Richard Pryor

Born in 1940 in Peoria, IL, Richard Pryor was one of the most important comedians of his time. Dealing with race, class, and sex with a voice that was, for some, too truthful, Pryor changed the comic landscape, breaking all the rules on what a stand-up should do or say. Richard Pryor won an Emmy and five Grammy awards, and was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 1998. He had multiple gold and platinum albums of his comedy, including That Nigger's Crazy ...See more

Born in 1940 in Peoria, IL, Richard Pryor was one of the most important comedians of his time. Dealing with race, class, and sex with a voice that was, for some, too truthful, Pryor changed the comic landscape, breaking all the rules on what a stand-up should do or say. Richard Pryor won an Emmy and five Grammy awards, and was the recipient of the Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 1998. He had multiple gold and platinum albums of his comedy, including That Nigger's Crazy (1974), ...Is it Something I Said? (1975), and Bicentennial Nigger (1976). He wrote for film and television, including Sanford and Son and Blazing Saddles , and was a guest host on the first season of Saturday Night Live . His stand-up comedy concert films Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979), Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982), and Richard Pryor: Here and Now (1983) changed the comedy landscape and inspired a whole new generation of comics. As an actor, he starred mainly in comedies such as Silver Streak (1976) and Stir Crazy (1981), but occasionally in dramas, such as Paul Schrader's Blue Collar (1978). Pryor was diagnosed with Multiple sclerosis in 1986, and after suffering multiple heart attacks, died in 2005. In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked him number one on its list of the 50 best stand-up comics of all time. See less