WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.200
Imagine a comedian who could make you laugh until

00:00:02.200 --> 00:00:06.019
you cried. then in the very next breath, make

00:00:06.019 --> 00:00:09.160
you confront uncomfortable, often brutal truths

00:00:09.160 --> 00:00:12.500
about society and yourself. A performer whose

00:00:12.500 --> 00:00:16.480
raw honesty felt less like a carefully crafted

00:00:16.480 --> 00:00:19.440
bit and more like an unfiltered visceral scream

00:00:19.440 --> 00:00:21.519
right from the soul. Yeah, that really captures

00:00:21.519 --> 00:00:24.579
it. Richard Pryor was just that singular, unforgettable

00:00:24.579 --> 00:00:27.780
force. Absolutely. A man who dared to bring the

00:00:27.780 --> 00:00:29.980
deepest parts of his experience, no matter how

00:00:29.980 --> 00:00:33.359
painful, really, to the brightest stages. Welcome

00:00:33.359 --> 00:00:35.320
back to The Deep Dive, everyone. Today, we are

00:00:35.320 --> 00:00:38.039
plunging head first into the extraordinary, often

00:00:38.039 --> 00:00:41.079
turbulent, and, well, undeniably influential

00:00:41.079 --> 00:00:43.640
life of Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor.

00:00:43.780 --> 00:00:46.799
Quite a name. It is. Born December 1, 1940 in

00:00:46.799 --> 00:00:49.140
Peoria, Illinois, and passing away December 10,

00:00:49.280 --> 00:00:53.140
2005 in LA. Pryor isn't just a name whispered

00:00:53.140 --> 00:00:55.520
in the halls of comedic greatness. He's widely

00:00:55.520 --> 00:00:58.159
seen as one of the most significant, most transformative

00:00:58.159 --> 00:01:00.369
comedians of all time. No question. We're going

00:01:00.369 --> 00:01:02.909
far beyond the punchlines today, beyond the iconic

00:01:02.909 --> 00:01:06.519
stand -up specials, to really explore the man

00:01:06.519 --> 00:01:10.519
behind the genius, a man known for his trenchant

00:01:10.519 --> 00:01:13.379
observations, unparalleled storytelling, and

00:01:13.379 --> 00:01:16.200
this almost magical ability to connect with a

00:01:16.200 --> 00:01:19.019
broad audience in ways few ever have. Yeah. And

00:01:19.019 --> 00:01:21.459
our mission today is really to unpack that rich

00:01:21.459 --> 00:01:24.579
and complex tapestry of Pryor's life and career.

00:01:25.099 --> 00:01:26.939
We're going to use a detailed look at the available

00:01:26.939 --> 00:01:29.719
sources to understand not just what he did, but

00:01:29.719 --> 00:01:32.879
why it mattered so profoundly. Exactly. And how.

00:01:33.000 --> 00:01:35.780
And how his unique perspective permanently altered

00:01:35.780 --> 00:01:38.959
the landscape of comedy and culture really. For

00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:41.239
you our listener this deep dive is your shortcut

00:01:41.239 --> 00:01:43.900
to being truly well informed about a figure whose

00:01:43.900 --> 00:01:46.819
seismic influences still felt acutely today.

00:01:46.840 --> 00:01:49.599
Oh absolutely. Offering surprising facts and

00:01:49.599 --> 00:01:52.239
those undeniable aha moments that make understanding

00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:56.319
history so compelling all without hopefully the

00:01:56.319 --> 00:01:58.560
information overload. Definitely. We're going

00:01:58.560 --> 00:02:01.200
to embark on a journey through his early, incredibly

00:02:01.200 --> 00:02:03.959
challenging beginnings. I mean, the almost unbelievable

00:02:03.959 --> 00:02:06.219
environment he grew up in and then meticulously

00:02:06.219 --> 00:02:08.500
trace his artistic evolution. It's quite a path.

00:02:08.620 --> 00:02:11.659
It really is. We'll watch as he transforms from

00:02:11.659 --> 00:02:14.159
a more mainstream sort of conventional performer

00:02:14.159 --> 00:02:18.000
into the groundbreaking, fearless and often confrontational

00:02:18.000 --> 00:02:20.919
voice he became. We'll delve into his very public

00:02:20.919 --> 00:02:23.780
struggles with fame, his harrowing health battles

00:02:23.780 --> 00:02:26.800
and the profound personal demons that both fuel

00:02:26.669 --> 00:02:29.430
and plagued him. A real duality there. Totally.

00:02:30.030 --> 00:02:32.729
Ultimately, we'll examine his monumental and

00:02:32.729 --> 00:02:35.849
enduring legacy, a legacy that continues to resonate

00:02:35.849 --> 00:02:38.550
decades after his passing. You'll hear about

00:02:38.550 --> 00:02:41.150
the deeply personal experiences that fueled his

00:02:41.150 --> 00:02:44.449
genius and the specific career milestones that

00:02:44.449 --> 00:02:46.909
solidified his irreplaceable place in history.

