Richard Pryor

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Richard Pryor (1986)

Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III , called Ritchie , (born December 1, 1940 in Peoria in the US state of Illinois , † December 10, 2005 in Encino (Los Angeles), California ) was an American actor and comedian .

Life

Pryor was born the son of a prostitute and spent his childhood in a brothel run by his grandmother. He served in the United States Army from 1958 to 1960 . In 1969 he moved to Berkeley , where he at the record label Laff Records some boards with sketches published. These included Craps (After Hours) (1971), Are You Serious ??? (1977) Who Me? I'm Not Him (1977) and Black Ben The Blacksmith (1978).

Pryor starred in numerous films such as Die Glücksjäger (1989, alongside Gene Wilder and Kevin Spacey ), Harlem Nights (1989, alongside Eddie Murphy ) and Lost Highway (1997, alongside Bill Pullman and Patricia Arquette ). He was also one of the authors of the screenplay of the film Blazing Saddles in 1974 in which Mel Brooks directed led. He became particularly popular as a film partner of Gene Wilder in various productions.

Pryor was married a total of seven times to five different women. His last marriage to Jennifer Lee, with whom he was married from 1981 to 1982, was concluded in 2001. From his seven marriages he had seven children. Pryor also had a relationship with Pam Grier . His daughter Rain Pryor is also an actress.

In the 1970s in particular, Pryor had very large drug problems; while intoxicated with cocaine , he even started a fire in his house in which he almost died. In 1986 he directed a film with Jo Jo Dancer - Your Life is Calling , which is based on this event. He had made his directorial debut three years earlier with the semi-documentary Richard Pryor ... Here and Now . Since the early 1970s, Pryor was also regularly active as a screenwriter.

In 1992 he withdrew almost completely from the film business because he was suffering from multiple sclerosis . From this point on, he only made rare and brief guest appearances in film and television productions.

He was the first recipient of the 1998 Mark Twain Award for American Humor. In 2004, he was voted the best stand-up comedian of all time by Comedy Central . The Writers Guild of America recorded in 1975 his screenplay for What's Up, Sheriff? as the best comedy script. For the television film Lily (1973) he received an Emmy the following year . In addition, Pryor has on the Walk of Fame in Hollywood a star at the address 6440 Hollywood Boulevard . Richard Pryor was a member of the Freemasonry Association , his lodge, the Henry Brown Lodge No. 22 , is based in Peoria, Illinois .

Richard Pryor died on December 10, 2005 of complications from a heart attack .

In August 2014, a film adaptation of Pryor's life was announced. The biographical film is produced by Oprah Winfrey ; Richard Pryor is said to be played by Mike Epps .

Filmography (selection)

Web links

Commons : Richard Pryor  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Richard Pryor's widow remembers: He had a genius mind, in: Closer USA, May 7, 2018, p. 23 (English)
  2. ↑ Famous Freemasons Richard Pryor , Homepage: Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon (Retrieved April 25, 2012)
  3. ↑ Lee Daniels' Richard Pryor biopic to star Mike Epps . BBC News .com. Retrieved September 4, 2014.
personal data
SURNAME Pryor, Richard
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Pryor, Ritchie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH December 1, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH Peoria
DATE OF DEATH December 10, 2005
Place of death Encino (Los Angeles)