murphy and Richard Pryor. He’s widely credited as a major influence on comedians like Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, and many others who followed in his footsteps.

Life After Redd Foxx

Foxx’s Later Marriages

After divorcing Yun Chi Chung, Foxx married one more time. His fourth and final wife was Ka Ho Cho, a woman also of Korean descent. Foxx and Ka Ho Cho married in 1991, just months before his death. The pattern of Foxx being drawn to Korean-American women is something biographers have noted, though Foxx himself never commented on it publicly in any substantive way.

Redd Foxx’s Death

On October 11, 1991, Redd Foxx suffered a massive heart attack on the set of his sitcom The Royal Family. He collapsed during a rehearsal, and cast and crew initially thought he was doing his famous “fake heart attack” bit from Sanford and Son — the one where Fred Sanford would clutch his chest and cry out to his late wife Elizabeth. Tragically, this time it was real. Foxx was rushed to the hospital but was pronounced dead later that evening. He was 68 years old.

His death was a shock to the entertainment world, and it left behind a complicated financial legacy. Foxx had been in debt to the IRS for years, and much of his estate was tied up in tax disputes. He was buried at Palm Memorial Park in Las Vegas.

Chung’s Life After the Divorce

Yun Chi Chung’s life after her divorce from Foxx is almost entirely undocumented. She didn’t seek the spotlight, didn’t write a memoir, and didn’t participate in any of the various documentaries and retrospectives about Foxx’s life and career. This deliberate choice to stay out of public view has meant that virtually nothing is known about her post-divorce life, her career, or her personal circumstances.

If she’s still alive in 2026, she’d be approximately 84 years old. But without any public records or media appearances to confirm her current status, her whereabouts and wellbeing remain a private matter.

Personal Life

Did Yun Chi Chung Have Children?

There are no publicly documented children from Yun Chi Chung’s marriage to Redd Foxx. Foxx himself had one biological daughter, Debraca Denise, from a previous relationship (not from any of his marriages). Whether Chung had children before or after her marriage to Foxx hasn’t been reported.

What Was Her Relationship With Foxx’s Family?

There’s very little information about how Chung interacted with Foxx’s broader circle, including his daughter Debraca or his professional associates. Given that she was his third wife and the marriage lasted only about five years, her integration into Foxx’s extended family appears to have been limited — or at least not publicly visible.

Why Is She Called Joi?

The nickname “Joi” was given to her by Redd Foxx himself. It’s the name most people in Foxx’s circle used for her during their marriage. The origin of the nickname hasn’t been explained in any interviews or biographies, but it stuck — most references to her from Foxx’s era use “Joi” rather than her given name.

Yun Chi Chung’s Net Worth in 2026

There’s no reliable estimate of Yun Chi Chung’s net worth in 2026. She hasn’t been in the public eye for decades, and no financial disclosures or property records tied to her name have surfaced in any publicly available databases.

It’s worth noting that Redd Foxx himself died deeply in debt. At the time of his death in 1991, he owed the IRS an estimated $3.6 million in back taxes. The IRS had previously raided his home and seized his belongings in 1989. Given that Chung divorced Foxx roughly a decade before his death, it’s unclear whether she was affected by his financial problems or received any settlement from their divorce.

Without concrete information, any estimate of her current net worth would be pure speculation.

Frequently Asked Questions

How Many Wives Did Redd Foxx Have?

Redd Foxx was married four times. His wives were: (1) his first wife in the late 1940s, (2) Evelyn Killebrew (married 1956, divorced 1974), (3) Yun Chi Chung, known as “Joi” (married December 31, 1976, divorced ~1979), and (4) Ka Ho Cho (married 1991, until his death in October 1991). Both his third and fourth wives were of Korean descent.

When Did Yun Chi Chung Marry Redd Foxx?

Yun Chi Chung and Redd Foxx married on New Year’s Eve — December 31, 1976 — at the Thunderbird Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada. They’d been together for approximately two years before the wedding, having met around 1974 at the Las Vegas Hilton.

Where Is Yun Chi Chung Now?

Yun Chi Chung’s current whereabouts are unknown. After her divorce from Redd Foxx in the late 1970s, she withdrew completely from public life. Some reports from that era suggested she may have returned to Korea, but this hasn’t been confirmed. She hasn’t made any public appearances or media statements in decades.

How Did Redd Foxx Die?

Redd Foxx died on October 11, 1991, after suffering a heart attack on the set of his TV show The Royal Family. He collapsed during a rehearsal at the Paramount Studios lot. Cast members initially believed he was performing his signature “fake heart attack” routine from Sanford and Son. He was 68 years old at the time of his death.

Was Yun Chi Chung an Entertainer?

Some sources describe Yun Chi Chung as a singer and entertainer, but no specific performances, recordings, or credits have been documented. She’s most widely known for her work as a cocktail waitress at the Las Vegas Hilton, which is where she met Redd Foxx. Whether she pursued entertainment professionally beyond her time in Las Vegas hasn’t been established.

Related Celebrities

Yun Chi Chung’s story is inseparable from Redd Foxx’s. As the third of his four wives, she occupied a specific window in the comedian’s life — the late 1970s, a period when Foxx was transitioning from his Sanford and Son fame into his next chapter as a Las Vegas headliner and occasional film actor.

Foxx’s influence on American comedy can’t be overstated. He’s often cited as the comedian who paved the way for Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Bernie Mac, and Chris Rock. His willingness to push boundaries with explicit humor on his party records in the 1950s and 1960s broke new ground, and his success on network television with Sanford and Son proved that a Black comedian could carry a primetime show to massive ratings.

Chung’s connection to this legacy, however brief their marriage was, places her in the broader narrative of Redd Foxx’s remarkable and complicated life.