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For American broadcaster and humorist, see .
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor (December 1, ;– December 10, 2005) was an American comedian, actor, film director, , satirist, writer, and .
Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities and profanity, as well as . He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time:
called Pryor "The
of our profession", and
has called Pryor "the seminal comedian of the last 50 years". This legacy can be attributed, in part, to the unusual degree of intimacy Pryor brought to bear on his comedy. As
reportedly once said, "Richard Pryor drew the line between comedy and tragedy as thin as one could possibly paint it."
Pryor's body of work includes the concert movies and recordings:
(1982), and
(1983). He also starred in numerous films as an actor, such as
(1983), but was usually in comedies such as
(1976), and occasionally in dramatic roles, such as 's film
(1978). He collaborated on many projects with actor . Another frequent collaborator was actor/comedian/writer .
Pryor won an
(1973) and five
(, , and 1982). In 1974, he also won two American Academy of Humor awards and the . The first ever
was presented to him in 1998. Pryor is listed at Number 1 on 's list of all-time greatest stand-up comedians.
Born on December 1, 1940 in , Pryor grew up in his grandmother's , where his mother, Gertrude L. (Thomas), practiced prostitution. His father, LeRoy "Buck Carter" Pryor (June 7, ;– September 27, 1968), was a former boxer and hustler. After his alcoholic mother abandoned him when he was 10, Pryor was raised primarily by his grandmother Marie Carter, a tall, violent woman who would beat him for any of his eccentricities. Pryor was one of four children raised in his grandmother's brothel and was sexually abused at age 7. He was expelled from school at the age of 14.
His first professional performance was playing drums at a night club. Pryor served in the
from 1958 to 1960, but spent virtually the entire stint in an army prison. According to a 1999 profile about Pryor in , Pryor was incarcerated for an incident that occurred while stationed in Germany. Angered that a white soldier was overly amused at the racially charged sections of 's movie
(1959), Pryor and some other black soldiers beat and stabbed him, though not fatally.
During this time, Pryor's girlfriend gave birth to a girl named Renee. In 1960, he married Patricia Price, and they had one child together, Richard Jr. They divorced in 1961.
Publicity photo of Richard Pryor for one of his
appearances, .
In 1963, Pryor moved to New York City and began performing regularly in clubs alongside performers such as
and . On one of his first nights, he opened for singer and pianist
at New York's . Simone recalls Pryor's bout of :
He shook like he had , he was so nervous. I couldn't bear to watch him shiver, so I put my arms around him there in the dark and rocked him like a baby until he calmed down. The next night was the same, and the next, and I rocked him each time.
Inspired by , Pryor began as a
comic, with material far less controversial than what was to come. Soon, he began appearing regularly on television , such as
and . His popularity led to success as a comic in . The first five tracks on the 2005 compilation CD , recorded in 1966 and 1967, capture Pryor in this period.
In September 1967, Pryor had what he called in his autobiography
(1995) an "" when he walked onto the stage at the
in Las Vegas (with
in the audience), looked at the sold-out crowd, exclaimed over the microphone "What the fuck am I doing here!?", and walked off the stage. Afterward, Pryor began working profanity into his act, including the word . His first comedy recording, the eponymous 1968 debut release on the
label, captures this particular period, tracking the evolution of Pryor's routine. Around this time, his parents died—his mother in 1967 and his father in 1968.[]
In 1967, his daughter Elizabeth Ann was born to his girlfriend Maxine Anderson. Later that year, he married Shelley Bonis. In 1969, his daughter
was born. Pryor and Bonis divorced later that year.[]
In 1969, Pryor moved to , where he immersed himself in the
and rubbed elbows with the likes of
and . He signed with the comedy-oriented independent record label
in 1970, and in 1971 recorded his second album, Craps (After Hours). Two years later, the relatively unknown comedian appeared in the documentary
(1973), wherein he riffed on the tragic-comic absurdities of
and the nation. Not long afterward, Pryor sought a deal with a larger label, and after some time, signed with .[][]
When his third, breakthrough album,
(1974), was released, Laff, who claimed ownership of Pryor's recording rights, almost succeeded in getting an injunction to prevent the album from being sold. Negotiations led to Pryor's release from his Laff contract. In return for this concession, Laff was enabled to release previously unissued material, recorded between 1968 and 1973, at will. That Nigger's Crazy was a commercial
it was eventually certified Gold by the [] and won the
During the legal battle, Stax briefly closed its doors. At this time, Pryor returned to /, which re-released That Nigger's Crazy, immediately after , his first album with his new label. Like That Nigger's Crazy, the album was a hit with b it was eventually certified Platinum by the RIAA[] and won the Grammy Award for Best Comedic Recording at the 1976 Grammy Awards.
