Richard Pryor
Known for reaching a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most important stand-up comedians of all time.He walked onto the stage at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas (with Dean Martin in the audience), looked at the sold-out crowd, exclaimed over the microphone, "What the fuck am I doing here!?He appeared in several films, including Lady Sings the Blues (1972), The Mack (1973), Uptown Saturday Night (1974), Silver Streak (1976), Car Wash (1976), The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976), Which Way Is Up?Pryor was to play the lead role of Bart, but Mel Brooks didn't want to share credit with the quickly-rising comic.It was only after Pryor's passing (in 2005), Brooks' began insisting the comic was "uninsurable" because of a "drug arrest;"[17] but to-date, no studio executive (employed at Warner Brothers during this era), has ever gone on the record to corroborate Brooks' assertions—either the director's vigorously advocating or the studio's absolute rejection (for hiring Pryor to act in Blazing Saddles).During the short-lived series, he portrayed the first black President of the United States, spoofed the Star Wars Mos Eisley cantina, examined gun violence in a non-comedy skit, lampooned racism on the sinking Titanic and used costumes and visual distortion to appear nude.Before the freebasing incident, Pryor was about to start filming Mel Brooks' History of the World, Part I (1981), but was replaced at the last minute by Gregory Hines.[26][27] Likewise, Pryor was scheduled for an appearance on The Muppet Show at that time, which forced the producers to cast their British writer, Chris Langham, as the guest star for that episode instead.Pryor was also originally considered for the role of Billy Ray Valentine on Trading Places (1983), before Eddie Murphy won the part.Its theme song was performed by Ray Parker Jr.[36] Pryor's Place frequently dealt with more sobering issues than Sesame Street.Network censors had warned Pryor about his profanity for the Academy Awards, and after a slip early in the program, a five-second delay was instituted when returning from a commercial break.Pryor is one of only three Saturday Night Live hosts to be subjected to a five-second delay (along with Sam Kinison in 1986 and Andrew Dice Clay in 1990).Richard, the whole camera crew, and I sat together in a big sound studio eating a number of watermelon slices, talking and joking.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.These tapes, including the entire Craps (After Hours) album, form the basis of the February 1, 2005, double-CD release Evolution/Revolution: The Early Years (1966–1974).[48] Pryor's influences included Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Gleason,[49] Red Skelton, Abbott and Costello, Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin, Jack Benny, Bob Hope,[50] Woody Allen,[51][52] Dick Gregory, Bill Cosby,[53] Redd Foxx,[54] and Lenny Bruce.[82] Pryor spent six weeks in recovery at the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital in Los Angeles.[84] Pryor's widow Jennifer Lee recalled when he began freebasing cocaine: "After two weeks of watching him getting addicted to this stuff I moved out.[91] Forensic pathologist Michael Hunter believes Pryor's fatal heart attack was caused by coronary artery disease that was at least partially brought about by years of tobacco smoking.As Bill Cosby reportedly once said, "Richard Pryor drew the line between comedy and tragedy as thin as one could possibly paint it."[96] In 1998, Pryor won the first Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.[97][98] According to former Kennedy Center President Lawrence J. Wilker, Pryor was selected as the first recipient of the Prize because:[99] 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.They were both trenchant social critics who spoke the truth, however outrageous.In 2004, Pryor was voted number one on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time.[104] In a Netflix special released in May 2022, The Hall: Honoring the Greats of Stand-Up inducted Richard Pryor into the National Comedy Center in Jamestown, New York.[106] Broadcast in the UK as part of the Channel 4 series Kings of Black Comedy,[107][108] it was produced, directed and narrated by David Upshal[106] and featured rare clips from Pryor's 1960s stand-up appearances and films such as Silver Streak (1976), Blue Collar (1978), Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1978), and Stir Crazy (1980).Contributors included George Carlin, Dave Chappelle, Whoopi Goldberg, Ice-T, Paul Mooney, Joan Rivers, and Lily Tomlin.[114] Several prolific comedians who have claimed Pryor as an influence include George Carlin, Dave Attell, Martin Lawrence, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Colin Quinn, Patrice O'Neal, Bill Hicks, Jerry Seinfeld, Jon Stewart, Bill Burr, Joey Diaz, Eddie Murphy, Louis C.K., and Eddie Izzard.[citation needed] On May 31, 2013, Showtime debuted the documentary Richard Pryor: Omit the Logic directed by Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Marina Zenovich.Interviewees included Dave Chappelle, Whoopi Goldberg, Jesse Jackson, Quincy Jones, George Lopez, Bob Newhart, Richard Pryor Jr., Lily Tomlin, and Robin Williams.[117] In the episode "Taxes and Death or Get Him to the Sunset Strip"[118] (2012), the voice of Richard Pryor is played by Eddie Griffin in the satirical TV show Black Dynamite.
Cactus PryorRichard Pryor (album)Peoria, IllinoisGenresObservational comedyblack comedyimprovisational comedysketch comedyracial humorAfrican-American cultureAmerican politicsrace relationspop cultureself-deprecationrecreational drug useLudacrisPrimetime Emmy AwardGrammy AwardsKennedy CenterMark Twain Prize for American HumorWriters Guild of America AwardComedy CentralRolling Stoneconcert filmsGrammy Award for Best Comedy AlbumThat Nigger's Crazy...Is It Something I Said?Bicentennial NiggerMel BrooksBlazing SaddlesGene WilderSilver StreakStir CrazySee No Evil, Hear No EvilAnother YouUptown Saturday NightBlue CollarThe WizCalifornia SuiteSuperman IIIHarlem NightsLost HighwaySesame StreetSaturday Night LiveThe Richard Pryor ShowPryor's Placehustlersexually abusedU.S. ArmyThe New YorkerWest GermanyDouglas SirkImitation of LifePrince Hall FreemasonMister Kelly'sBob DylanWoody AllenNina SimoneVillage Gateperformance anxietymalariaBill Cosbymiddlebrowvariety showsThe Ed Sullivan ShowThe Merv Griffin ShowThe Tonight Show Starring Johnny CarsonLas VegasThe Wild Wild WestPryor ConvictionsepiphanyAladdin HotelDean MartinniggerRichard PryorDove/RepriseBerkeley, CaliforniacountercultureHuey P. NewtonIshmael ReedLily TomlinAlan AldaSanford and SonThe Flip Wilson ShowEmmy AwardLady Sings the BluesThe MackCar WashThe Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor KingsWhich Way Is Up?Greased LightningThe Muppet MovieLaff RecordsCraps (After Hours)WattstaxStax Recordsinjunction1975 Grammy AwardsRepriseWarner Bros. Recordsfreebasingon the recordMichael ShultzCleavon LittleLou Gossett Jr.first seasonLonette McKee"word association" skitChevy Chasehe portrayed the first blackStar WarsMos Eisleygun violenceTitanicpasteurizedHistory of the World, Part IGregory HinesThe Muppet ShowChris LanghamJo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is CallingColumbia PicturesBrewster's MillionsMovingTrading PlacesEddie MurphySid and Marty Krofft