00:02:47.169 --> 00:02:49.389
That's gonna be quite the dive. Let's get into

00:02:49.389 --> 00:02:52.150
it with the formative years. Difficult beginning.

00:02:52.569 --> 00:02:54.770
Okay, so to truly understand Richard Pryor, we

00:02:54.770 --> 00:02:56.310
have to start right at the beginning. And that

00:02:56.310 --> 00:02:59.729
beginning was, well, anything but ordinary. Far

00:02:59.729 --> 00:03:02.289
from it. It's a childhood that undeniably laid

00:03:02.289 --> 00:03:05.090
the raw autobiographical foundation for so much

00:03:05.090 --> 00:03:07.689
of his later comedy. He was born December 1st,

00:03:07.689 --> 00:03:10.969
1940 in Peoria, Illinois, but his home life was

00:03:10.969 --> 00:03:12.830
worlds away from, you know, the idyllic picture

00:03:12.830 --> 00:03:15.550
many might imagine. He literally grew up in a

00:03:15.550 --> 00:03:18.550
brothel, a brothel vigorously run by his grandmother,

00:03:18.770 --> 00:03:21.699
Marie Carter. Think about that. Not just visiting,

00:03:21.960 --> 00:03:24.419
but living there. Exactly. This wasn't just a

00:03:24.419 --> 00:03:26.800
place he occasionally visited. It was his primary

00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:29.759
residence. And within those walls, his mother,

00:03:29.979 --> 00:03:32.439
Gertrude L. Thomas, worked as a prostitute and

00:03:32.439 --> 00:03:35.039
struggled with alcoholism. While his father,

00:03:35.280 --> 00:03:38.240
Leroy Buck Carter Pryor, a former boxer, hustler,

00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:41.199
and pimp, added another layer of volatility to

00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:43.780
this inc... incredibly turbulent picture. Just

00:03:43.780 --> 00:03:46.219
layers upon layers of instability. This wasn't

00:03:46.219 --> 00:03:48.379
a stable environment for any child, let alone

00:03:48.379 --> 00:03:51.020
a budding comedic mind. After his mother abandoned

00:03:51.020 --> 00:03:53.419
him at the tender age of ten. Ten years old.

00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:56.680
Yeah. His grandmother Marie essentially became

00:03:56.680 --> 00:03:59.580
his primary caregiver. She's often described

00:03:59.580 --> 00:04:02.879
in accounts as tall, formidable, and physically

00:04:02.879 --> 00:04:06.479
violent. Yeah, not exactly nurturing. No. Apparently

00:04:06.479 --> 00:04:08.479
she wasn't shy about beating him, often for what

00:04:08.479 --> 00:04:11.460
she saw as his eccentricities, maybe early signs

00:04:11.460 --> 00:04:13.680
of his artistic temperament. Could be, or just

00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:16.310
a kid. being a kid in an impossible situation.

00:04:16.670 --> 00:04:19.050
True. Can you imagine the emotional landscape

00:04:19.050 --> 00:04:21.790
of growing up in such a place, seeing the raw

00:04:21.790 --> 00:04:25.310
underbelly of life every single day? He was one

00:04:25.310 --> 00:04:28.009
of four children raised within the confines of

00:04:28.009 --> 00:04:30.110
this brothel. And the trauma didn't stop at the

00:04:30.110 --> 00:04:32.870
environment itself, sadly. No, tragically it

00:04:32.870 --> 00:04:34.769
didn't. He was sexually abused at just seven

00:04:34.769 --> 00:04:38.089
years old. Unbelievable. And later, perhaps unsurprisingly,

00:04:38.589 --> 00:04:41.290
expelled from school when he was only 14. That's

00:04:41.290 --> 00:04:43.490
an astonishing amount of hardship packed into

00:04:43.490 --> 00:04:46.839
such a What's truly fascinating here, though,

00:04:46.920 --> 00:04:49.959
from an analytical standpoint, is how these traumatic

00:04:49.959 --> 00:04:52.740
early experiences, experiences that might be

00:04:52.740 --> 00:04:55.279
hidden or glossed over in other biographies,

00:04:55.779 --> 00:04:58.279
they became the very wellspring of his material.

00:04:58.779 --> 00:05:01.439
It raises an important question, I think. For

00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:03.699
an artist, how much of a comedian's genius is

00:05:03.699 --> 00:05:06.199
forged in their earliest struggles and their

00:05:06.199 --> 00:05:09.199
ability to, you know... metabolize that pain.

