Paul Mooney (actor)

Paul Mooney, 2009

Paul Mooney (* 4. August 1941 in Shreveport , Louisiana as Paul Gladney ; † 19th May 2021 in Oakland , California ) was an American actor , writer and comedian . He was best known for his appearances on the Chappelle's Show and as a writer for the comedian Richard Pryor .

Life

Mooney was born in 1941 in Shreveport, Louisiana, to underage George Gladney and LaVoya Ealy. Both parents were only 16 years old at the time of his birth, so Mooney was raised primarily by his maternal grandmother, Aimay Ealy. It was also his grandmother who nicknamed him Mooney without ever explaining the meaning of that name. At the age of seven, Mooney moved to Oakland , California with his grandparents, mother, and the rest of his mother's family while his father stayed in Shreveport.

He gained his first experience as a comedy writer and comedian through his work as a ring moderator for the Gatti-Charles Circus. Mooney filled his assignments as a presenter and announcer with comedy interludes and thus began writing comedy numbers and jokes. This work helped him get a job writing for comedian Richard Pryor .

Mooney wrote some of Richard Pryor's sketches for his Saturday Night Live appearances and co-wrote Pryor's comedy albums Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip , Bicentennial Nigger , and ... Is It Something I Said?

He was also the co-writer of Richard Pryor's semi-autobiographical film Jo Jo Dancer - Your Life Is Calling (Original title: Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling ).

For Pryor's own comedy television series, The Richard Pryor Show , Mooney acted as the lead writer. The series has achieved cult status today, although only four episodes were produced.

In addition to his writing for Pryor, Mooney was also involved in other comedy formats in the 1970s, which have long since advanced to cult series. He wrote for the sitcoms Sanford and Son and Good Times .

From the late 1970s, Mooney began to appear as an actor. So he took on roles in the cult films Once and Never Again (Original title: Bustin 'Loose ), How are things going? (Original title: Which Way Is Up? ) And Hollywood Shuffle .

Between 1990 and 1991 he was the lead writer for the first season of the sketch comedy series In Living Color on the US television channel Fox .

Mooney gained greater prominence among a younger audience between 2003 and 2005 with his regular appearances on Chappelle's Show , the sketch comedy show by comedian Dave Chappelle . Here he played the roles in the sketch series "Ask a Black Dude", "Mooney at the Movies" and "Negrodamus", an Afro-American version of Nostradamus .

In 2009, his autobiography was published under the title Black Is the New White .

Mooney died of a heart attack in May 2021, aged 79.

Filmography

1970: Heroes Are Not Born ( Carter's Army , Movie made for TV )
1972: FTA (documentation)
1977: How are things going? (Which Way is Up?)
1978: The Buddy Holly Story (The Buddy Holly Story)
1981: Once and Never Again (Bustin 'Loose)
1985: To Hell With The Coals (Brewster's Millions)
1986: Jo Jo Dancer - Your Life Is Calling (Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling)
1987: Hollywood Shuffle
1994: The Legend of Dolemite (documentary about the blaxploitation genre)
1994: In the Army Now - The idiot of the company (in the Army Now)
1998: High Freakquency
2000: It's Showtime (Bamboozled)
2001: The Old Settler (TV movie)
2001: Just call me Nikolaus ( Call Me Claus , TV movie)
2002: The Ketchup King
2003: DysFunktional Family (documentary about the American comedian Eddie Griffin )
2003: Bitter Jester (Documentation)
2004: The N-Word (Documentation)
2006: Homie Spumoni - My Different Me (Homie Spumoni)
2008: Good Hair (Documentation)

Web links

Paul Mooney in the Internet Movie Database (English)

Literature by and about Paul Mooney in the WorldCat bibliographic database

Individual evidence

^ ^A ^b Paul Mooney Dies: Trailblazing Comedian, Writing Partner Of Richard Pryor Was 79. In: deadline.com. May 19, 2021, accessed May 19, 2021 .
↑ Conan, Neal: Mooney's Memories: 'Black Is The New White' . In: National Public Radio . December 8, 2009. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
↑ Ryfle, Steve: Richard Pryor's Designated Writer: An Interview With Paul Mooney . In: PopMatters . May 26, 2010. Retrieved September 2, 2014.
^ Paul Mooney: Black is the New White . Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4165-8795-8 , p. 47.
^ Paul Mooney: Black is the New White . Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4165-8795-8 , p. 49: “I see LaVoya, my real mother, more than I ever did in Shreveport. My father George Gladney stayed in Shreveport and faded out of my life, "

personal data
SURNAME	Mooney, Paul
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Gladney, Paul (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American actor, writer, and comedian
DATE OF BIRTH	4th August 1941
PLACE OF BIRTH	Shreveport , Louisiana
DATE OF DEATH	May 19, 2021
PLACE OF DEATH	Oakland , California

[deadline-1] A ^b Paul Mooney Dies: Trailblazing Comedian, Writing Partner Of Richard Pryor Was 79. In: deadline.com. May 19, 2021, accessed May 19, 2021 .

[2] Conan, Neal: Mooney's Memories: 'Black Is The New White' . In: National Public Radio . December 8, 2009. Retrieved September 2, 2014.

[PM-3] Ryfle, Steve: Richard Pryor's Designated Writer: An Interview With Paul Mooney . In: PopMatters . May 26, 2010. Retrieved September 2, 2014.

[4] Paul Mooney: Black is the New White . Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4165-8795-8 , p. 47.

[5] Paul Mooney: Black is the New White . Simon Spotlight Entertainment, 2009, ISBN 978-1-4165-8795-8 , p. 49: “I see LaVoya, my real mother, more than I ever did in Shreveport. My father George Gladney stayed in Shreveport and faded out of my life, "