Richard Pryor has passed away

[Mecca]

According to the news wire Richard Pryor has passed away at the age of 65. I'd just like to say Richard Pryor is one of the fathers of modern standup comedy and he'll be truly missed.

[Mr. Kotter]

Damn, RIP Richard. :shake:

[Halfcan]

Bummer I really liked him-he overcame a lot to get where he was. My Uncle died yesterday-the family is pretty upset. Life goes by way too fast.

[Sure-Oz]

:( damn

[BIG_DADDY]

Funny man. His standup was classic.

[MichaelH]

He was one of the first comics I saw growing up. A very funny man. RIP

[QuikSsurfer]

R.I.P.
Really enjoyed watching some of his movies as a kid.

[Brock]

Later, Mudbone.

[chefsos]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/10/AR2005121000740.html

Pathbreaking Comedian Richard Pryor Dies

By JEREMIAH MARQUEZ
The Associated Press
Saturday, December 10, 2005; 4:41 PM

LOS ANGELES -- Richard Pryor, the caustic yet perceptive actor-comedian who lived dangerously close to the edge both on stage and off, died Saturday. He was 65.

Pryor died shortly before 8 a.m. of a heart attack after being taken to a hospital from his home in the San Fernando Valley, said his business manager, Karen Finch. He had been ill for years with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease of the nervous system.


"We loved him and will miss you," his ex-wife, Flynn Pryor, said from her Florida home.

Pryor 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."

Throughout his career, Pryor focused on racial inequality, once joking as the host of the 1977 Academy Awards that Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier were the only black members of the Academy.

Pryor once marveled "that I live in racist America and I'm uneducated, yet a lot of people love me and like what I do, and I can make a living from it. You can't do much better than that."

In 1980, he nearly lost his life when he suffered severe burns over 50 percent of his body while freebasing cocaine at his home. An admitted "junkie" at the time, Pryor spent six weeks recovering from the burns and much longer from drug and alcohol dependence.

He battled multiple sclerosis throughout the '90s.

In his last movie, the 1991 bomb "Another You," Pryor's poor health was clearly evident. Pryor made a comeback attempt the following year, returning to standup comedy in clubs and on television while looking thin and frail, and with noticeable speech and movement difficulties.

In 1995, he played an embittered multiple sclerosis patient in an episode of the television series "Chicago Hope." The role earned him an Emmy nomination as best guest actor in a drama series.

"To be diagnosed was the hardest thing because I didn't know what they were talking about," he said. "And the doctor said `Don't worry, in three months you'll know.'

"So I went about my business and then, one day, it jumped me. I couldn't get up. ... Your muscles trick you; they did me."

While Pryor's material sounds modest when compared with some of today's raunchier comedians, it was startling material when first introduced. He never apologized for it.

In his 1977 NBC television series "The Richard Pryor Show," he threatened to cancel his contract with the network after NBC's censors objected to a skit in which Pryor appeared naked save for a flesh-colored loincloth to suggest he was emasculated.

In his later years Pryor mellowed considerably, and his film roles looked more like easy paychecks than artistic endeavors. His robust work gave way to torpid efforts like "Harlem Nights," "Brewster's Millions" and "Hear No Evil, See No Evil."

Pryor was married six times. He and Flynn Pryor had a son, Steven. Previous children included another son, Richard, and daughters Elizabeth, Rain and Renee.

Daughter Rain became an actress. In an interview in 2005, she told the Philadelphia Inquirer that her father always "put his life right out there for you to look at. I took that approach because I saw how well audiences respond to it. I try to make you laugh at life."

[Crush]

R.I.P. Richard

[Nzoner]

I loved his bit on bit on divorce,"bitch,you ain't told near a joke and you want HALF!!"

RIP Richard

[Deberg_1990]

Wow, sad day...RIP Richard. Every living stand up comic today owes a debt to Pryor. His stand up act was classic.

[pak1983]

I think my favorite movie with Pryor was "The Toy". That was a hilarious movie. The old mans name was Master Bates. The pirannahs. That kid owned him. Good stuff. RIP

[beavis]

That sucks. One of the funniest bastards I've ever seen.

