Age, Biography, and Wiki
Richard Pryor was a renowned comedian, actor, and writer born on December 1, 1940, in Peoria, Illinois. He is celebrated for his fearless and unapologetic stand-up comedy, which often tackled sensitive topics like race relations and personal struggles. Pryor passed away on December 10, 2005, leaving behind a legacy of groundbreaking comedy and memorable film roles.
| Occupation | Stand-up Comedians |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 1 December 1940 |
| Age | 84 Years |
| Birth Place | Peoria, Illinois, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Sagittarius |
| Country | U.S |
| Date of death | 10 December, 2005 |
| Died Place | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Details about Pryor's height, weight, and other physical measurements are not extensively documented. However, his impact on comedy and culture far exceeds his physical attributes.
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Dating & Relationship Status
Richard Pryor was married seven times and had seven children. His personal life was marked by both turmoil and love, reflecting his complex and often unpredictable nature.
He grew up in a brothel run by his grandmother, Marie Carter, where his alcoholic mother, Gertrude L. (née Thomas), was a prostitute. His father, LeRoy "Buck Carter" Pryor (June 7, 1915 – September 27, 1968), was a former boxer, hustler and pimp. After Gertrude abandoned him when he was 10, Pryor was raised primarily by Marie, a tall, violent woman who would beat him for any of his eccentricities. Pryor was one of four children raised in his grandmother's brothel. He was sexually abused at age seven, and expelled from school at the age of 14.
In September 1967, Pryor had what he described in his autobiography Pryor Convictions (1995) as an "epiphany". 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!?", and walked off the stage. Afterward, Pryor began working profanity into his act, including the word nigger. His first comedy recording, the 1968 debut Richard Pryor on the Dove/Reprise label, captures this particular period, tracking the evolution of Pryor's routine. His parents died—his mother in 1967 and his father in 1968.
In 1975, Pryor was a guest host on the first season of Saturday Night Live (SNL), making him the first black host. Pryor's longtime girlfriend, actress and talk-show host Kathrine McKee (sister of Lonette McKee), made a brief guest appearance with Pryor on SNL. One of the highlights of the night was the controversial "word association" skit with Chevy Chase. He would later do his own variety show, The Richard Pryor Show, which premiered on NBC in 1977. The show was cancelled after only four episodes probably because television audiences did not respond well to his show's controversial subject matter, and Pryor was unwilling to alter his material for network censors. He later said, "They offered me ten episodes, but I said all I wanted to in four." 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. In 1979, at the height of his success, Pryor visited Kenya. Upon returning to the United States from Africa, Pryor swore he would never use the word "nigger" in his stand-up comedy routine again.
In 2002, Pryor and Jennifer Lee Pryor, his wife and manager, won legal rights to all the Laff material, which amounted to almost 40 hours of reel-to-reel analog tape. After going through the tapes and getting Richard's blessing, Jennifer Lee Pryor gave Rhino Records access to the tapes in 2004. 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).
Pryor met actress Pam Grier through comedian Freddie Prinze. They began dating when they were both cast in Greased Lightning (1977). Grier helped Pryor learn to read and tried to help him with his drug addiction. Pryor married another woman while dating Grier.
Nine years after Pryor's death, in 2014, the biographical book Becoming Richard Pryor by Scott Saul stated that Pryor "acknowledged his bisexuality" and, in 2018, Quincy Jones and Pryor's widow Jennifer Lee stated that Pryor had a sexual relationship with actor Marlon Brando, and that Pryor was open with his friends about his bisexuality and the fact that he slept with men. Pryor's daughter Rain later disputed the claim, to which Lee stated that Rain was in denial about her father's bisexuality.
In his autobiography Pryor Convictions, Pryor talked about having a two-week relationship with Mitrasha, a trans woman, which he called "two weeks of being gay".
In late 2004, his sister said he had lost his voice as a result of his multiple sclerosis. However, on January 9, 2005, Pryor's wife, Jennifer Lee, rebutted this statement in a post on Pryor's official website, citing Richard as saying: "I'm sick of hearing this shit about me not talking ... not true ... I have good days, bad days ... but I still am a talkin' motherfucker!"
On the morning of December 10, 2005, Pryor had a third and final heart attack at his house in Los Angeles. After his wife's failed attempts to resuscitate him, he was taken to a local Westside hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 7:58 a.m. PST. His widow Jennifer was quoted as saying, "At the end, there was a smile on his face."
Artist Preston Jackson created a life-sized bronze statue in dedication to the beloved comedian and named it Richard Pryor: More than Just a Comedian. It was placed at the corner of State and Washington Streets in downtown Peoria, on May 1, 2015, close to the neighborhood in which he grew up with his mother. The unveiling was held Sunday, May 3, 2015.
