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Dec. 11, 2005 On Saturday, December 10, Richard Pryor died of a heart attack. His death came but nine days after his 65th birthday. His wife Jennifer—whom he had wed for a second time—was with him when he succumbed. Richard Pryor was my comedic hero. Though much of his material was considered profane, I saw him as a new breed of black artist/social critic, along the lines of Dick Gregory and William Melville Kelley. He was bold, honest and dealt with stereotypical images regarding black and white life with a keen, nut biting sense of humor. I consider him America’s greatest political satirist. I would even argue that he done as much to bridge the racial divide as any Civil Rights leader of his era. Pryor gave many white Americans their first glimpse at black America. Some of his comedy monologues, such as “The Goodnight Kiss,” Niggers Vs. White People,” “I-Spy Cops,” ”Black Man, White Woman” and “Just Us” (written by comedian and friend Paul Mooney), were laugh out loud, but scathing takes on American’s most taboo racial issues. Pryor’s monologues promoted the idea that differences aren’t deficits; that we all suffer the same angst and uncertainties, we just deal with them in different ways. He took escapades from his own life—divorce, drug addiction and spousal abuse—wrapped them in a humorous packaging and tied it with an angry knot. He didn’t ask us to condone his reaction to pain, only that we try and understand—and he made sure that we did. On December 1, 1940 Richard Franklin Lenox Thomas Pryor was born in Peoria Illinois. He was raised in a brothel by his grandmother. Many of the events from that time became part of his act, or were portrayed on screen in his semi-autobiographical film, “Jojo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling” (1986). The film was released six years after Pryor set himself on fire while freebasing cocaine. Pryor’s comedy albums are what built his reputation, beginning with his 1968 self-titled album. That was followed by “Craps” (1970), “Live & Still Smokin’” (1971), “That Nigger’s Crazy” (1974), followed by what many consider to be his greatest work, 1975’s “Is It Something I Said?” After that came "Bicentennial Nigger" (1976) and a string of successful concert films. Pryor was also a gifted writer and actor, starring in such movies as “Silver Streak” (1976) and “Stir Crazy” (1980), both co-starring fellow funnyman Gene Wilder; “Which Way Is Up?” (1977) featured Pryor in three roles: A working man who sells out, a lecherous preacher and a dirty old man); He also co-wrote the script “Blazing Saddles” (1973) with Mel Brooks. But because of his “vulgar” image, studio executives balked at him starring in the role of the sheriff, so director Mel Brooks opted for Cleavon Little. The bad boy image continued to follow him. In 1977 NBC aired the short-lived “Richard Pryor Show,” which was canceled because of Pryor’s disagreements with network censors. His most poignant role might have been that of Piano Man in “Lady Sings the Blues” (1971), Pryor’s character was that of a piano player for drug-addicted songbird Billie Holiday. The scene where Pryor is beaten to death by drug dealers is unforgiving in its brutality, showing Pryor’s range as a dramatic actor as well as a comedian. But his forte was gut-busting films like the ones he did with Gene Wilder, along with “Uptown Saturday Night” (1974), “Car Wash” and “Blue Collar” (both 1978), showcasing his mastery of the comedy genre as both a writer and actor and an ability to fill theaters. He also played a pimp in Max Julien’s 1973 classic, “The Mack.” Pryor was the second-biggest star in the world, behind Burt Reynolds. Johnny Carson called him, “The funniest man in the world.” In the 80’s Pryor’s film career was sporadic. He had a few modest hits like “Bustin’ Loose” (1981) and “Superman” (1983), and his concert films such as “Live On The Sunset Strip” (1982) and “Here and Now” (1983). But he also delivered flops like “The Toy,” “Some Kind of Hero” (both 1982), “Moving” (1988), ” “Brewster’s Millions” (1985) and a box-office failure with fading star Gene Wilder, “See No Evil, Hear No Evil” (1989). He was introduced to a new generation of fans in the 1989 Eddie Murphy film, “Harlem Nights,” playing a nightclub owner who adopts a hot-tempered, but business savvy protégé. Pryor received The Mark Twain Award for humor at the Kennedy Center on Oct. 20, 1998. Comedians like Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Whoopi Goldberg and many others paid homage to the man considered to be the funniest human being of all-time. Some of his other awards include a shared Emmy for “Lily” (a 1974 Lily Tomlin TV special), An Oscar for writing (“Blazing Saddles”) and five Grammies for Best Comedy album 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981 (“Reverend Du Rite”), 1982 (“Live on the Sunset Strip”). Pryor has influenced nearly every major comic working today, in particular black artists such as Eddie Murphy, Adele Givens, Franklin Ajaye, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Mario Joyner, Paul Mooney and Tracy Morgan among others. In 2004 Comedy Central named him number 1 on their list of the 100 Greatest Stand-Up Comics. After a dramatic weight loss in 1986, it was speculated that Pryor had contracted AIDS. He was later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. In recent years he was confined to a wheel chair and lost his ability to speak. Hat the time of his death he was cared for by Jennifer, his seventh wife, whom he had married once before in 1979. His other five wives were Patricia Price in 1960, Shelly Bonus (1967); Deborah McGuire (1977); Flynn BeLaine (1984 ). They divorced and remarried in 1990. Let’s pay homage to Richard by playing his records and may our laughter ring high into the heavens. He was my hero. Sources: Richard Pryor profile, All Infoplease Almanac Richard Pryor profile, Wikipedia ------------ About the author: Timothy Stelly is a 46-year old California native with a wide variety of interests-from fishing to politics, which have a lot in common: Both require you to deal with worms and most of your time is spent idling. He is a former Democrat, believing that Party represents outdated ideas. He is officially registered as an Independent, choosing to keep his options open. Timothy is also the author of more than 80 screenplays and novels, two of which have been "published": "Tempest In The Stone" and "The Malice Of Cain", both available through PublishAmerica. He defines his writing style as "Hip-hop fiction; a cross between Richard Pryor and Richard Wright." His UK columns is written in a hard-edged style, but he is not yet a curmudgeon or a conservative. (Is that redundant?) After all, one of his favorite movies is "The Adventures of Milo and Otis." stellbread0.tripod.com Email: stellbread@yahoo.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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