00:05:09.339 --> 00:05:11.399
That's a great point. For Prior, it seems the

00:05:11.399 --> 00:05:13.759
raw pain, the absurdity, and the vivid, often

00:05:13.759 --> 00:05:16.160
shocking, characters of his formative years weren't

00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:18.680
just background noise. They became the central,

00:05:18.839 --> 00:05:21.399
unflinching characters in his later comedy. He

00:05:21.399 --> 00:05:23.879
wasn't just observing life from a distance. He

00:05:23.879 --> 00:05:27.250
lived it. Exactly. in the most visceral sense

00:05:27.250 --> 00:05:30.410
stripped of societal pretense. And then with

00:05:30.410 --> 00:05:32.949
incredible bravery, he brought every last bit

00:05:32.949 --> 00:05:36.129
of that lived chaos to the stage, transforming

00:05:36.129 --> 00:05:38.970
personal agony into communal truth. It's quite

00:05:38.970 --> 00:05:41.209
something. His path didn't exactly smooth out

00:05:41.209 --> 00:05:43.730
after leaving school either. No kidding. In fact,

00:05:43.829 --> 00:05:46.509
he found himself in another structured yet challenging

00:05:46.509 --> 00:05:50.050
environment, the U .S. Army. He served from 1958

00:05:50.050 --> 00:05:53.110
to 1960, but interestingly, he spent virtually

00:05:53.110 --> 00:05:56.810
his entire stint in an army prison in West Germany.

00:05:56.910 --> 00:05:59.050
Yeah, that's a key detail, not just basic training

00:05:59.050 --> 00:06:01.629
and out. Right. And this wasn't for some minor

00:06:01.629 --> 00:06:05.050
infraction that landed him there. A 1999 profile

00:06:05.050 --> 00:06:07.550
in the New Yorker detailed the harrowing incident.

00:06:08.110 --> 00:06:10.250
Pryor, along with several other black soldiers,

00:06:10.550 --> 00:06:13.310
beat and stabbed a white soldier. Wow. Apparently,

00:06:13.350 --> 00:06:15.629
the white soldier had been overly amused by racially

00:06:15.629 --> 00:06:17.709
charged scenes in the film Imitation of Life.

00:06:17.970 --> 00:06:20.350
Oh, OK. So there was a trigger. Seems so. The

00:06:20.350 --> 00:06:22.829
soldier fortunately survived, but Pryor was incarcerated

00:06:22.829 --> 00:06:25.129
for the majority of his service, a stark testament

00:06:25.129 --> 00:06:27.230
to the consequences of his actions, I suppose.

00:06:27.610 --> 00:06:29.569
Well, and this early incident, it really highlights

00:06:29.569 --> 00:06:32.430
a deep -seated anger, doesn't it? An almost hypersensitivity

00:06:32.430 --> 00:06:35.110
to racial injustice that would become such a

00:06:35.110 --> 00:06:37.069
cornerstone of his later, more controversial

00:06:37.069 --> 00:06:39.350
com - You can see the scenes right there. Absolutely.

00:06:39.930 --> 00:06:43.170
It's an early, visceral indicator of his unwillingness

00:06:43.170 --> 00:06:45.930
to shy away from difficult truths, even at immense

00:06:45.930 --> 00:06:49.449
personal cost. It shows a young man who, even

00:06:49.449 --> 00:06:51.990
then, was deeply affected by the racial dynamics

00:06:51.990 --> 00:06:54.970
around him and was prepared to react, maybe violently,

00:06:55.430 --> 00:06:58.310
to perceived injustices. Yeah. That force would

00:06:58.310 --> 00:07:00.750
later translate into his fearless stage presence.

00:07:01.040 --> 00:07:04.240
It's a powerful look into the emotional and psychological

00:07:04.240 --> 00:07:06.779
landscape that would come to define his artistic

00:07:06.779 --> 00:07:09.980
output, a willingness to confront, even violently,

00:07:10.259 --> 00:07:13.000
the ugliness he perceived. Remarkably, even within

00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:15.759
these tumultuous early chapters, Pryor was seeking

00:07:15.759 --> 00:07:18.639
and finding communities. It hints at this deeper

00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:20.839
need for belonging, maybe. That makes sense.

00:07:21.060 --> 00:07:23.360
We see this, for instance, in his early affiliations.

00:07:23.759 --> 00:07:26.319
He was a member of Henry Brown Lodge No. 22 in

00:07:26.319 --> 00:07:28.560
Peoria, where he became a Prince Hall Freemason.

00:07:28.720 --> 00:07:31.860
Ah, okay. Prince Hall. Yeah. For those unfamiliar,

00:07:32.160 --> 00:07:34.720
Prince Hall Freemasonry is a historically African

00:07:34.720 --> 00:07:37.740
-American branch of Freemasonry established when

00:07:37.740 --> 00:07:40.500
black men were excluded from other Masonic lodges.

00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:41.980
Right, offering that brotherhood and structure.

00:07:42.300 --> 00:07:44.660
Exactly. It offered a sense of brotherhood, community,

00:07:44.860 --> 00:07:47.779
and moral structure, perhaps a real contrast

00:07:47.779 --> 00:07:50.860
to the chaos of his upbringing. And maybe a place

00:07:50.860 --> 00:07:53.779
where his eccentricities were less target for

00:07:53.779 --> 00:07:57.100
violence, and more a sign of individuality within

00:07:57.100 --> 00:08:00.459
a supportive, if, you know, secretive network.

00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:02.379
A fascinating counterpoint to the rest of his

00:08:02.379 --> 00:08:05.600
early life. Yeah. Early career. The genesis of

00:08:05.600 --> 00:08:09.379
a legend. So by 1963, a significant shift happens

00:08:09.379 --> 00:08:12.529
geographically and artistically. prior moves

00:08:12.529 --> 00:08:14.350
to New York City. Right into the thick of it.

