RICHARD PRYOR:
A Cast of Classic
Comedy Characters
Inside One Man's Mind

by Joanne Johnson / Humor Editor T a l k i n g C o m e d y . c o m

W hoopi Goldberg has said of Richard Pryor… “When Richard spoke about life, it was funny to everybody. While his comedy was centralized in what was then called ‘the black experience,’ white people, Spanish people, Hungarians even, were laughing, because at his core, and at the core of his comedy, the human experience lives.” Damon Wayans explains what it is about Richard that sets him apart from other comics… “There are many different kinds of comedians in the world. We have the observational humorist, the impressionist, the character creator, the physical comedian, the self-deprecator, and the dirty-joke teller. What made Richard Pryor so brilliant is he was able to incorporate all these styles at once.”

Born in 1940 in a section of Peoria, Illinois that was filled with pimps, whores, hustlers, winos and dope dealers a young Pryor learns to use comedy as a coping mechanism. The thin youngster finds that many a fight can be averted with the help of his quick wit. In his early teens he starts visiting the local community center's drama workshops. The director sees something special in young Pryer and begins to mentor him. Juliette Whittaker has said of the young slender boy with large, bright, intelligent eyes… that he “hovered every day at the edge of the Carver Center stage, watching other boys and girls move through the discipline of blocking, scripts still in hand, rehearsing the play Rumpelstiltskin. ‘I can do that, Ms. Whittaker,’ he finally summoned up the courage to declare one day.” It was a confidence nurtured by a brilliant, God-given imagination, but one fed by a well of angry loneliness. That boy who took the first step to become the articulate genius of satiric comedy was Richard Pryor.” But the young Pryor wouldn't really see show business as a possible way of making a living till years later.

At the age of twenty, after years without much direction in his life… years of drifting from one school to another … from one job to another, Richard Pryor sees Redd Foxx and Dick Gregory perform on TV for the first time and begins seriously giving thought to going into show business. A couple of years later Pryor begins performing at Collins' Corner, a nightclub in his hometown of Peoria . He is rather quickly promoted from opening act to emcee. But when Pryor's father throws Richard out of the house in disgust he decides to take his comedy on the road honing his unpolished-but-mainstream act in various clubs in St. Louis, Cleveland, Chicago, Youngstown and Buffalo along what was known as the Blackbelt circuit.

AND NOW… A Few Words from Fellow Comics on Richard Pryor's Comedy Talents… “It is impossible to exaggerate the greatness of Richard Pryor. When it comes to stand-up comedy, there never was and there never will be anyone quite like him.” – Richard Belzer “Richard will never be equaled for his depth of exploration into character during a period of war, civil rights issues, drugs, and political corruption. He was never a ‘joke-teller’; he was a performer of the caliber of (Thelonious) Monk, (Miles) Davis, Lenny Bruce… There was one, and only one, stand-up comic who covered this period (the '60s) and these experiences for me… with his jazz-like approach… Richard is the consummate comic/jazz artist, and no one will ever touch his genius.” – Chevy Chase “Seeing Richard Pryor on video tape for the first time just blew the top of my head off. I was like… look what this guy can do. Here's a twelve year old white kid watching Richard Pryor, not understanding it, but thinking… this is important, I don't know what this means yet, but this looks important.” – Adam Ferrara “For me, Richard represents the pinnacle of brilliant monologue – straight-up comedy and a dramatic flair that not even the best of the best can touch. In my opinion, Richard Pryor is the single greatest comic of my lifetime.” – Whoopi Goldberg “(His recordings…) lit the creative spark in me, which still burns to this day. The discovery of these timeless performances led me to realize what I am. Richard Pryor is truly one of the great artists of our time. His comic genius and influence remain unparalleled.” – Eddie Murphy “Richard Pryor's comedy is a mirror, a statement, a social commentary, and an explanation of a condition. Richard Pryor is a giant of American comedy… There are two periods of comedy in America: before Richard Pryor and after Richard Pryor.” – Paul Rodriguez “Richard Pryor is the greatest stand-up who ever lived. He opened the biggest door and turned the light on in the room.” – Roseanne “When I was a kid nothing gave me more pleasure than waiting for my parents to leave the house so I could listen to a Richard Pryor album. I didn't know it then, but by listening to those albums, I was preparing myself for what I'm doing today. If I hadn't listened to Richard as a kid, I'm sure I'd still be a comedian – the only difference is I'd really suck. Richard Pryor is the greatest comedian of all time.” – Chris Rock “By telling the truth about his pain, Richard held a mirror up to society, and we were able to see our fears, our beauty, our prejudice, our wretchedness, our hopes, our dreams – all of our contradictions. What other man has no secrets? Richard Pryor shared all of his. He is truly the greatest comedian of our time.” – Damon Wayans “Richard is the master of open-soul surgery, cutting right to the bone.” – Robin Williams

