Richard Pryor

Richard Pryor was an American stand-up comedian and actor born on December 1, 1940, in Peoria, Illinois. With his incisive observations and storytelling style, Pryor reached a broad audience and is considered as one of the greatest and most influential stand-up comedians of all time. During his active years of 1963–1999, he touched on topics such as African-American culture, American politics, human sexuality, and racism, among others. Pryor's body of work includes numerous concert films and recordings. He won a Primetime Emmy Award and five Grammy Awards, and in 1998, he received the first Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor. As an actor, Pryor starred mainly in comedies, particularly gaining acclaim for his collaborations with Gene Wilder. He also acted in films, including The Wiz, Superman III, and Harlem Nights.

Pryor had a tumultuous personal life, from growing up in a brothel run by his grandmother to serving in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1960, and his chance encounter with substance abuse. However, his success in the entertainment industry was undisputed. Films like That Nigger's Crazy and Bicentennial Nigger earned him Grammy Awards. Despite his struggles with addiction and multiple sclerosis in his later years, Pryor continued to have a significant impact on the field of comedy. He passed away on December 10, 2005, in Los Angeles, California.