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Richard Pryor Dies

Valadius Dec 10 2005 04:35 PM

LOS ANGELES - Richard Pryor, the caustic yet perceptive actor-comedian who lived dangerously close to the edge both on stage and off, has died, his ex-wife said Saturday. He was 65. Pryor died of a heart attack at his home in the San Fernando Valley sometime late Friday or early Saturday, Flyn Pryor said. He had been ill for years with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease of the nervous system. The comedian was regarded early in his career as one of the most foul-mouthed comics in the business, but he gained a wide following for his expletive-filled but universal and frequently personal insights into modern life and race relations. His audacious style influenced an array of stand-up artists, including Eddie Murphy, Arsenio Hall and Damon Wayans, as well as Robin Williams, David Letterman and others. A series of hit comedies in the '70s and '80s, as well as filmed versions of his concert performances, helped make him Pryor one of the highest paid stars in Hollywood. He was one of the first black performers to have enough leverage to cut his own Hollywood deals. In 1983, he signed a $40 million, five-year contract with Columbia Pictures. His films included "Stir Crazy," "Silver Streak," "Which Way Is Up?" and "Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip."

Edgy DC Dec 10 2005 05:25 PM

Sorry to hear it. Is MS linked to drug abuse? My sister had a friend with MS, and he always blamed his drugging. Most cases I know, by coincidence or not, were folks who abused.

ScarletKnight41 Dec 10 2005 05:36 PM

I don't know for sure that's been linked, but intuitively it makes sense that drugs can't be good for one's nervous system.

KC Dec 10 2005 06:07 PM

Always one of my favorites growing up. Now I know how Julio Franco felt when Henny Youngman passed away.

Edgy DC Dec 10 2005 09:26 PM

"I'd like to make you laugh for about ten minutes though I'm gonna be on for an hour."

Vic Sage Dec 12 2005 10:40 AM selected filmography

(titles in bold are recommended) Concert films: Richard Pryor: Live and Smokin' (1985) Richard Pryor Here and Now (1983) Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip (1982) Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979) Features: Harlem Nights (1989) See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) Critical Condition (1987) Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986) Brewster's Millions (1985) Superman III (1983) The Toy (1982) Some Kind of Hero (1982) Bustin' Loose (1981) Stir Crazy (1980) California Suite (1978) The Wiz (1978/I) Blue Collar (1978) Greased Lightning (1977) Which Way Is Up? (1977) Silver Streak (1976) The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976) Car Wash (1976) Uptown Saturday Night (1974) The Mack (1973) Lady Sings the Blues (1972) Wild in the Streets (1968)

seawolf17 Dec 12 2005 11:01 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Dec 12 2005 11:08 AM

How do you not recommend "The Toy"?!?! One of my favorite movies as a kid. edit: FWIW, I liked "See No Evil, Hear No Evil" too.

Edgy DC Dec 12 2005 11:04 AM

Some of those, many featuring Richard in smaller roles, recommendable for bits and pieces. Superman III: Great opening. Stinks afterwards. This started off being a funny Superman movie and ended up being an unfunny Richard Pryor movie. Richard Pryor and Richard Lester might have been a good combo at one pont. The Toy: Richard Pryor and Jackie Gleason probably wouldn't have been a good combo at any point, but bitter greasy old Jackie Gleason is sadly fascinating. The Wiz: Take out the scenes with Lena Horne, and, um, Diana Ross. There's got to be 15 good minutes of footage in this thing somwhere. Small Richard Pryor business here. This movie was in some ways more faithful to the source material than the Judy Garland movie. Wild in the Streets: Fascinating in a "How Did This Get Made?" way. I had forgotten Pryor was in it. Other good movie with small Richard Pryor role: The Muppet Movie. Other mediocre movie with small Richard Pryor role: In God We Trust. For a subversive comic actor, he seems to have gotten into a lot of big-budget train wrecks. Filmmakers also seemed to like him for last act cameos of the "and the mystery man is none other than..." variety.

ScarletKnight41 Dec 12 2005 11:14 AM

My favorite Richard Pryor memory is from the first season on Saturday Night Live, when he is a job applicant and Chevy Chase is the HR guy administering a Word Association test that starts out innocently and ends in racial insults - [url]http://snltranscripts.jt.org/75/75ginterview.phtml[/url]. RIP to a very funny man.