Pryor's release
(1976) continued his streak of success. It became his third consecutive Gold album, and he collected his third consecutive Grammy for Best Comedic Recording for the album in 1977. With every successful album Pryor recorded for Warner (or later, his concert films and his 1980
accident), Laff would quickly publish an album of older material to capitalize on Pryor's growing fame—a practice they continued until 1983. The covers of Laff albums tied in thematically with Pryor movies, such as Are You Serious? for
(1976), The Wizard of Comedy for his appearance in
(1978), and Insane for
Pryor also performed in the
specials. He is seen here with Tomlin and
in Tomlin's 1973 special.
In the 1970s, Pryor wrote for such television shows as , , and a 1973
special, for which he shared an . During this period, Pryor tried to break into mainstream television. He was a guest host on the
and the first black person to host the show. Pryor took longtime girlfriend, actress-talk show host Kathrine McKee (sister of ) with him to New York, and she made a brief guest appearance with Pryor on SNL. He participated in the "word association" skit with .
In 1974, Pryor was arrested for
and served 10 days in jail.
premiered on
in 1977 but was canceled after only four episodes probably because television audiences did not respond well to his show's controversial subject matter, and Pryor was unwilling to alter his material for network censors. During the short-lived series,
President of the United States, spoofed the
, took on gun violence, and in another skit, used costumes and visual distortion to appear nude.
He married actress Deborah McGuire in 1977, but they divorced in 1978. He soon began dating Jennifer L they married in 1981 and divorced the following year.
In 1979, at the height of his success, Pryor visited Africa. Upon returning to the United States, Pryor swore he would never use the word "nigger" in his stand-up comedy routine again. However, his favorite epithet, "", remains a term of endearment on his official website.[]
In the 1970s and 1980s, Pryor appeared in several popular films, including
(1980), and
(1981). Next, Pryor co-starred with
Pryor co-wrote
(1974), directed by
and starring . Pryor was to play the lead role of Bart, but the film's production studio would not insure him, and Mel Brooks chose
instead. Before his horribly-damaging 1980 freebasing incident (see below), Pryor was about to start filming Mel Brooks'
(1981), but was replaced at the last minute by . Pryor was also originally considered for the role of Billy Ray Valentine on
(1983), before
won the part.
Pryor in February 1986.
In 1983, Pryor signed a five-year contract with
for US$40,000,000. This resulted in the mainstreaming of Pryor's onscreen persona and softer, more formulaic films like
(1983), which earned Pryor $4,000,000;
(1988), and
(1989). The only film project from this period that recalled his rough roots was Pryor's semi-autobiographic debut as a writer-director,
(1986), which was not a major success.
Despite a reputation for constantly using profanity on and off camera, Pryor briefly hosted a children's show on
(1984). Like , Pryor's Place featured a cast of puppets, hanging out and having fun in a surprisingly friendly inner-city environment along with several children and characters portrayed by Pryor himself. However, Pryor's Place frequently dealt with more sobering issues than Sesame Street. It was canceled shortly after its debut, despite the efforts of famed puppeteers
and a theme song by
of "" (1984) fame.
