Ian White1/8/2011: Richard Pryor
Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer and MC. Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful, vulgar and profane language, 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 stand-up comedians: Jerry Seinfeld called Pryor "The Picasso of our profession;" Bob Newhart has called Pryor "the seminal comedian of the last 50 years."
His body of work includes the concert movies and recordings Richard Pryor: Live & Smokin' (1971), That N***ers Crazy (1974), ...Is It Something I Said? (1975), Bicentennial N***er (1976), Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979), Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982), and Richard Pryor: Here and Now (1983). He also starred in numerous films as an actor, such as Superman III (1983) but was usually in comedies such as Silver Streak (1976), and occasionally in dramatic roles, such as Paul Schrader's film Blue Collar (1978). He collaborated on many projects with actor Gene Wilder.
Pryor won an Emmy Award in 1973, and five Grammy Awards in 1974, 1975, 1976, 1981, and 1982. In 1974, he also won two American Academy of Humor awards and the Writers Guild of America Award.
Pryor is listed at number one on Comedy Central's list of all-time greatest stand-up comedians.
(On tracing his roots) I went through every phone book in Africa, and I didn't find one god d*mned Pryor!
I believe in the institution of marriage, and I intend to keep trying till I get it right.
I never met anybody who said when they were a kid, I wanna grow up and be a critic.
I think about dying. I've come to realize we all die alone in one way or another.
I'd like to make you laugh for about ten minutes though I'm gonna be on for an hour.
It's been a struggle for me because I had a chance to be white and refused.
Someone called all the newspapers in New York and told them I'd died. I've been told by almost everyone it was an ex-wife - I've had a few so it's hard to pinpoint which one - but who knows for sure?
Sure, I have friends, plenty of friends, and they all come around wantin' to borrow money. I've always been generous with my friends and family, with money, but selfish with the important stuff like love.
There's a lot more hypocrisy than before. Racism has gone back underground.
There's a thin line between to laugh with and to laugh at.
He was doing a sentence - triple life! How do you do triple life? I mean if he dies and then comes back he has to go back to the penitentiary? "F*** Kindergarten, get your little ass back to the penitentiary!"
I don't want to go to jail because there are robbers and rapers and rapers who rape robbers.
I gotta pull up my boots real high because the bullsh*t is getting thicker.
I had some great things and I had some bad things. The best and the worst. In other words, I had a life.
My father died while he was f****ing. He came and went at the same time.
The mafia people appeal to your intellect - "You're an intelligent person aren't you ? So you realize it's very difficult to walk without knees."
Why get killed when you can run ... your ego will heal much faster than a broken jaw.
(At the start of a routine about his freebasing accident)Let me tell you what really happened... Every night before I go to bed, I have milk and cookies. One night I mixed some low-fat milk and some pasteurized, then I dipped my cookie in and the sh*t blew up.
When that fire hit your ass, it will sober your ass up quick! I saw something, I went, "Well, that's a pretty blue. You know what? That looks like... FIRE! Fire is inspirational. They should use it in the Olympics, because I ran the 100 in 4.3.
I went to penitentiary one time, not me personally, but me and Gene went there for a movie. "Arizona State Penitentiary" Population: 80 percent black people. But there are no black people in Arizona, they have to bus motherf***ers in!
