Then, in 1991, Foxx tried to make a comeback by starring in a new sitcom called The Royal Family, which had been pitched under the title Chest Pains. You can probably guess where this is going. Foxx was being interviewed on set by Entertainment Tonight, but a producer insisted that he come back to finish rehearsing a scene. Foxx fumed about the interruption and, like he did so many times on Sanford, promptly grabbed a chair and dramatically fell to the floor. It wasn't the first time he'd done that on set, so for a moment, everyone thought that he was trying to turn the tense situation into a joke. He wasn't. He even called for his wife, exactly as he had done dozens of times in his most acclaimed role.
They managed to get Foxx to the hospital, where the 68-year-old was pronounced dead four hours later. The producers were wracked with grief ... over the fate of the show, because Hollywood is a mill and humanity is their grist.
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