Richard Pryor

Considered the boldest and most innovative comedic force since Lenny Bruce's peak era, Richard Pryor stood out as highly divisive as well. Following in the footsteps of Dick Gregory, he delved into matters of racial disparity with profound perception and thoroughness, confronting subjects avoided by conventional white society. Whereas Gregory leveraged comedy routines to advocate for harmony, fairness, and reform, Pryor burned with resentment and rage, embodying the profane expression of the emerging Black Power movement by boldly condemning ongoing subjugation from the traditional powers and portraying the full reality of Black American life with unfiltered truth and certainty.

Born December 1, 1940, in Peoria, Illinois, Richard Pryor navigated a turbulent and unstable childhood. Growing up inside the brothel run by his grandmother, where his mother worked as a prostitute and his father operated as a pimp, he endured the hardships of the area's most impoverished neighborhood and frequently faced gang threats. Humor served as his sole shield, earning him a local reputation as the classroom prankster. At age 14 he joined a neighborhood amateur theater troupe, then moved to New York City in 1964 to launch a standup career. Early efforts revealed an uncertain style: his self-titled 1968 debut echoed Bill Cosby's cadence and subject matter on bits such as "Adam and Eve" and the nostalgic "Girls," with only the sketch about a Black superhero called "Supernigger" hinting at future directions.

Pryor maintained this cautious, inoffensive approach for several more years until a 1970 Las Vegas engagement triggered a sudden shift; midway through his set he posed the rhetorical question "What am I doing here?" and exited the stage, thereafter limiting appearances to small Black venues for much of the early decade. Material from that period and his late-'60s shows later supplied the Laff label with numerous LPs throughout the 1970s, including 1977's Are You Serious???, 1978's Black Ben the Blacksmith, and 1980's Insane, though the recordings featured performances already years old and were later disavowed by Pryor himself.

When Pryor reemerged in 1974 with the Top 40 hit That Nigger's Crazy, he displayed a transformed outlook, refusing any longer to mute his fury at the white power structure and instead confronting racism with blistering force irrespective of fallout. Contrary to widespread expectations, his popularity surged; while Black listeners embraced him wholeheartedly, progressive white crowds also flocked to his shows. 1975's Is It Something I Said? peaked just outside the Top Ten, driven by segments like "When Your Woman Leaves You," a moving reflection on his widely reported marriages and divorces, whereas 1976's Bicentennial Nigger examined two hundred years of white domination with searing outrage. Lead parts in the 1977 films Silver Streak and Greased Lightning preceded the launch of The Richard Pryor Show on NBC, a variety program whose five-week run was marked by constant clashes with the network over content deemed unacceptable.

Amid the aftermath of that network dispute, Pryor generated further headlines on New Year's Eve by firing shots into his wife's car while intoxicated. The episode supplied the opening routine for 1978's Wanted: Live in Concert, a double album that inspired the successful 1979 concert film Richard Pryor: Live in Concert. Just as his trajectory appeared to regain momentum, disaster struck in June 1980 when Pryor suffered near-fatal burns in an incident attributed variously to freebasing or a suicide attempt. An extended recuperation ensued as he battled his long-standing drug dependence and sought to revive his creative drive; a journey to Africa ultimately restored his spirit, prompting his return to America with a vow never to utter the word "nigger" again.

A more reflective and seasoned Pryor surfaced in 1982 via the film and album Live on the Sunset Strip, which addressed both his near-death experience and his African journey. While his standup retained sharpness, his humor grew softer and more inward-looking, even as his film work largely consisted of undemanding comedies such as The Toy, Brewster's Millions, and Critical Condition. 1983's Here and Now marked his last concert recording and movie; three years afterward he received a multiple sclerosis diagnosis that curtailed his standup career. He took on occasional screen roles until the illness severely limited him, then largely withdrew following the poorly received 1991 film Another You. A wheelchair-using Pryor resurfaced briefly in 1997 for a cameo in David Lynch's Lost Highway. His autobiography, Pryor Convictions and Other Life Sentences, appeared in 1995. Five years later Rhino issued ...And It's Deep, Too!: The Complete Warner Bros. Recordings (1968-1992) to address the disorganized state of his catalog; the set's success led to The Richard Pryor Anthology: 1968-1992, a two-CD highlights collection, and Evolution/Revolution: The Early Years (1966-1974), another double-disc release compiling additional early material previously scattered across Laff albums.

Pryor died December 10, 2005, at age 65 in a Los Angeles hospital after suffering a heart attack during his prolonged struggle with multiple sclerosis. Tributes widely hailed him as a boundary-breaking comedian who surmounted racial obstacles and paved the way for later performers including Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Bernie Mac, and Dave Chappelle.