By '63 Pryor, now living in New York to be closer to the showbiz action, begins hanging out in Greenwich Village. While there he meets and begins keeping company with other rising stars the likes of George Carlin, Woody Allen, Bob Dylan, Richie Havens and Bill Cosby. He soon becomes a regular act at such hot spots as Cafe Wha?, The Improv, Papa Hud's and The Bitter End. It is one of his shows at The Bitter End, in '64, that impresses a talent scout in the audience enough for Pryor to be offered his first chance to perform on television… on Rudy Vallee's show, On Broadway Tonight.

In the next few years Richard Pryor will become a popular guest comic on TV making appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show, Merv Griffin, Tonight and the Kraft Summer Music Hall. Many white critics begin hailing Pryor as ‘the next Bill Cosby’ when they write about him. Although these reviews are intended as high praise for Pryor, Richard greats them with frustration. He is uncomfortable with being compared to someone else and longs for critics and audiences to see him as an individual, unique talent. In spite of his frustration, at this point in his career, his club bookings begin to mount … Pryor is definitely on his way.

In '67, while playing to a large crowd in Vegas at the Aladdin Hotel, Richard Pryor has a nervous breakdown during his performance, mutters… ‘What the f**k am I doing here?’ and walks off the stage to the shock of his audience. He does not return to finish the show. On the personal front Pryor's life is suffering… the mother of his third child, Elizabeth Anne, breaks up with Richard while Elizabeth is still a baby, his stepmother Viola Pryor dies, and Pryor's cocaine habit, that began in the mid '60s, begins to mount heavily. In the next two years both Pryor's father, LeRoy Pryor, Jr., and then his mother, Gertrude Emanuel, will die. But Pryor finds something promising to grasp onto at this troublesome time in his life… a small role in his first movie, The Busy Body. Other movie roles follow… Green Berets starring John Wayne, Wild In The Streets, and The Phynx.

Pryor moves to Hollywood to try to focus more on movie opportunities and begins to rework his comedy act. The mainstream material he has been doing up till now will fall by the way side and a new Richard Pryor will emerge. Pryor's, self titled, debut album is released in '68, to be followed a couple of years later by a second album, Craps (After Hours) which becomes a cult classic and increases both Pryor's black audience and his concert bookings significantly.

Now calling Hollywood his home Pryor becomes interested in writing for television and begins writing for the hugely popular shows The Flip Wilson Show and Sanford and Son. A pairing with the comedy mind of Lily Tomlin, for her CBS TV specials, would garner Pryor an Emmy award in 1973. Fellow comic Lily Tomlin thinks so highly of Pryor's work that she has called Richard “the greatest pioneering comic artist of the last three generations.” Tomlin has recalled, of her first glimpse of Pryor's act on The Ed Sullivan Show in the late '60s, “Even then, Richard's unique blend of vulnerability, attitude, and insight was apparent. He was already bringing audiences into his personal experience, temporarily abandoning them to the chaos, and finally rescuing them with his compassion.” Tomlin knew immediately after seeing him perform that she wanted the opportunity to work with this talented comic someday. “A few years later, in 1973, I did my first special on CBS and developed a set at The Ice House in Pasadena especially for Richard, hoping he'd see that I was a ‘white girl with soul’ – and hoping that he'd want to work with me too.”

On the big screen Pryor's writing was being featured as well. The Mel Brooks' classic Blazing Saddles was co-written by Pryor and would go on to win an American Writers Guild Award. Pryor was originally being seriously considered for the lead in that movie but the role ended up going to actor Cleavon Little after Hollywood executives become leery of casting Pryor because of his growing reputation for drug and alcohol fueled behavior. A disappointment for Pryor especially after having just received rave reviews for his portrayal of Piano Man in the Diana Ross movie vehicle Lady Sings the Blues.