00:08:14.569 --> 00:08:17.310
Absolutely. And bursting himself in the burgeoning

00:08:17.310 --> 00:08:19.449
comedy scene of the time. This was a pivotal

00:08:19.449 --> 00:08:22.069
moment. He began performing regularly in clubs

00:08:22.069 --> 00:08:24.730
alongside other future legends, cultural icons

00:08:24.730 --> 00:08:27.310
like Bob Dylan, who was making his mark in the

00:08:27.310 --> 00:08:30.089
folk scene, and Woody Allen, who was also honing

00:08:30.089 --> 00:08:32.730
his neurotic, intellectual, comedic style. Can

00:08:32.730 --> 00:08:35.169
you imagine the energy in those rooms? Seriously.

00:08:35.710 --> 00:08:39.029
The raw talent, the ambition buzzing in those

00:08:39.029 --> 00:08:41.509
smoky, intimate clubs during that era, it must

00:08:41.509 --> 00:08:44.230
have been electric. Definitely. However, it was

00:08:44.230 --> 00:08:46.389
far from an overnight success, and he certainly

00:08:46.389 --> 00:08:49.460
wasn't the fearless Pryor we'd later know. Not

00:08:49.460 --> 00:08:52.100
yet. No, not at all. Nina Simone, the legendary

00:08:52.100 --> 00:08:54.899
singer and pianist, shared a particularly telling

00:08:54.899 --> 00:08:57.440
recollection from one of his first nights. He

00:08:57.440 --> 00:08:59.879
opened for her at New York's Village Gate. Right.

00:08:59.879 --> 00:09:02.580
I remember reading this. She described his extreme

00:09:02.580 --> 00:09:05.320
nervousness before performances, saying, and

00:09:05.320 --> 00:09:08.179
I quote, He shook like he had malaria. He was

00:09:08.179 --> 00:09:10.299
so nervous. I couldn't bear to watch him shiver.

00:09:10.340 --> 00:09:12.259
So I put my arms around him there in the dark

00:09:12.259 --> 00:09:14.840
and rocked him like a baby until he calmed down.

00:09:15.259 --> 00:09:18.259
Wow. Rocked him like a baby. Night after night,

00:09:18.259 --> 00:09:20.899
she said. Offering him comfort and reassurance.

00:09:21.200 --> 00:09:23.220
That anecdote from Nina Simone is incredibly

00:09:23.220 --> 00:09:26.340
revealing, isn't it? It shows us the deep vulnerability

00:09:26.340 --> 00:09:29.679
and frankly profound performance anxiety behind

00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:32.019
the budding artist. A total contrast to later.

00:09:32.419 --> 00:09:36.179
A stark contrast to the fearless, almost confrontational

00:09:36.179 --> 00:09:39.250
stage presence he would later cultivate. It makes

00:09:39.250 --> 00:09:41.950
you wonder how many early artists struggle with

00:09:41.950 --> 00:09:44.990
that intense level of trepidation before they

00:09:44.990 --> 00:09:47.690
truly find their voice and own their stage. Yeah.

00:09:47.830 --> 00:09:50.629
For Prior, this initial nervousness makes his

00:09:50.629 --> 00:09:53.850
eventual metamorphosis into a comedic titan even

00:09:53.850 --> 00:09:56.409
more profound. It wasn't an inherent fearlessness,

00:09:56.409 --> 00:09:59.149
you see. It was a bravery earned through struggle,

00:09:59.629 --> 00:10:02.070
a battle he fought backstage before ever uttering

00:10:02.070 --> 00:10:04.850
a word. Wrestling with his own potential. Exactly.

00:10:05.149 --> 00:10:07.720
Haunted by the specter of failure. or perhaps

00:10:07.720 --> 00:10:10.299
even more so, the fear of revealing his true

00:10:10.299 --> 00:10:12.820
self. Initially, his comedic style was quite

00:10:12.820 --> 00:10:15.019
different from the raw, explosive persona he

00:10:15.019 --> 00:10:17.220
eventually became known for. Oh yeah, very different.

00:10:17.340 --> 00:10:19.559
He began as what's often been called a middle

00:10:19.559 --> 00:10:22.700
brow comic, largely inspired by the clean, observational

00:10:22.700 --> 00:10:25.440
humor of Bill Cosby. The Cosby influence was

00:10:25.440 --> 00:10:28.279
huge early on. In this phase, Prior presented

00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:31.019
a much less controversial, more palatable version

00:10:31.019 --> 00:10:34.429
of himself. Imagine a performer charming audiences

00:10:34.429 --> 00:10:37.649
with universal, relatable, observational humor,

00:10:38.190 --> 00:10:40.789
focusing on everyday themes rather than the raw,

00:10:40.789 --> 00:10:43.090
cutting edges of his own life. The suit, the

00:10:43.090 --> 00:10:46.049
clean jokes. Right. Prior was initially a master

00:10:46.049 --> 00:10:49.149
of this, appearing impeccably dressed, delivering

00:10:49.149 --> 00:10:51.870
punchlines with a polished, almost sanitized

00:10:51.870 --> 00:10:55.049
precision that completely masked the tempest

00:10:55.049 --> 00:10:57.450
brewing within. It's hard to even picture now.

