Comedian Richard Pryor Dies at Age 65

Richard Pryor, one of the best and most influential comedians of his time, is dead at 65. He died of heart failure. He was born in a brothel that his grandmother owned in Peoria, Illinois. He struggled with multiple sclerosis since the 1980’s.

In 1988 he won the first Mark Twain Prize for humor from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He said in his acceptance speech that he uses humor to lesson people’s hatred. Comedy Central placed him on the list of the greatest stand up comedians of all time.

Some of his starring roles were:

Lady Sings the Blues
Up Town Saturday Night
Stir Crazy
Co-host for the 1976 Academy Awards
Silver Streak
Which Way Is Up?
Harlem Nights
Blazing Saddles
The Bingo Long Traveling All- Stars and Motor Kings
Car Wash
The Wiz
The Muppet Movie
Bustin Loose
The Toy
Superman II
Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life is Calling
Critical Condition
See No Evil, Hear No Evil
Another You
Lost Highway
Some Kind of Hero
Greased Lightning
California Suite

The three works that preserve him at his peak before multiple sclerosis were:
Richard Pryor Live and In Concert (1979)
Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip (1982)
Richard Pryor Here and Now (1983)

We will miss Richard Pryor, but one way to revisit him is to check out some of his past films, like the ones mentioned above.

Sure he had problems with cocaine addiction and had a terrible accident where he nearly died from severe burns. In 1980 when he caught fire while freebasing cocaine; he then spent time recovering from alcohol abuse. He re-enacted all of this in a film about his life. The racial content of his humor was observational, not confrontational.

In 1995 he played and embittered MS patient in an episode of CBS’ set in Chicago medical series “Chicago Hope”, which earned him and Emmy nomination as best guest actor in a drama series.

Quote: “I’ve live in a racist America and I’m uneducated, yet a lot of people love me and like what I do. And I can make a living from it. You can’t do much better than that.”

Richard Pryor inspired generations of stand up artist such as Bernie Mac, Eddie Murphy, Robin Williams and David Letterman.

Pryor was married six times. He leaves behind five children; sons Richard and Steven and daughters Elizabeth, Rain and Renee.