TELEVISION - Oct. 17, 1991

Exit Laughing: A standing-room-only crowd clapped to gospel music, laughed and occasionally cried at a funeral for comedian Redd Foxx on Tuesday at a mortuary in Las Vegas. Della Reese, a longtime friend and co-star with Foxx on the current CBS series “The Royal Family,” said Foxx “was very happy. . . . He was doing what he wanted to do.” Foxx, 68, suffered a heart attack Friday on the set of the series and died a short time later. Other celebrities attending included comedian Slappy White, singer Joe Williams, boxer Mike Tyson, Elvis Presley manager Col. Tom Parker and comedian Flip Wilson. . . . Just hours before he suffered the heart attack, Foxx had been interviewed by “Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous” in a segment set to air early next year. In the interview, he said of his return to weekly television, “at my age, it’s super tough.” And talking about himself, Foxx noted “getting a laugh from people . . . (that’s) been my whole life. . . . I’ve had my share of hard luck and tragedies, but I feel damn lucky.”