00:10:57.750 --> 00:11:00.129
This more conventional approach earned him regular

00:11:00.129 --> 00:11:03.549
spots on major TV variety shows, big ones. The

00:11:03.549 --> 00:11:06.169
Ed Sullivan show, the Merv Griffin show, the

00:11:06.169 --> 00:11:08.370
Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson. So he was

00:11:08.370 --> 00:11:10.610
getting noticed, playing the game. Definitely.

00:11:10.990 --> 00:11:13.549
His burgeoning popularity even led to considerable

00:11:13.549 --> 00:11:15.769
success in the vibrant club scene of Las Vegas,

00:11:15.990 --> 00:11:17.870
the pinnacle of mainstream entertainment at the

00:11:17.870 --> 00:11:19.830
time. Vegas was the goal for many back then.

00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:21.960
Some of his earliest recordings, specifically

00:11:21.960 --> 00:11:25.039
the first five tracks on that 2005 compilation,

00:11:25.080 --> 00:11:28.519
Evolution Revolution. The early years, 1966,

00:11:28.759 --> 00:11:31.159
1974, they beautifully capture prior in this

00:11:31.159 --> 00:11:33.460
period, showcasing this more conventional style

00:11:33.460 --> 00:11:36.820
from 66, 67. Right before the big shift. He even

00:11:36.820 --> 00:11:39.100
had a guest star appearance on the Western series,

00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:42.620
The Wild Wild West in 1966, playing a character

00:11:42.620 --> 00:11:44.879
called Barman. Ah, didn't know that one. So you

00:11:44.879 --> 00:11:47.360
can see he was on a clear trajectory, right,

00:11:47.360 --> 00:11:50.460
to be a very successful but perhaps conventional,

00:11:50.860 --> 00:11:52.659
comedian. Fitting the mold. He was fitting into

00:11:52.659 --> 00:11:55.320
the molds provided, gaining traction, popularity.

00:11:55.879 --> 00:11:58.919
But then, as often happens with truly groundbreaking

00:11:58.919 --> 00:12:01.899
artists, something seismic shifted. Ah, here

00:12:01.899 --> 00:12:03.840
we go. Here's where it gets really interesting.

00:12:04.340 --> 00:12:07.980
Where the mask began to crack and the true Richard

00:12:07.980 --> 00:12:11.179
Pryor started to emerge. Third, breakthrough

00:12:11.179 --> 00:12:14.519
and transformation. Finding his voice. This moment.

00:12:15.220 --> 00:12:18.159
It's legendary. A radical, life -altering turning

00:12:18.159 --> 00:12:20.659
point. Absolutely. Not just for his career, but

00:12:20.659 --> 00:12:22.899
for his whole artistic and personal identity.

00:12:23.379 --> 00:12:26.379
September 1967, performing at the Aladdin Hotel

00:12:26.379 --> 00:12:29.519
in Las Vegas. Vegas again, but different this

00:12:29.519 --> 00:12:31.480
time. Totally different. Dean Martin is famously

00:12:31.480 --> 00:12:34.000
in the audience. Prior stops mid -set, looks

00:12:34.000 --> 00:12:36.100
out at the sold -out crowd, pauses, and then

00:12:36.100 --> 00:12:38.220
with this electrifying force just yells into

00:12:38.220 --> 00:12:40.799
the microphone, what the fuck am I doing here?

00:12:40.899 --> 00:12:43.740
And then just... walks off stage, leaves the

00:12:43.740 --> 00:12:46.779
audience stunned. It was this profound act of

00:12:46.779 --> 00:12:50.120
self -rejection, wasn't it? Rejecting that Cosby

00:12:50.120 --> 00:12:52.480
-esque persona he'd been painstakingly cultivating.

00:12:52.600 --> 00:12:54.460
A dramatic statement. He just couldn't do it

00:12:54.460 --> 00:12:57.120
anymore. It felt inauthentic. Exactly. Yeah.

00:12:57.259 --> 00:13:00.059
Afterward, this internal revolution quickly manifested

00:13:00.059 --> 00:13:03.440
externally. Prior began incorporating profanity

00:13:03.440 --> 00:13:06.600
into his act with a vengeance. Uh -huh. Including

00:13:06.600 --> 00:13:09.000
the big one? Including, most controversially,

00:13:09.179 --> 00:13:12.860
the word nigger. His 1968 debut album, Richard

00:13:12.860 --> 00:13:16.120
Pryor, released on Dover Prize, is a vital recording.

00:13:16.820 --> 00:13:19.120
It captures this immediate evolution reflecting

00:13:19.120 --> 00:13:22.179
the raw, unfiltered aftermath of this transformative

00:13:22.179 --> 00:13:24.539
moment. You hear the change? And adding to his

00:13:24.539 --> 00:13:26.700
profound personal struggles during this transitional

00:13:26.700 --> 00:13:28.879
period, both his parents passed away in quick

00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:32.279
succession, his mother in 67, his father in 68.

