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Richard Pryor Bio
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Richard Pryor
Richard Pryor has filmed numerous movies and was an accomplished writer, but during his life Pryor was more well-known for his outrageous comedy and a near-fatal “accident” while freebasing cocaine. He had an equally tough early life, yet was named the number one comedian of all time by Comedy Central. Other accomplished comedians, such as Eddie Murphy and Jerry Seinfeld, regarded Pryor as a comic genius.
Pryor was born Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III on December 1, 1940 in Peoria, Illinois. His father was LeRoy Pryor, also known as Buck Carter, a boxer, bartender, and WWII veteran. His mother was a prostitute, and he lived with her in his grandmother’s brothel. Pryor’s mother abandoned him when he was ten, but he continued to live in the brothel. In addition, he was molested when he was six by a neighbor and later again by a neighborhood priest. Pryor’s only escape was going to the movies.
After a few early jobs as a meat packer and truck driver, Pryor entered the Army for two years, but spent the majority of the time in prison, after the brutal group beating and stabbing of another soldier. When he returned to civilian life, Pryor first began seeking jobs as a singer. Afterwards, he found his true entertainment success would be with comedy. He began playing in small clubs and moved out to Los Angeles, which was much more accepting of his edgy type of humor.
Pryor filmed a few minor roles in movies and appeared in and wrote for a few television shows, and recorded his first comedy album as well. Shortly thereafter, he recorded his second album Craps (After Hours). His first public success came in a movie with Diana Ross and Billy Dee Williams, Lady Sings the Blues, with a role as a piano player. He then released two more albums, That Nigger’s Crazy and ... Is It Something I Said? on two separate record labels.
With Car Wash, Pryor’s movie career picked up again. He had a short-lived television show around the same time, The Richard Pryor Show, but the television viewing audience didn’t seem ready for his type of humor. Next up was Silver Streak, the first of four comedy movies Pryor would do with Gene Wilder. The others were Stir Crazy, See No Evil, Hear No Evil, and Another You.
Pryor visited Africa, and once he returned, he decided to never use the “N” word in his comedy routines again. With this new resolve, he went on to record Live on the Sunset Strip, Richard Pryor: Live!, and Here and Now. He also appeared in the movie The Wiz, an African-American version of the Wizard of Oz, that reunited him with Diana Ross, and also starred Michael Jackson.
Not that everything was well with Pryor at this time, though. He had a well-publicized incident that his management tried to cover up. At the time it was said that he had an accident while freebasing cocaine, inadvertently starting himself on fire. Much later in an interview, he admitted that it was actually a suicide attempt. His wife said he had poured rum over his body and lit himself on fire in a drugged state.
This incident didn’t seem to have much bearing on Pryor’s success, as the hits continued. He co-starred in one of Jackie Gleason’s last movies, The Toy, and also in Superman III with Christopher Reeve. Next up for Pryor was Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling, an autobiographical movie about a comedian who sets himself on fire accidentally, leaving him to reassess his life.
In some strange twist of fate, it was when Pryor was finally getting his life on track that he found that he had multiple sclerosis. He went on to film a few more movies, including his last one with Wilder, but by the time he filmed Lost Highway with Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, and Robert Blake, his condition had deteriorated so much that he was confined to a wheelchair.
The John F Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts honored Pryor by awarding him with the very first Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. He was awarded with this not just for his humor, but because his humor showcased the troubling aspects of society. On December 10, 2005, Richard Pryor died of cardiac arrest. His wife has said that at the end, there was a smile on his face. |
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Richard Pryor - was a guest on Saturday Night Live |
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Richard Pryor - Appeared with Georg Stanford Brown in Stir Crazy |
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Richard Pryor - Appeared with JoBeth Williams in Stir Crazy |
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Richard Pryor - Appeared with Miguel Ángel Suárez in Stir Crazy |
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Richard Pryor - Appeared with Craig T. Nelson in Stir Crazy |
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Richard Pryor - Appeared with Barry Corbin in Stir Crazy |
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Richard Pryor - Appeared with Charles Weldon in Stir Crazy |
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Richard Pryor - Appeared with Nicolas Coster in Stir Crazy |
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Richard Pryor - Appeared with Joel Brooks in Stir Crazy |
Richard Pryor - Starred in 'Stir Crazy' which was directed by Sidney Poitier .
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Yuddy top celebrities
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