Richard Pryor

Richard Pryor
Pryor in February 1987
Birth name	Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor
Born	(1940-12-01)December 1, 1940 Peoria, Illinois, United States
Died	December 10, 2005(2005-12-10) (aged 65) Encino, Los Angeles, California, United States
Medium	Stand-up, film, television
Nationality	American
Years active	1963–2005
Genres	Political satire, Observational comedy, Black comedy, Improvisational comedy, character comedy
Subject(s)	Racism, race relations, American politics, African-American culture, human sexuality, religion, self-deprecation, everyday life, recreational drug use
Spouse	Patricia Price (1960–1961) (divorced) Shelley R. Bonis (1968–1969) (divorced) Deborah McGuire (1977–1978) (divorced) Jennifer Lee (1981–1982) (divorced) Flynn Belaine (1986–1987) (divorced) Flynn Belaine (1990–1991) (divorced) Jennifer Lee (2001–2005) (widow)
Children	7
Notable works and roles	Himself in Richard Pryor: Live in Concert and Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip Daddy Rich in Car Wash Wally Karue in See No Evil, Hear No Evil Harry Monroe in Stir Crazy Gus Gorman in Superman III Monty Brewster in Brewster's Millions
Website	RichardPryor.com

Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and actor. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities and profanity, as well as racial epithets. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time: 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."

Pryor's body of work includes the concert movies and recordings: Richard Pryor: Live & Smokin' (1971), That Nigger's Crazy (1974), ...Is It Something I Said? (1975), Bicentennial Nigger (1976), Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979), Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982), and Richard Pryor: Here and Now (1983). As an actor, he starred mainly in comedies such as Silver Streak (1976), but occasionally in dramas, such as Paul Schrader's Blue Collar (1978), or action films, such as Superman III (1983). He collaborated on many projects with actor Gene Wilder. Another frequent collaborator was actor/comedian/writer Paul Mooney.