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Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III (December 1, 1940 - December 10, 2005) was an American (United States) stand-up comedian (stand-up comedy), actor, and writer. 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 Niggers Crazy (1974), ...Is It Something I Said? (1975), Bicentennial Nigger (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 (Silver Streak (film)) (1976), and occasionally in dramatic roles, such as Paul Schraders film Blue Collar (Blue Collar (film)) (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 Centrals list of all-time greatest stand-up comedians.
Birth Name: Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III
Date of birth: 1940-12-01
Birth Location: Peoria, Illinois, Peoria, Illinois, United States
Date of death: 2005-12-10
Death Location: Encino, California, Encino, California, United States
Medium: Stand-up (Stand-up comedy), film, television
Active: 1963-1999
Genre: Satire, Observational comedy, Black comedy, Improvisational comedy, Character comedy
Subject: Racism, race relations, United States politics, African-American culture, human sexuality, self-deprecation, everyday life, recreational drug use
Influences: Lenny Bruce, Jack Benny, Jonathan Winters, Bill Cosby, Dick Gregory, Redd Foxx, Paul Mooney (Paul Mooney (comedian))
Influenced: George Carlin, Martin Lawrence, George Lopez, Denis Leary, Eddie Izzard, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Whoopi Goldberg, Bill Hicks, Robin Williams,-Lewis Black Colin Quinn, Bernie Mac, Louis C.K., Patton Oswalt Artie Lange, and Jim Norton (Jim Norton (comedian))
Notable Work: ''That Nigger's Crazy'', ''Bicentennial Nigger'', Himself in ''Richard Pryor: Live in Concert'' and ''Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip'', Zeke Brown in ''Blue Collar (Blue Collar (film))'', Grover T. Muldoon in ''Silver Streak (Silver Streak (film))'', Harry Monroe in ''Stir Crazy (Stir Crazy (film))'', Gus Gorman in ''Superman III''
Website: richardpryor.com/
Emmyawards: Writing in Variety or Music (Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series) , 1974 ''Lily (Lily (1973 special))''
Grammyawards: Best Comedy Album, 1975 ''That Nigger's Crazy'', 1976 ''...Is It Something I Said?'', 1977 ''Bicentennial Nigger'', 1982 ''Rev. Du Rite'', 1983 ''Live on the Sunset Strip (Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip)''
Americancomedyawards: Lifetime Achievement Award in Comedy 1993
Spouse: Patricia Price (1960-1961) , Shelley R. Bonus (1968-1969) , Deborah McguireDeborah McGuire ,(1977-1978) , Jennifer Lee (1981-1982) , Flynn Belaine (1986-1987) , Flynn Belaine (1990-1991) , Jennifer Lee (2001-2005)