Pryor co-hosted the
twice and was nominated for an Emmy for a guest role on the television series, . Network censors had warned Pryor about his profanity for the Academy Awards, and after a slip early in the program, a 5-second delay was instituted when returning from a commercial break. Pryor is also one of only three Saturday Night Live hosts to be subjected to a rare 5-second delay for his 1975 appearance (along with
in 1986 and
Pryor developed a reputation for being demanding and disrespectful on film sets, and for making selfish and difficult demands. In his autobiography Kiss Me Like a Stranger, co-star
says that Pryor was frequently late to the set during filming of , and that he demanded, among other things, a helicopter to fly him to and from set because he was the star. Pryor was also accused of using allegations of on-set racism to force the hand of film producers into giving him more money. Also from Wilder's book:
One day during our lunch hour in the last week of filming, the
man handed out slices of watermelon to each of us. Richard, the whole camera crew, and I sat together in a big sound studio eating a number of watermelon slices, talking and joking. As a gag, some members of the crew used a piece of watermelon as a Frisbee, and tossed it back and forth to each other. One piece of watermelon landed at Richard's feet. He got up and went home. Filming stopped. The next day, Richard announced that he knew very well what the significance of watermelon was. He said that he was quitting show business and would not return to this film. The day after that, Richard walked in, all smiles. I wasn't privy to all the negotiations that went on between Columbia and Richard's lawyers but the camera operator who had thrown that errant piece of watermelon had been fired that day. I assume now that Richard was using drugs during "Stir Crazy".
He appeared in
(1989), a comedy-drama crime film starring three generations of black comedians (Pryor, , and ).
Pryor was a
in a lodge in .
He was diagnosed with
in 1986. In 1990, Pryor suffered a second and more severe heart attack and underwent triple
surgery.[]
On June 9, 1980, during the making of the film , Pryor set himself on fire after
and drinking 151-proof . While on fire, he ran down Parthenia Street from his , home, until being subdued by police. He was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for burns covering more than half of his body. Pryor spent six weeks in recovery at the Herpolscheimer Burn Center at . His daughter, , stated that Pryor poured
rum over his body and set himself ablaze in a bout of drug-induced . Later, in an on-camera interview, Pryor commented, "I tried to commit suicide. Next question."
Pryor incorporated a description of the incident into his comedy show
(1982). He joked that the event was caused by dunking a cookie into a glass of low-fat and
milk, causing an explosion. At the end of the bit, he poked fun at people who told jokes about it by waving a lit match and saying, "What's that? Richard Pryor running down the street".
After his "final performance", Pryor did not stay away from stand-up comedy long. Within a year, he filmed and released a new concert film and accompanying album,
(1983), which he directed himself. He also wrote and directed a fictionalized account of his life,
(1986), which revolved around the 1980 freebasing incident.
Pryor was married seven times to five different women. His wives were:
Patricia Price, whom he married in 1960 and divorced the following year. From this marriage, a son, Richard Pryor Jr. (1961), was born.[]
Shelley Bonis, whom he married in 1967 and divorced in 1969.[]
Deborah McGuire, whom he married on 22 September 1977; they divorced the following year.[]
Jennifer Lee, whom he married in August 1981. They divorced in October 1982, but later remarried on 29 June 2001 and remained married until Pryor's death.[]
Flynn Belaine, whom he married in October 1986. They were divorced in July 1987, but later remarried on 1 April 1990. They divorced again in July 1991.[]
Pryor had six children:
Richard Pryor Jr., born in 1961, the child of Pryor and his first wife, Patricia Price.[]
Elizabeth Ann, born in April 1967, the child of Pryor and Maxine Anderson (aka Maxine Silverman).[]
, born 16 July 1969, the child of Pryor and his second wife, Shelley Bonis.[]
Steven, born in 1984, the child of Pryor and his fifth wife, Flynn Belaine.[]
Kelsey, born in October 1987, the child of Pryor and his fifth wife, Flynn Belaine.[]
Franklin, born in 1987, the child of Pryor and actress/model Geraldine Mason.[]
Pryor also had relationships with actresses
In his later years starting in the early 1990s, Pryor used a power-operated vehicle/scooter due to
(also known as MS, which he said stood for "More Shit").[] He appears on the scooter in his last film appearance, a small role in 's
(1997) playing an auto repair garage manager named Arnie.
In 1998, Pryor won the first
from the . According to former Kennedy Center President Lawrence J. Wilker, Pryor was selected as the first recipient of the Prize because "as a stand-up comic, writer, and actor, he struck a chord, and a nerve, with America, forcing it to look at large social questions of race and the more tragicomic aspects of the human condition. Though uncompromising in his wit, Pryor, like , projects a generosity of spirit that unites us. They were both trenchant social critics who spoke the truth, however outrageous."[]
remastered all of Pryor's Reprise and WB albums for inclusion in the box set
In early 2000, Pryor appeared in the cold open of
in the episode entitled "Norm vs. The Boxer". He played an elderly man in a wheelchair who lost the rights to in-home nursing when he kept attacking the nurses before attacking Norm himself.