00:13:32.379 --> 00:13:35.399
Wow, all at the same time. grief and artistic

00:13:35.399 --> 00:13:37.559
liberation colliding. Must have deepened his

00:13:37.559 --> 00:13:40.100
already complex emotional landscape incredibly.

00:13:40.500 --> 00:13:42.539
Yeah, this epiphany, it wasn't just a career

00:13:42.539 --> 00:13:46.019
move, it was profound personal and artistic liberation.

00:13:46.269 --> 00:13:49.289
It highlights how some artists must absolutely

00:13:49.289 --> 00:13:51.830
shatter expectations, even their own previously

00:13:51.830 --> 00:13:54.730
-held ones, to truly find their authentic voice.

00:13:54.870 --> 00:13:57.309
He had to break free. Totally. The immediate,

00:13:57.389 --> 00:13:59.909
almost violent shift in his language on stage,

00:14:00.110 --> 00:14:02.690
particularly the raw and unfiltered use of the

00:14:02.690 --> 00:14:05.409
N -word, was incredibly provocative back then.

00:14:05.590 --> 00:14:08.529
Hugely. It was a sharp, intentional break from

00:14:08.529 --> 00:14:10.830
the more palatable, middle -of -the -road Cosby

00:14:10.830 --> 00:14:14.250
style he had imitated. signaled a new fearless

00:14:14.250 --> 00:14:16.850
and often deeply uncomfortable approach to comedy

00:14:16.850 --> 00:14:19.090
that would define his legacy. Shedding a skin.

00:14:19.409 --> 00:14:23.470
Exactly. Revealing the raw nerves beneath. Embracing

00:14:23.470 --> 00:14:25.470
a style that allowed him to embody characters

00:14:25.470 --> 00:14:28.049
from his life, inhabit their voices, deliver

00:14:28.049 --> 00:14:30.570
social satire with an unprecedented cutting edge.

00:14:31.070 --> 00:14:32.909
It's the moment the observer became the participant,

00:14:33.169 --> 00:14:35.570
you know. The storyteller became the story. This

00:14:35.570 --> 00:14:37.830
transformation was further solidified when Prior

00:14:37.830 --> 00:14:40.909
moved to Berkeley, California in 1969. Oh, Berkeley.

00:14:41.309 --> 00:14:44.379
Perfect timing. Right, immersing himself in the

00:14:44.379 --> 00:14:46.919
vibrant counterculture scene flourishing there.

00:14:47.419 --> 00:14:50.039
In Berkeley, he engaged with influential figures

00:14:50.039 --> 00:14:52.559
like Huey P. Newton. Wow, Black Panther founder.

00:14:52.740 --> 00:14:56.649
Yep. And the renowned author Ishmael Reed. This

00:14:56.649 --> 00:14:59.570
environment undoubtedly fueled his evolving political

00:14:59.570 --> 00:15:02.350
and social perspectives, deepening his commentary,

00:15:02.490 --> 00:15:04.789
and providing a platform for him to articulate

00:15:04.789 --> 00:15:07.129
the frustrations and aspirations of a generation

00:15:07.129 --> 00:15:09.289
seeking change. Makes perfect sense. Berkeley

00:15:09.289 --> 00:15:11.330
in 69 was the place to be for that. Throughout

00:15:11.330 --> 00:15:15.009
the 1970s, Prior expanded his reach dramatically

00:15:15.009 --> 00:15:18.190
beyond stand -up stages. He became a highly sought

00:15:18.190 --> 00:15:20.990
-after writer for popular TV shows. Right, using

00:15:20.990 --> 00:15:23.190
that voice in different ways. Contributing his

00:15:23.190 --> 00:15:26.029
unique perspective to hits like Sanford and The

00:15:26.029 --> 00:15:29.350
Flip Wilson Show, and even a 1973 Lily Tomlin

00:15:29.350 --> 00:15:31.850
special, for which he shared a prestigious Emmy

00:15:31.850 --> 00:15:34.769
Award for Outstanding Writing. And Emmy. People

00:15:34.769 --> 00:15:36.830
forget how successful he was as a writer, too.

00:15:36.870 --> 00:15:39.490
Totally. His acting career also blossomed during

00:15:39.490 --> 00:15:41.809
this period, showcasing his versatility on the

00:15:41.809 --> 00:15:44.269
big screen. He appeared in critically acclaimed

00:15:44.269 --> 00:15:47.169
films like Lady Sings the Blues with Diana Ross,

00:15:47.529 --> 00:15:51.019
The Blaxploitation Classic, the Mac Uptown Saturday

00:15:51.019 --> 00:15:54.000
Night, the buddy comedy Silver Streak. With Gene

00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:55.980
Wilder, the star of that partnership. Exactly.

