Monday, December 12, 2005

richard pryor (1940-2005)




Comedy legend Richard Pryor died of a heart attack on Saturday, nine days after celebrating his 65th birthday. The funnyman's wife, Jennifer, has confirmed his passing, revealing she tried to resuscitate him at their home in Encino, California. Pryor had been fighting degenerative nervous system disease multiple sclerosis for the past 20 years. Fans began gathering at his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles soon after hearing the sad news yesterday. Pryor starred in a number of hit comedy movies like Stir Crazy, Brewster's Millions and Car Wash, but he really shone as a standup comedian, often poking fun at race issues and his own well-publicized drug problems. Pryor, who was married seven times and fathered seven children, grew up in a brothel in Illinois, run by his grandmother. He started his comedy career as a touring stand-up in the 1960s and quickly became a cult act. He won several Grammy Awards for his comedy albums and went on to influence many of today's top comedians. As well as his most obvious movie hits, listed above, Pryor also appeared in Superman III in 1983 and The Muppet Movie in 1979. He also starred in innovative musical documentary Wattstax. In paying tribute to Pryor yesterday, movie-maker Spike Lee said, "He was an innovator and a trailblazer. It's a great loss. www.imdb.com

i'll also add that The Toy is one of my all-time favorite movies.

Richard Pryor - "Black Funeral"
Joe Henry- "Richard Pryor Addresses A Tearful Nation"

1 Comments:

At 3:13 AM, Blogger Satisfied '75 said...

i threw on my vinyl copy of pryor's 'that nigger's crazy' tonight. from the wear and tear on the album jacket i am betting my dad bought it when it was released. too funny.

 

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