In 2001, he remarried Jennifer Lee, who had also become his manager.[]
In 2002, a television documentary depicted Pryor's life and career. Broadcast in the UK as part of the
series , it was produced, directed and narrated by
and featured rare clips from Pryor's 1960s stand-up appearances and movies such as
(1978), and
(1980). Contributors included , , , , , , and . The show tracked down the two cops who had rescued Pryor from his "freebasing incident", former managers, and even school friends from Pryor's home town of . In the US, the show went out as part of the
series on , narrated by .[]
In 2002, Pryor and his wife/manager, Jennifer Lee Pryor, won legal rights to all the Laff material, which amounted to almost 40 hours of reel-to-reel analog tape. After going through the tapes and getting Richard's blessing, Jennifer Lee Pryor gave
access to the tapes in 2004. These tapes, including the entire Craps album, form the basis of the Feb 01, 2005 double-CD release .
A television documentary, !! (2003) consisted of archival footage of Pryor's performances and testimonials from fellow comedians, including , , , and , on Pryor's influence on comedy.
In 2004, Pryor was voted No. 1 on 's list of the .
In late 2004, his sister said he had lost his voice as result of his multiple sclerosis. However, on January 9, 2005, Pryor's wife, Jennifer Lee, rebutted this statement in a post on Pryor's official website, citing Richard as saying: "I'm sick of hearing this shit about me not talking... not true... I have good days, bad days... but I still am a talkin' motherfucker!"
In a 2005 British poll to find , Pryor was voted the 10th greatest comedy act ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.
Richard Pryor's star at the
covered with flowers, beer bottles, fan letters etc.
On December 10, 2005, Pryor suffered a heart attack in . He was taken to a local hospital after his wife's attempts to resuscitate him failed. He was pronounced dead at 7:58 am . He was 65 years old. His widow Jennifer was quoted as saying, "At the end, there was a smile on his face." He was , and his ashes were given to his family.[]
In a tribute made by
to roadies and fans—"", released on the album
(1977)—the lyrics state: "we got Richard Pryor on the video" on the tour bus.
An image of Pryor can be seen on the
music video for their cover of Soulsonic Force? 's "" (2001).
A retrospective of Pryor's film work, concentrating on the 1970s, titled A Pryor Engagement, opened at
Cinemas for a two-week run in February 2013.
On December 19, 2005,
aired a Pryor special. It included commentary from fellow comedians, and insight into his upbringing.[]
On March 1, 2008, fellow comedian
performed his final
special. An image of Pryor can be seen in the background throughout his set. Carlin would mention Pryor's death in his memoir,
(2009), noting their friendly rivalry that lasted until Carlin finally beat him "in the Heart Attack 5000".
In the episode 'Taxes and Death' or Get Him to the Sunset Strip'(2012), the voice of Richard Pryor is played by Eddie Griffin in the
On May 31, 2013,
debuted the documentary
directed by Emmy Award–winning filmmaker . The executive producers are Pryor's widow Jennifer Lee Pryor and Roy Ackerman. Interviewees include , , , , , , Richard Pryor, Jr., , and .
A planned biopic, entitled Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said?, was being produced by
and . The film would have starred
as the young Pryor. Other actors previously attached include
and . The film would have been directed by
and was still in development with no release date, as of February 2013.
The biopic remained in limbo, and went through several producers until it was announced in January 2014 that it was being backed by
as director.
It was further announced, in August 2014, that the biopic will have
as producer and will star
From June 7 to 9, 2013,
hosted "Richard Pryor Radio", a three-day tribute which featured his stand-up comedy and full live concerts. "Richard Pryor Radio" replaced
for the duration of the event.
Pryor was posthumously awarded the
The animal rights organization
gives out an award in Pryor's name to people who have done outstanding work to alleviate animal suffering. Pryor was active in animal rights and was deeply concerned about the plight of elephants in circuses and zoos.[]
Artist Preston Jackson created a life-sized bronze statue in dedication to the beloved comedian and named it “Richard Pryor: More than Just a Comedian”. It was placed at the corner of State and Washington streets in downtown Peoria, IL on May 1, 2015 close to Richard's neighborhood he grew up in with his mother. The unveiling
will be held Sunday, May 3rd, 2015.