On March 12, 2019, Paramount Network debuted the documentary I Am Richard Pryor, directed by Jesse James Miller. The film included appearances by Sandra Bernhard, Lily Tomlin, Mike Epps, Howie Mandel, and Pryor's ex-wife, Jennifer Lee Pryor, among others. Jennifer Lee served as an executive producer on the film.
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| Husband | Patricia Price (m. 1960-1961) Shelley R. Bonus (m. 1967-1969) Deborah McGuire (m. 1977-1978) Jennifer Lee (m. 1981-1982) (m. 2001) Flynn Belaine (m. 1986-1987) (m. 1990-1991) |
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Net Worth and Salary
At the time of his death in 2005, Richard Pryor's net worth was estimated to be around $40 million. Adjusted for inflation, this amount would be equivalent to approximately $50 million today. His wealth was primarily earned through successful stand-up comedy tours, album sales, and salaries from films and television projects.
Career, Business, and Investments
Pryor's career was marked by incredible success and controversy. He began as a stand-up comedian, eventually transitioning into film and television. Some of his most notable works include:
- Stand-up Comedy: Pryor released over 20 comedy albums, such as "...Is It Something I Said?" and "Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip."
- Film Career: He starred in films like “Stir Crazy” with Gene Wilder, “Bustin' Loose,” and “Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling,” which he also wrote, directed, and produced.
- Television: Pryor's work on “The Richard Pryor Show” was innovative but short-lived due to its controversial nature.
In 2002, a television documentary entitled The Funny Life of Richard Pryor depicted Pryor's life and career. Broadcast in the UK as part of the Channel 4 series Kings of Black Comedy, it was produced, directed and narrated by David Upshal 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. The show tracked down the two cops who had rescued Pryor from his "freebasing incident", former managers, and even school friends from Pryor's home town of Peoria, Illinois. In the US, the show went out as part of the Heroes of Black Comedy series on Comedy Central, narrated by Don Cheadle.
The biopic remained in limbo, and went through several producers until it was announced in January 2014 that it was being backed by The Weinstein Company with Lee Daniels as director. It was further announced, in August 2014, that the biopic will have Oprah Winfrey as producer and will star Mike Epps as Pryor.
* A complimentary, limited-edition promo, entitled Live at The Comedy Store—October 1973 (Shout Factory PRO-00072 (6/13), was exclusively available to customers who pre-ordered from the company's web site.
The Richard Pryor Special? was preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive from an original 2 in. videotape. Preservation funding was provided by the John H. Mitchell Television Preservation Endowment. The preserved special screened at the 2024 UCLA Festival of Preservation.
Social Network
During his lifetime, Pryor's social network was primarily built through his performances and collaborations in the entertainment industry. In contemporary terms, social media platforms were not as prevalent during his active career.
Pryor served in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1960, but spent virtually the entire stint in an army prison. According to a 1999 profile article about Pryor in The New Yorker, Pryor was incarcerated for an incident that occurred while he was stationed in West Germany. Angered that a white soldier was overly amused at the racially charged scenes of Douglas Sirk's film Imitation of Life, Pryor and several other black soldiers beat and stabbed him, although the soldier survived.
He shook like he had malaria, he was so nervous. I couldn't bear to watch him shiver, so I put my arms around him there in the dark and rocked him like a baby until he calmed down. The next night was the same, and the next, and I rocked him each time.
During the legal battle, Stax briefly closed its doors. At this time, Pryor returned to Reprise/Warner Bros. Records, which re-released That Nigger's Crazy, immediately after ...Is It Something I Said?, his first album with his new label. Like That Nigger's Crazy, the album was a critical success; it was eventually certified platinum by the RIAA and won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording at the 1976 Grammy Awards.
Pryor's 1976 release Bicentennial Nigger continued his streak of success. It became his third consecutive gold album, and he collected his third consecutive Grammy for Best Comedy Recording for the album in 1977. With every successful album Pryor recorded for Warner (or later, his concert films and his 1980 freebasing accident), Laff published an album of older material to capitalize on Pryor's growing fame—a practice they continued until 1983. The covers of Laff albums tied in thematically with Pryor films, such as Are You Serious? for Silver Streak (1976), The Wizard of Comedy for his appearance in The Wiz (1978), and Insane for Stir Crazy (1980). Pryor co-wrote Blazing Saddles (1974), directed by Mel Brooks and starring Gene Wilder. Pryor was to play the lead role of Bart, but Mel Brooks didn't want to share credit with the quickly-rising comic. Brooks has always maintained Warner Brothers' executives vetoed Pryor's casting, but no studio executive has ever corroborated this claim. It was only after Pryor's passing (in 2005), Brooks' began insisting the comic was "uninsurable" because of a "drug arrest;" 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). According to director Michael Shultz, "Richard wrote it and Mel Brooks chased him out," Shultz said at the time (during the film's theatrical exhibition). "Mel Brooks was trying to get total credit for the picture. . . . To be outmaneuvered and ripped off at that early stage in his career is something that's a little hard for him to get over. I'd feel the same way." Moreover, Brooks assured Pryor the role of Sheriff Bart was his, but after Pryor departed the director's writer's suite, he never heard from Brooks again. In early-1972, Pryor was reportedly dumbfounded when he had to first learn from Cleavon Little that Mel Brooks wasn't going to use him on-screen.