Matt Murdock, Esq. Dec 13 2005 10:13 PM

That SNL skit was during Pryor's prime, 1975-1980, when he did all of his best movies. Before that, he was a cult figure in comedy circles, and his records (especially THAT NIGGER'S CRAZY) were best sellers. He was used as an interesting supporting character in a few excellent movies, and then burst threw as a bankable lead in SILVER STREAK, which began his career spanning collaboration with Gene Wilder. Every film he did from UPTOWN SATURDAY NIGHT (74) to STIR CRAZY (1980) has something to recommend it. His best film is probably BLUE COLLAR, a really gritty drama about class consciousness amongst assembly-line workers in Detroit, by Paul Shrader. And his 79 Concert Film is probably the single funniest comedy concert film you'll ever see ever ever ever. After STIR CRAZY, he just did mediocre Hollywood pap until JO JO DANCER, which he wrote and produced, and was about a performer facing his own mortality. It was a few years after he set himself on fire, and right after he was diagnosed. It was probably his most personal, autobiographical work (other than his concert films), but it wasn't very good. After that, he was just a shell of his former greatness. It seemed he spent his whole life trying to destroy himself and eventually suceeded. He was an absolutely fucking brilliant comedian, but only a so-so actor. But he deserves to be remembered and respected for his impact on the culture. There are few comics who've ever been, or who'll ever be, in his class.

Frayed Knot Dec 13 2005 10:36 PM

I'm getting a kick out of the fact that - in all the obits I've read this week - not one has been willing to buck the political correctness bandwagon enough to even mention the 'That Nigger's Crazy' album when listing his works. I guess maybe if they pretend it never existed then maybe it didn't.

Bret Sabermetric Dec 14 2005 08:51 AM

Anyone notice that his page 1 (and 3) obit hedlining the NEWS the same day Gene McCathy's obit got a few grafs on p. 44? I loved Pryor, I remember playing THAT NIGGER'S CRAZY for the shock and amusement of my friends when it came out in 1974 or so, and BICENTTENTIAL NIGGER in 1976, but that juxtaposition just blew me away. Ultimately, to my mind Pryor was a phenomenal comedian for a few years, who broke a few important barriers but basically did nothing new or very interesting for the last two decades of his life, while McCarthy was an unusually gifted, prescient, brave, principled Senator who changed US policy. Seems completely out of whack to me, and tellling of how screwed up our Pryorities are.

MFS62 Dec 14 2005 09:04 AM

He was even able to make fun of his tragic accident. In a later interview he noted: "When you're running down the street on fire, people get out' your way" Later

cooby Dec 14 2005 09:29 AM

Two of my favorite movies that I have ever seen were his-- Brewster's Millions, and the one about him driving the school bus full of kids across country My bear has to PEE!

Vic Sage Dec 14 2005 10:41 AM

]Brewster's Millions, and the one about him driving the school bus full of kids across country i think that 2nd one is BUSTIN LOOSE, and jeez, Coobster, you are VERY easily amused! Pryor's BREWSTER is a mediocre remake of a far funnier film from the 40s. Like BUSTIN' LOOSE, it shows a brilliant comic mind on the edge of our culture desperately seeking mainstream success and acceptance. His own complicity with Hollywood's total deneutering of his rough-hewn comic persona in order to make him a comodity for sappy, PG-family entertainment was, and still is, a sad, sad thing.

Johnny Dickshot Dec 14 2005 10:45 AM

Pryor's appearance was probably the worst thing about CAR WASH, which is just a fabulous movie in almost all other respects. But it's also an indication of his appeal and influence: I'm sure the producers felt a comedrama about black people in 70s would be unsellable without Pryor.

Frayed Knot Dec 14 2005 10:49 AM

"Anyone notice that his page 1 (and 3) obit hedlining the NEWS the same day Gene McCathy's obit got a few grafs on p. 44?" FWIW, Sunday's NYTimes had it's story of McCarthy on page 1 and Pryor's way back on 60-something.

cooby Dec 14 2005 10:52 AM

Johnny Dickshot wrote: Pryor's appearance was probably the worst thing about CAR WASH, which is just a fabulous movie in almost all other respects. . I agree with you 1000%, I have seen that movie a lot of times and I never liked that part either, but I never liked the Pointer Sisters so I just blamed it on them

Edgy DC Dec 14 2005 10:57 AM

And the answer is: Car Wash. Um, what is the only movie where J.J. Jackson outshines Richard Pryor?

Vic Sage Dec 14 2005 11:14 AM

]Ultimately, to my mind Pryor was a phenomenal comedian for a few years, who broke a few important barriers but basically did nothing new or very interesting for the last two decades of his life, He picked up Lenny Bruce's cudgel and advanced stand up comedy as an art form. His personal, brutally honest, self-effacing style made us root for him and see ourselves, even when the particulars of his experiences had no correlation to our own. Fueled by his anger and insecurities, he prowled the stage like a cornered panther. He permitted himself no restraint, no area that was out of bounds... either in his life or in the society at large. His injection of humanity and truth into the artificial world of set ups and punchlines was more than a matter of being phenomenal for a few years, or "breaking a few important barriers"... it changed the culture, and influenced generations of artists after him. I agree he did little of note for the last 20 years. That doesn't diminish his accomplishments in the 20 years prior to that. If he had his final heart attack in 1986 instead of 2005, his place in our cultural history would have been assured. I don't begrudge him the last 20 years of cashing checks. "That Einstein fella... yeah, he did that Relativity thing when he was a kid, but what has he done for us lately?"