Much of the next year Pryor spent developing new material at a new comedy club in Hollywood called The Comedy Store. In fact for the next decade he would use their stage to test much of the material that made it onto his comedy albums. Mitzi Shore, owner of The Comedy Store, has recalled of those days… “Richard was our King Solomon. When he needed the stage, and we needed to survive, he was there. He truly created the kingdom of ‘Niggerdom’.”

In December of '75 Pryor guest hosted NBC's Saturday Night (Live). Inspite network executives fears that the controversial comic might be a loose cannon the episode turns out to be a spectacular success and features what may perhaps be Pryor's most famous TV moment… the racially charged word-association job interview sketch. Co-staring cast member Chevy Chase has recalled of the event… “When I wrote the now-infamous Job Interview sketch for SNL, I remember asking Richard for as many slang words for white people as he could come up with. He hesitated and then realized that there were many more for African-Americans than he could think of for ‘whities.’ I think this reflected on the sketch, and it was reflective of the lack of bigotry in the man.”

Bill Cosby, who starred with Richard Pryor in two movies in the 70s, Uptown Saturday Night and California Suite has said of Pryor's movie career… “Had Richard really been allowed a level playing field in the movie industry … that is, a place where Richard's ideas, his character development were worked on and developed the way they do things with ‘ordinary people’ – then there would be – think about it – great movies, stories with rich, refreshing characters, much like those in John Steinbeck's wonderful works. But what was available to Richard was the stage, where he played all of the characters by himself.” Even if Pryor's movie vehicles weren't always up to the quality deserving of Pryor's talents they certainly were, for the most part, hugely popular and successful. Films like Bingo Long and the Traveling All-Stars, Car Wash, Silver Streak, California Suite, Stir Crazy, Bustin' Loose, and Some Kind of Hero… just to name a few.

In 1979 Richard Pryor proved his creative genius at the movie theaters not with a scripted screenplay as his vehicle but a live comedy concert. Richard Pryor – Live In Concert, was released to theaters and becomes a huge success with critics and audiences alike. For a movie featuring nothing more than a stage, an audience, a man and his microphone the film's box office success was quite unprecedented.

Then at the height of his career tradgedy would strike. “In 1980 Richard Pryor was the hottest comic in show business… Literally,” Robin Williams has said of Pryor's infamous freebasing incident that almost took his life. “Four years before the summer Olympics in Los Angeles, Richard was the torch running down Sunset.” Williams has marveled at Pryor's ability to pull humor out of such a horrifying life event… “Richard's comic brilliance shined when he spoke about the zealous fan who asked for ‘that last autograph’ while he was still smoldering. Who else could make a near-death experience hilarious and unforgettable?”

Later the same year, Stir Crazy, the movie Pryor completed shortly before his freebasing incident, was released to the theaters. The buddy movie, which reunited Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor who had wowed audiences with their scenes together in the '76 comedy hit Silver Streak, turned out to be a mega hit – the highest grossing picture for Columbia for the entire year. The two stars would be paired again for two more movies during their careers.

Richard Pryor went on to star in over a dozen more films in the next decade and two more live stand-up concerts before his health problems would make it too hard for him to continue doing major movie roles. Pryor's last staring movie role, and his final movie pairing with Gene Wilder – Another You, in 1991 – was difficult for Pryor to complete due to failing health from multiple sclerosis but somehow he managed. With his ability to walk rapidly deteriorating Pryor decided to go public with his illness later that year. He has appeared in occasional movies and television shows since then but his illness has limited his ability to work for the past decade. But even without new material coming from Pryor these days, because of health reasons, his popularity still remains high.

Comedian/actor Richard Belzer once summed up Richard Pryor's talents when he said… “With a deep understanding of human nature and unparalleled gifts as a stage performer, (Pryor) has no equal. His take on life as depicted in his performances is unique, profound, and, above all, relentlessly funny. Brilliantly funny, insightfully funny, hysterically funny. His humor is a treasure for us all to celebrate. Richard Pryor is truly an incandescent star, and we are lucky to bask in his glow.”

For more information or to purchase from among a wide variety of CDs, books and videos spanning Richard's prolific career visit Richard Pryor's Official web site … www.RichardPryor.com

Richard Pryor's complete boxed set of original albums from the Warner Bros. Years (1968-1992) is available from Rhino Entertainment ( call 1-800-827-4466 or visit www.Rhino.com ).

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Photo Credits (from top):
Cover Boxed Set, ‘…And It's Deep Too!’ / Courtesy Rhino; All images, trademarks and other movie-related photographs
and/or graphics are the property of their respective studio.

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