Comedian, born in Peoria, Illinois, USA. He worked in small clubs before being discovered by Johnny Carson in 1966. He appeared in Las Vegas and in films including The Lady Sings the Blues (1972), Uptown Saturday Night (1974), Stir Crazy (1980), and Superman III (1982). With his expressive face, speedy wit, and raunchy language, he created a variety of characters on stage and screen, but his drug addiction derailed his career. He developed multiple sclerosis in the 1980s and became a virtual recluse, but during the 1990s he began performing at nightclubs, started to tour again, and appeared in a number of films. His autobiography, Pryor Convictions and Other Life Sentences, appeared in 1995. In February 2006, he was posthumously awarded a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award at the 48th annual ceremony. Although not a musician, his comedy albums won him five Grammys during his career.
| Richard Pryor | |
|---|---|
| Richard Pryor in 1986. | |
| Born |
December 1, 1940 Peoria, Illinois, USA |
| Died |
December 10, 2005 Los Angeles, California, USA |
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an African American comedian, actor, and writer.
Pryor was a gifted storyteller known for unflinching examinations of race and custom in modern life, and was well-known for his frequent use of colorful language, vulgarities, as well as such racial epithets as "nigger," "honky," and "cracker". He is commonly regarded as one of the most important stand up comedians of his time: Jerry Seinfeld called Pryor "The Picasso of our profession.";
His catalog includes such concert movies and recordings as Richard Pryor: Live & Smokin' (1971), That Nigger's Crazy (1974), Bicentennial Nigger (1976), Richard Pryor: Wanted – Live In Concert (1979) and Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982).
Early life and career
Born on December 1, 1940 in Peoria, Illinois, Pryor grew up in his grandmother's brothel, where his mother Gertude practiced prostitution. His father LeRoy Pryor (a.k.a. As a small child, Pryor was molested by a neighbor and a priest. From 1958 to 1960, Pryor served in the U.S. Army but spent virtually that entire stint in an army prison. According to a 1999 profile about Pryor in The New Yorker, Pryor was incarcerated for an incident that occurred while stationed in Germany. Annoyed that a white soldier was a bit too amused at the racially charged sections of Douglas Sirk's movie Imitation of Life, Pryor and some other black soldiers beat and stabbed the white soldier (not fatally).
In 1963, Pryor moved to New York City and began performing regularly in clubs alongside performers such as Bob Dylan and Woody Allen. Inspired by Bill Cosby, Pryor began as a middlebrow comic far less controversial than what was to come. The first five tracks on the 2005 compilation CD Evolution/Revolution: The Early Years (1966-1974), recorded in 1966 and 1967, capture Pryor in this era.
In September 1967, Pryor had what he called in his autobiography Pryor Convictions an "epiphany" when he walked onto the stage at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas (with Dean Martin in the audience), looked at the sold-out crowd, said over the microphone "What the fuck am I doing here!?", and walked off the stage. Afterward, Pryor began working at least mild profanity into his act, including the word "nigger". His first comedy recording, the eponymous 1968 debut release on the Dove/Reprise label, captures this particular period, tracking the evolution of Pryor's routine post his Las Vegas creative breakthrough. In 1969, his third child and second daughter Rain Pryor was born.
Mainstream success
In 1969 Pryor moved to Berkeley, California, where he immersed himself in the counterculture and rubbed elbows with the likes of Huey P. Not long afterward, Pryor sought a deal with a larger label, and after a protracted period of time, signed with Stax Records. His third, breakthrough album, That Nigger's Crazy, was released in 1974 and, 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 being released from his Laff contract in exchange for the small label being allowed to release previously unissued material, recorded between 1968 and 1973, at their leisure. Pryor then re-signed with Reprise/Warner Bros., who immediately rereleased That Nigger's Crazy on the heels of his first album under his new Reprise/Warner Bros. With every successful album Pryor recorded for Warner Bros. (or later, his concert films and his 1980 free-basing accident), Laff would quickly publish a hastily-compiled, poorly-packaged album of older material to capitalize on Pryor's growing fame - a practice the label would continue until 1983.
Pryor also made an attempt to break into mainstream television during this period. The Richard Pryor Show premiered on NBC in 1977 but after only five shows, the series was cancelled. Television was not ready for the show's controversial subject matter, and Pryor was not ready to alter the content of his program to meet the demands of network censors.
Comfortably successful and into the zenith of his career, Pryor visited Africa in 1979. Upon returning to the United States, Pryor swore he would never use the word "nigger" in his stand-up comedy routine again. Pryor appeared in several popular films including Lady Sings the Blues, The Mack, Uptown Saturday Night, Silver Streak, Which Way Is Up?, Car Wash, The Toy, Superman III (which earned Pryor $4,000,000), Brewster's Millions, Stir Crazy, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling, Moving, and See No Evil, Hear No Evil.
Pryor also co-wrote Blazing Saddles directed by Mel Brooks and starring Gene Wilder. Pryor was to play the lead role of Bart, but the film's production studio would not insure him, and Mel Brooks chose Cleavon Little instead. Before his infamous 1980 free-basing accident, Pryor was about to start filming Mel Brooks' History of the World, Part I, but was replaced at the last minute by Gregory Hines. Pryor was also originally considered for the role of Billy Ray Valentine on Trading Places (1983), before Eddie Murphy ultimately won the part.