00:15:56.679 --> 00:16:00.720
Car Wash, the gritty drama Blue Collar, and even

00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:03.299
made that memorable brief cameo in the Muppet

00:16:03.299 --> 00:16:06.120
movie as a balloon vendor. I remember that one.

00:16:06.580 --> 00:16:09.159
As his presence grew on screen, the demand for

00:16:09.159 --> 00:16:11.840
Pryor's unique voice extended to his recording

00:16:11.840 --> 00:16:15.440
career. But that path... true to form, was also

00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:17.980
fraught with significant legal battles. Always

00:16:17.980 --> 00:16:20.940
complications with Pryor. It seems so. In 1970,

00:16:21.139 --> 00:16:23.720
Pryor signed with Laugh Records, that independent,

00:16:24.019 --> 00:16:27.220
comedy -oriented label. In 71, he recorded his

00:16:27.220 --> 00:16:30.779
second album, Craps, after Hours, still relatively

00:16:30.779 --> 00:16:32.720
early commercially for him. Right, before the

00:16:32.720 --> 00:16:35.179
huge explosion. Still relatively unknown to a

00:16:35.179 --> 00:16:37.360
mainstream national audience, he made a truly

00:16:37.360 --> 00:16:40.799
notable appearance in the 1972 documentary, Wattstacks.

00:16:41.039 --> 00:16:43.559
Ah, yes, Wattstacks was huge. In this film, he

00:16:43.559 --> 00:16:46.240
powerfully riffed on the tragic comic absurdities

00:16:46.240 --> 00:16:49.519
of race relations in Watts and across the U .S.,

00:16:49.519 --> 00:16:51.279
delivering a performance that really resonated.

00:16:51.440 --> 00:16:54.100
You could see the power even then. Not long after,

00:16:54.259 --> 00:16:56.860
seeking a larger platform, greater distribution,

00:16:57.320 --> 00:17:01.019
Prior signed with Stax Records in 73. This led

00:17:01.019 --> 00:17:03.559
to the release of his true breakthrough album,

00:17:03.659 --> 00:17:07.299
That Nigger's Crazy, in 1974. Landmark album.

00:17:07.559 --> 00:17:09.599
Absolutely changed the game. But this success

00:17:09.599 --> 00:17:12.920
wasn't without complications. Laff Records, claiming

00:17:12.920 --> 00:17:15.519
ownership from their earlier contract, almost

00:17:15.519 --> 00:17:17.859
succeeded in preventing the album's release with

00:17:17.859 --> 00:17:21.079
an injunction. Legal battles. A protracted legal

00:17:21.079 --> 00:17:23.420
battle ensued, eventually leading to Pryor's

00:17:23.420 --> 00:17:25.839
release from his Laff contract. The compromise,

00:17:25.880 --> 00:17:28.099
however, was that Laff was allowed to keep releasing

00:17:28.099 --> 00:17:30.619
older, unissued material he'd recorded between

00:17:30.619 --> 00:17:34.000
68 and 73. Ah, capitalizing on his new fame.

00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:36.960
Exactly. They strategically timed these releases

00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:39.700
with his mainstream film successes. So albums

00:17:39.700 --> 00:17:42.700
like Are You Serious came out around Silver Streak,

00:17:43.019 --> 00:17:45.259
The Wizard of Comedy with The Wiz, Insane with

00:17:45.259 --> 00:17:47.880
Stir Crazy, created confusion among fans about

00:17:47.880 --> 00:17:49.619
what was current. Yeah, that must have been frustrating

00:17:49.619 --> 00:17:52.009
for him. and confusing for listeners. Despite

00:17:52.009 --> 00:17:54.309
these contractual complexities, That Nigger's

00:17:54.309 --> 00:17:56.650
Crazy was a commercial and critical sensation.

00:17:57.230 --> 00:17:59.450
Certified Gold won the Grammy for Best Comedy

00:17:59.450 --> 00:18:03.900
Album in 1975. First Grammy, huge deal. When

00:18:03.900 --> 00:18:06.519
Stax Records briefly closed its doors, Prior

00:18:06.519 --> 00:18:08.559
returned to surprise Warner Bros. his original

00:18:08.559 --> 00:18:11.119
label. They swiftly re -released That Nigger's

00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:13.420
Crazy and then followed up with Is This Something

00:18:13.420 --> 00:18:16.240
I Said in 75? Another classic. That one went

00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:19.539
platinum, earned him another Grammy in 76. The

00:18:19.539 --> 00:18:21.619
streak continued with Bicentennial Nigger in

00:18:21.619 --> 00:18:24.720
76, his third consecutive gold album and Grammy

00:18:24.720 --> 00:18:27.859
winner in 77. Three Grammys in a row for comedy.

00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:31.299
unheard of. Truly solidifying his status as an

00:18:31.299 --> 00:18:33.940
unparalleled comedic powerhouse and cultural

00:18:33.940 --> 00:18:36.220
force. He was on top of the world, comedically

00:18:36.220 --> 00:18:38.640
speaking. Beyond his groundbreaking stand -up,

00:18:38.880 --> 00:18:41.920
Pryor also made that significant, though controversial

00:18:41.920 --> 00:18:45.519
mark as a writer in Hollywood. In 1974, co -writing

00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:48.400
Mel Brooks's satirical Western Blazing Saddles.