(, reissued 1993 by )
(, reissued 1975 by )
(, reissued 1991 on CD by )
1976: Holy Smoke! ()
1977: Are You Serious ??? ()
1977: Who Me? I'm Not Him ()
1978: Black Ben The Blacksmith ()
1978: The Wizard of Comedy ()
(2-LP set) ();Others
1979: Outrageous ()
1980: Insane ()
1981: Rev. Du Rite ()
1982: Richard Pryor Live! () ()
1983: Supernigger ()
1973: Pryor Goes Foxx Hunting (.)
Split LP with , containing previously released tracks from Craps (After Hours)
1975: Down And Dirty (.)
Split LP with , containing previously released tracks from Craps (After Hours)
1976: Richard Pryor Meets... Richard & Willie And... The SLA!! ()
Split LP with black ventriloquist act Richard And Willie, containing previously released tracks from Craps (After Hours)
1977: Richard Pryor's Greatest Hits ()
Contains tracks from Craps (After Hours), That Nigger's Crazy, and ...Is It Something I Said?, plus a previously unreleased track from 1975, "Ali".
(9-CD box set) (/)
Box set collection containing all Warner Bros. albums plus a bonus disc of previously unissued material from 1973 to 1992.
(2-CD set) (/, )
Highlights culled from the albums collected in the
(2-CD set) (/, )
Pryor-authorized compilation of material released on Laff, including the entire Craps (After Hours) album.
2013: No Pryor Restraint: Life In Concert (7-CD, 2-DVD box set) ()
Box set containing concert films, albums and unreleased material from 1966 to 1992.
(cameo in opening of season 2, episode 11)
(archive footage)
(archive footage)
(archive footage)
(May 21, 2004). .
"". . Season 1. Episode 4. . .
Allis, Tim (April 12, 1993). .
(2004). Why You Crying?: My Long, Hard Look at Life, Love, and Laughter. .  .
Margaret Cho.
"". . Season 12. Episode 10. . .
Reid, Shaheem (December 12, 2005). . . Retrieved January 11, 2010.
Gillette, Amelie (June 7, 2006). . The A.V. Club 2010.
. AllMovie.
. Web.archive.org. Archived from
on October 13, .
Kirschling, Gregory (November 7, 2008). .
Gillick, J Gorilovskaya, Nonna (November–December 2008). .
Interview with Bill Zehme, Richard Lewis: Concerts from Hell: The Vintage Years, , Released September 13, 2005
Pryor, Richard. .
Morton, Bruce (December 21, 2005). .
. PBS American Masters.
O'Benson, Tambay. . Indiewire 2012.
Jones, Steve (December 10, 2005). . .
(September 13, 1999). "A Pryor Love". .
& Cleary, Stephen (1991). . New York City: . pp. 70–71.  .
. Television Academy.
. Snltranscripts.jt.org 2010.
Silverman, David S. (2007). You Can't Air That: Four Cases of Controversy and Censorship in American Television Programming. Syracuse, NY: Syracuse University Press.
(December 10, 2005). .
. St. Martin's Press. March 1, 2005.  .
. GLBCY 2014.
. Richard Pryor 2010.
"Interview with Rain Pryor". . November 6, 2006. p. 76.
. Internet Movie Database. July 31, 2013.
Rabin, Nathan Rabin (March 3, 2009). . .
. Internet Movie Database 2011.
. CD Universe.
. Richard Pryor 2010.
Zinoman, Jason (February 5, 2013). .
. TVbytheNumbers.
. January 10, .
. Voice of America. January 11, .
Leslie Renken Peoria Journal Star (May 1, 2015).
Saul, Scott (2015). . New York: Harper.  .  .
Wikiquote has quotations related to:
Wikimedia Commons has media related to .
(video). . November 23, 2014. Biographical special—includes full version.
Obituaries
. BBC News. December 10, .
. CNN 2010.
Feeney, Mark (December 11, 2005). . The Boston Globe 2010.
Schudel, Matt (December 11, 2005). . The Washington Post 2010.
Watkins, Mel (December 11, 2005). . The New York Times 2010.
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