In 1983 Pryor signed a five-year contract with Columbia Pictures for $40 million and he started his own production company, Indigo Productions. Softer, more formulaic films followed, including Superman III (1983), which earned Pryor $4 million, Brewster's Millions (1985), Moving (1988), and See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989). The only film project from this period that recalled his rough roots was Pryor's semiautobiographic debut as a writer-director, Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling, which was not a major success. Pryor was also originally considered for the role of Billy Ray Valentine on Trading Places (1983), before Eddie Murphy won the part. Despite his reputation for constantly using profanity on and off camera, Pryor briefly hosted a children's show on CBS called Pryor's Place (1984). Like Sesame Street (where Pryor appeared in a few oft-repeated segments), Pryor's Place featured a cast of puppets (animated by Sid and Marty Krofft), hanging out and having fun in a friendly inner-city environment along with several children and characters portrayed by Pryor himself. Its theme song was performed by Ray Parker Jr. Pryor's Place frequently dealt with more sobering issues than Sesame Street. It was cancelled shortly after its debut.
Pryor developed a reputation for being demanding and disrespectful on film sets, and for making selfish and difficult requests. In his autobiography Kiss Me Like a Stranger, co-star Gene Wilder says that Pryor was frequently late to the set during filming of Stir Crazy, and that he demanded, among other things, a helicopter to fly him to and from set because he was the star. Pryor was accused of using allegations of on-set racism to force the hand of film producers into giving him more money: One day during our lunch hour in the last week of filming, the craft service man handed out slices of watermelon to each of us. Richard, the whole camera crew, and I sat together in a big sound studio eating a number of watermelon slices, talking and joking. As a gag, some members of the crew used a piece of watermelon as a Frisbee, and tossed it back and forth to each other. One piece of watermelon landed at Richard's feet. He got up and went home. Filming stopped. The next day, Richard announced that he knew very well what the significance of watermelon was. He said that he was quitting show business and would not return to this film. The day after that, Richard walked in, all smiles. 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. I assume now that Richard was using drugs during Stir Crazy.
Jerry Seinfeld called Pryor "the Picasso of our profession" and Bob Newhart heralded Pryor as "the seminal comedian of the last 50 years". Dave Chappelle said of Pryor, "You know those, like, evolution charts of man? He was the dude walking upright. Richard was the highest evolution of comedy." This legacy can be attributed, in part, to the unusual degree of intimacy Pryor brought to bear on his comedy. As Bill Cosby reportedly once said, "Richard Pryor drew the line between comedy and tragedy as thin as one could possibly paint it."
In 1998, Pryor won the first Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. According to former Kennedy Center President Lawrence J. Wilker, Pryor was selected as the first recipient of the Prize because: 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. Though uncompromising in his wit, Pryor, like Twain, projects a generosity of spirit that unites us. 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. In a 2005 British poll to find "The Comedian's Comedian", Pryor was voted the 10th-greatest comedy act ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.
Education
Pryor's early life and education are less documented, but his experiences in Peoria, Illinois, heavily influenced his comedic material. His career was largely self-taught, with his stand-up routines reflecting his personal experiences and observations.
Pryor's legacy continues to inspire new generations of comedians and actors, cementing his place as one of the most influential figures in comedy history.
Some sources (including Pryor himself) say that late in the evening of June 9, 1980, Pryor poured 151-proof rum all over himself and set himself on fire. Other sources (including the Los Angeles police) say that what burned him that night was an explosion that happened while he was freebasing cocaine. While he was still burning, he ran down Parthenia Street from his Los Angeles home until he was subdued by police. He was taken to a hospital, where he was treated for second- and third-degree burns covering more than half of his body. Pryor spent six weeks in recovery at the Grossman Burn Center at Sherman Oaks Hospital in Los Angeles. His daughter Rain stated that the incident happened as a result of a bout of drug-induced psychosis.