Despite a reputation for profanity, Richard Pryor briefly hosted a children's show on CBS called Pryor's Place. Like Sesame Street, 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.
Pryor co-hosted the Academy Awards twice, and was also nominated for an Emmy for a guest role on the television series, Chicago Hope.
The freebasing incident and its aftermath
On June 1, 1980, Pryor set himself on fire while freebasing cocaine. Pryor made this part of his heralded "final" stand up show Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982). It's Richard Pryor running down the street." Interviewed in 2005, his wife Jennifer Lee Pryor said that Richard poured high-proof rum over his body and torched himself in a drug psychosis. Before their divorce was final, Flynn conceived Kelsey Pryor. Six months later (October 1987), Flynn gave birth to Kelsey Pryor (Richard's sixth child and 3rd daughter).
In 1991, Pryor announced that he had been suffering from multiple sclerosis since 1986.
Marriages
Richard Pryor was married seven times to five different women:
Patricia Price (1960 - 1961) (divorced) 1 child Shelly Bonis (1967 - 1969) (divorced) 1 child Deborah McGuire (22 September 1977 - 1979) (divorced) Jennifer Lee (August 1981 - October 1982) (divorced) Flynn Belaine (October 1986 - July 1987) (divorced) 2 children Flynn Belaine (1 April 1990 - July 1991) (divorced) Jennifer Lee (June 2001 - 10 December 2005) (his death)Each of his marriages was characterised by accusations of domestic violence and spousal abuse except for his relationship with Flynn (No physical abuse with her), the other wives usually related the abuse to Pryor's drug use. During his relationship with actress Pam Grier, Pryor proposed to actress Deborah McGuire (1977).
Later life
In 1998, Pryor won the inaugural Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the John F. Wilker, "Richard Pryor was selected as the first recipient of the new Mark Twain 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.
In 2000, Rhino Records remastered all of Pryor's Reprise and Warner Bros.
In 2002, Pryor and his wife/manager Jennifer Lee Pryor, won the legal rights to all of the Laff material - almost 40 hours of reel-to-reel analog tape. After going through the tapes and getting Richard's blessing, Jennifer Lee Pryor gave Rhino Records access to the Laff tapes in 2004.
In 2003, a television documentary, Richard Pryor: I Ain't Dead Yet, #*%$#@!!, came out. It consisted of archival footage of Pryor's performances and testimonials from fellow comedians such as Dave Chappelle, Wanda Sykes and Denis Leary of the influence Pryor had on comedy.
In 2004, Pryor was voted #1 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time, just ahead of George Carlin at #2. In a 2005 British poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, Pryor was voted the 10th greatest comedy act ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.
In his later years, Richard Pryor became a wheelchair user due to multiple sclerosis (MS, which he said stood for "More Shit"). However, on January 9, 2005, Pryor himself rebutted this statement in a post on his official website, where he stated, "Sick of hearing this shit about me not talking...
Pryor was said to be an "animal activist" Jennifer supports that Richard believed this. Pryor (Jennifer speaking for Richard) once offered a $1,000 reward for the arrest of the person who drowned dogs in Nahant, Massachusetts.
Death
Pryor died of cardiac arrest at the age of 65 in Encino, California.
Remembrance and legacy
On December 19, 2005, BET aired a Pryor special. It included commentary from fellow comedians, as well as insight into Pryor's upbringing. A feature film about Pryor is currently in development. It was written by Pryor and his wife, with Mike Epps hand-picked by Pryor to portray him.
An image of Pryor was shown during both the "In Memoriam" montage at the 2006 'Oscars', and the same of the 58th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards.
Singer Joe Henry's album Scar features a song called "Richard Pryor Addresses A Tearful Nation", which was inspired by Pryor. network special, Richard Pryor was named the #1 stand-up comic of all time. Du Rite, (Laff, 1981) Live On The Sunset Strip (Warner Bros., 1982) Richard Pryor Live! (picture disc), (Phoenix/Audiofidelity, 1982) Supernigger, (Laff. 1975) Split LP with Redd Foxx, containing previously released tracks from Craps (After Hours) Richard Pryor Meets... 1976) Split LP with black ventriloquist act Richard And Willie, containing previously released tracks from Craps (After Hours) Richard Pryor's Greatest Hits, (Warner Bros., 1977) Contains tracks from Craps (After Hours), That Nigger's Crazy, and ...Is It Something I Said?, plus a previously unreleased track from 1975, "Ali". Richard Pryor Live!, (Laff. Recordings (1968-1992) (9-CD box set) (Warner Bros./Rhino, 2000) Box set collection of Richard Pryor, That Nigger's Crazy, ...Is It Something I Said? (with "Ali" from Richard Pryor's Greatest Hits appended as a bonus track), Bicentennial Nigger, Wanted/Richard Pryor - Live In Concert (on 2 CDs), Live On The Sunset Strip, Here And Now (with a previously unreleased 1983 interview appended as a bonus track), and That African-American Is Still Crazy: Good Shit From The Vaults (an entire disc of previously unissued material from 1973 to 1992 exclusive to the box).
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