[Ebolapox]

damn... that's all I can say--damn

I've always been a big pryor fan--I grew up listening to pryor in the car with my dad when we'd go run my family's errands--to this day, mudbone sticks in my head despite not hearing it in a long time... to a great innovator, one of the top 3 comedians of alltime, RIP richard... you are truly on the mt. rushmore of comedians

-EB-

[Halfcan]

Stir crazy still cracks me up.

[shakesthecat]

Surprised he made it this long.

RIP, Rich.



When you're running down the street on fire....people WILL get out of your way!

[FloridaChief]

Goddamnit.

RIP, man....

[siberian khatru]

His first concert movie was, and still is, one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

What a brilliant, brilliant man. Lots of personal demons, but also true greatness. RIP.

[teedubya]

Wow. and to think, I just saw a show a couple days ago called, Richard Pryor, I aint dead yet motherf@#ker.

He was awesome. It is a sad day.

[Mile High Mania]

Wow. I got sucked into one of those "101 Greatest SNL skits" yesterday an they had the one from way back between him and Chevy Chase doing the word association.

Damn funny skit... Pryor was one of if not the greatest at his craft.

[siberian khatru]

Wow. I got sucked into one of those "101 Greatest SNL skits" yesterday an they had the one from way back between him and Chevy Chase doing the word association.

Damn funny skit... Pryor was one of if not the greatest at his craft.

I love that one. "Dead honky!"

[royr17]

Yea thats sad, he was a great comedian. I lost my aunt on wendesday and they had the funeral on friday so it's been a pretty hard week for me.

[Rain Man]

Wow. and to think, I just saw a show a couple days ago called, Richard Pryor, I aint dead yet motherf@#ker.

He was awesome. It is a sad day.

Good thing you saw it then.

[SnapDogg]

ah, you mind getting this monkey's _ick out of my ear, feels like a wet Q-Tip.............

Yes, Richard was on funny MF'er!

[milkman]

His first concert movie was, and still is, one of the funniest things I've ever seen.

What a brilliant, brilliant man. Lots of personal demons, but also true greatness. RIP.

I agree.

Probably the best ever concert movie.

Pryor was comedic genius.

[FloridaChief]

"Shit, we had big fun when he was here. Ain't no need to start cryin' now that he's gone..."

[Frazod]

RIP, Richard. You rocked. :thumb:

[Nzoner]

Speaking of his movies anyone here remember one called Which Way Is Up?Pryor played 3 different characters.

http://www.filmfreakcentral.net/dvdreviews/whichwayisup.jpg

[siberian khatru]

Comments on comedian Richard Pryor, who died Saturday:

___

"By expressing his heart, anger and joy, Richard Pryor took comedy to its highest form." — comedian Steve Martin.

___

"Richard Pryor was one of the true pioneers of his art form. He was the Charlie Parker of comedy, a master of telling the truth that influenced every comedian that came after him. Our friendship went back to his days as a young comedian at Cafe Wha in New York, and although I will miss him like a brother, the legacy that he leaves will forever be with us." — music producer Quincy Jones.

___

"He was the single most seminal, comedic influence in the last 50 years. It was so appropriate that he received the inaugural Mark Twain prize, as they both did the same thing. Mark Twain showed us what it was like on the frontier and living on the Mississippi and what it was like living at the turn of the century, and Richard Pryor showed us what it was like to live in the inner city. His concepts are so hysterically funny and unique." — comedian Bob Newhart.

___

"I wish that every new and young comedian would understand what Richard was about and not confuse his genius with his language usage." — comedian Bill Cosby.

___

"The Comedy Store could never thank you enough for the gift you gave us all — the gift of yourself ... to the audience, to the other comics and the elevation of your humor to a one-man art form." — Mitzi Shore, owner of The Comedy Store club in Los Angeles.


http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/n/a/2005/12/10/entertainment/e203910S51.DTL&type=printable

[Frankie]

A lot of today's "comedians" think foul language makes their "jokes" funny. Pryor's jokes made his foul language funny. There is a distinct difference. A true genius.

RICHARD I PRYOR

[Ultra Peanut]

I've kind of been unable to actually grasp it with my mind, even though I knew he was in rough shape.

He was amazing.