Richard Pryor

Dates:

December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005

Occupation:

comedian, actor

Richard Pryor’s Difficult Childhood

Richard Pryor was born on December 1, 1940 in Peoria, Illinois. His mother, Gertrude Thomas, was a prostitute and his father, Leroy Pryor, worked as a bartender. Pryor was abandoned by his mother when he was ten so he was raised by his grandmother, Marie Carter, who was a madam at a house of prostitution.

As would be expected, life in a brothel was difficult. To escape the harsh realities, Pryor began going to the movies. The movies held such a great influence over him that he decided he wanted to become a movie star. At fourteen, Pryor began acting in a community drama group and working as a janitor.

Pryor Reaches Stardom as a Comedian

Pryor’s movement toward acting was temporarily put on hold when he began his service in the army beginning in 1958 and ending in 1960. By the time of his honorable discharge, Bill Cosby’s success as a comedian influenced Pryor's move to New York to pursue a career as a stand-up comedian.

As a comedian, he took a different route than Cosby’s family friendly comedy. Instead, the foul-mouthed Pryor was himself. He used the word nigger in his act until his 1979 trip to Kenya, which resulted in his condemnation of its use. His comedy reflected his own insight and his life experiences. Such characters in his acts included pimps, winos, and holy women. Pryor discussed subjects such as sex, drugs, injustice against blacks, poverty, and life on the streets.

Before long Pryor experienced success. In 1974, his album That Nigger’s Crazy gained him nationwide prominence when it went gold. His career took off. He soon starred in two television shows, The Richard Pryor Show (1977) and Pryor’s Place (1984), and appeared in The Wild, Wild West, and The Mod Squad.

Pryor’s Film Career

His film career followed. He had roles in Lady Sings the Blues, Uptown Saturday Night, Stir Crazy, Which Way is Up, the autobiographical Jo-Jo Dancer, and numerous other films. Pryor also began writing for the shows Sanford and Son, The Flip Wilson Show, and a Lily Tomlin (1973) special, for which he won an Emmy and a Writer’s Guild Award.

Pryor’s Later Career is Marred by Difficult Times

Success was not without its difficulties. Pryor struggled with drug addiction. In 1980, he accidentally set himself on fire while freebasing cocaine. He suffered third degree burns on fifty percent of his body. After recovering, Pryor made his directorial debut in Richard Pryor Here and Now. In 1986, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disease that affects the nervous system.

In 1998, Pryor received the Kennedy Center Celebration of American Humor Mark Twain Prize. This award was a tribute to a man that had influenced other comedians such as Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Robin Williams, and David Letterman. On December 10, 2005, Richard Pryor died of a heart attack at his home in the San Fernando Valley.