Richard Pryor

Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. He connected with a wide audience through sharp observations and a storytelling approach, and is widely considered one of the most important comedians in history.

Over his career, he earned one Primetime Emmy Award and five Grammy Awards. In 1998, he became the first recipient of the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, and he also won a Writers Guild of America Award in 1974. His work includes many concert films and recordings, and he co-wrote Mel Brooks’ satirical western Blazing Saddles (1974).

Early life

Pryor was born in Peoria, Illinois, and grew up in a brothel run by his grandmother, Marie Carter. His mother, Gertrude L. (née Thomas), worked as a prostitute and was of Puerto Rican descent. His father, LeRoy "Buck Carter" Pryor (June 7, 1915 – September 27, 1968), had been a boxer, hustler, and pimp. When Pryor was ten, a court removed his mother from custody, and his grandmother Marie—a tall, strict woman who would slap him for his eccentricities but whom he deeply loved—raised him.

He was one of four children in that household. At age seven, he was sexually abused, and at fourteen, he was expelled from school. Around that time, he met Juliette Whittaker, who ran the Carver Center’s theater program and lived by the motto: “You shoot for the moon, you’re bound to hit a star, but if you never shoot, you’ll never hit anything. You’ve got to aim.”

Pryor served in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1960, spending nearly the entire period in an Army prison. According to a 1999 New Yorker profile, the incident occurred while he was stationed in West Germany: angered that a white soldier was laughing too hard at the racial themes in Douglas Sirk’s film Imitation of Life, Pryor and other Black soldiers beat and stabbed the man, who survived.

Early performances

He began performing in the early 1960s at Harold’s Club, where the owner told him, “You’ve got more nerve than anybody I’ve ever seen. Would you like to keep coming?” In 1963, Pryor moved to New York City, sharing bills with Bob Dylan and Woody Allen. On one early night, he opened for Nina Simone at the Village Gate; she recalled his severe stage fright, rocking him like a baby until he calmed down. Initially inspired by Bill Cosby, Pryor started as a middlebrow comic with tame material, appearing on shows like The Ed Sullivan Show, The Merv Griffin Show, and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, and finding success in Las Vegas.

In 1966, he guest-starred on The Wild Wild West. In September 1967, he had what he later called an “epiphany” at the Aladdin Hotel: with Dean Martin in the audience, he looked at the sold-out crowd, said “What the fuck am I doing here!?” and walked off. After that, he began using profanity and the word nigger in his act.

His first comedy recording, Richard Pryor (1968), captures this shift. His mother died in 1967, his father in 1968. By 1968, he had broken from Cosby’s style and become more controversial. In 1969, he moved to Berkeley, California, where he connected with the counterculture and met Huey P. Newton and Ishmael Reed.

1970–1979: Breakthrough and acclaim

In the 1970s, Pryor wrote for Sanford and Son, The Flip Wilson Show, and a 1973 Lily Tomlin special, for which he shared an Emmy. He appeared in 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? (1977), Greased Lightning (1977), Blue Collar (1978), and The Muppet Movie (1979).

He signed with Laff Records in 1970 and released his second album, Craps (After Hours), in 1971. He won Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Album for That Nigger’s Crazy (1974), …Is It Something I Said? (1975), Bicentennial Nigger (1976), Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982), and Richard Pryor: Here and Now (1983). Other notable concert works include Richard Pryor: Live & Smokin’ (1971), Wanted: Live in Concert (1978), and Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979).

1980–1989: Established career

As an actor, he starred mainly in comedies, gaining acclaim for collaborations with Gene Wilder in Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), and Another You (1991). He also acted in California Suite (1978), The Wiz (1978), Superman III (1983), Harlem Nights (1989), and Lost Highway (1997). He appeared on Sesame Street and Saturday Night Live, and hosted The Richard Pryor Show (1977) and Pryor’s Place (1984).