La Wanda Page

La Wanda Page (October 19, 1920 – September 14, 2002) was a saucy stand-up comedienne who was best known for her role as Aunt Ester on the sitcom Sanford & Son. She began her career in show business working small nightclubs, billed as "The Bronze Goddess of Fire," an act which included her eating fire and lighting cigarettes with her fingertips. During her tenure as a stand-up comic, which lasted all the way to the 1990s, she was often called The Queen of Comedy, or in some mainstream circles, The Black Queen of Comedy. Died of complications from diabetes on September 14, 2002.