00:18:48.500 --> 00:18:52.000
Which is just iconic. Still hilarious. Absolutely.

00:18:52.420 --> 00:18:54.339
What's particularly intriguing and a source of

00:18:54.339 --> 00:18:56.720
much debate is that Pryor was initially slated

00:18:56.720 --> 00:18:58.839
to play the lead role of Bart. Right, the role

00:18:58.839 --> 00:19:02.660
Cleavon Little made famous. Exactly. But conflicting

00:19:02.660 --> 00:19:05.039
accounts cloud the real reasons he didn't get

00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:08.200
the part. Mel Brooks later claimed Warner Brothers

00:19:08.200 --> 00:19:12.319
execs vetoed Pryor's casting, said he was uninsurable

00:19:12.319 --> 00:19:16.569
due to a drug arrest. But that's never been confirmed,

00:19:16.750 --> 00:19:19.589
has it? No studio executive from that era has

00:19:19.589 --> 00:19:22.269
ever corroborated that specific claim. Leaves

00:19:22.269 --> 00:19:25.690
it open to interpretation. Director Michael Schultz

00:19:25.690 --> 00:19:28.190
offered a different perspective. He stated, Richard

00:19:28.190 --> 00:19:30.890
wrote it and Mel Brooks chased him out, suggesting

00:19:30.890 --> 00:19:34.089
Brooks wanted total credit. Ooh, that's a different

00:19:34.089 --> 00:19:37.109
angle entirely. Prior himself reportedly learned

00:19:37.109 --> 00:19:39.049
from Cleavon Little that he wouldn't be in the

00:19:39.049 --> 00:19:41.940
film. Must've been a painful blow given his creative

00:19:41.940 --> 00:19:44.140
investment. For sure, especially after co -writing

00:19:44.140 --> 00:19:46.380
it. This incident highlights not just the creative

00:19:46.380 --> 00:19:48.819
process, but also the power dynamics and, let's

00:19:48.819 --> 00:19:51.259
face it, racial politics at play in Hollywood

00:19:51.259 --> 00:19:53.460
back then. Yeah, this blazing saddest incident,

00:19:53.460 --> 00:19:55.920
it raises important questions, doesn't it? About

00:19:55.920 --> 00:19:58.680
creative control, the subtle and overt racial

00:19:58.680 --> 00:20:01.640
politics in Hollywood, and how history gets retold

00:20:01.640 --> 00:20:04.480
often to serve particular narratives. Absolutely.

00:20:04.700 --> 00:20:08.420
It suggests a potential pattern, maybe. of Pryor's

00:20:08.420 --> 00:20:11.220
immense talent being recognized. I mean, he was

00:20:11.220 --> 00:20:13.759
clearly instrumental in shaping that iconic script,

00:20:14.200 --> 00:20:17.480
but his actual presence on screen, particularly

00:20:17.480 --> 00:20:19.519
in a leading role that would challenge racial

00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:21.980
norms, like Bart certainly did. Seen as too risky.

00:20:22.259 --> 00:20:24.720
Exactly. Viewed as a significant risk by the

00:20:24.720 --> 00:20:27.579
studios, especially during a period when he was

00:20:27.579 --> 00:20:30.240
becoming increasingly outspoken and controversial

00:20:30.240 --> 00:20:33.200
in his standup, a risk they seemed unwilling

00:20:33.200 --> 00:20:35.660
to take, regardless of his undeniable writing

00:20:35.660 --> 00:20:38.059
contribution. Makes you wonder how many other

00:20:38.059 --> 00:20:39.880
groundbreaking projects might have been stifled

00:20:39.880 --> 00:20:42.299
by those anxieties. He also explored mainstream

00:20:42.299 --> 00:20:44.880
television, but his provocative style often clashed

00:20:44.880 --> 00:20:47.299
head -on with network expectations, sometimes

00:20:47.299 --> 00:20:50.759
spectacularly so. Yeah, SNL comes to mind. 1975

00:20:50.759 --> 00:20:53.400
made history as the first black host of Saturday

00:20:53.400 --> 00:20:56.359
Night Live. His appearance included the now legendary

00:20:56.359 --> 00:20:59.039
and deeply controversial Word Association skit

00:20:59.039 --> 00:21:01.099
with Chevy Chase. Still shocking to watch today.

00:21:01.640 --> 00:21:04.069
Push boundaries hard. Totally. forced audiences

00:21:04.069 --> 00:21:06.750
to confront uncomfortable truths on live TV.

00:21:07.349 --> 00:21:09.250
His longtime girlfriend at the time, Catherine

00:21:09.250 --> 00:21:11.750
McKee, even made a brief guest appearance with

00:21:11.750 --> 00:21:14.509
him on SNL, blurring the lines between personal

00:21:14.509 --> 00:21:17.829
and public. Interesting. Two years later, 1977,

00:21:18.210 --> 00:21:20.329
he gets his own variety show, The Richard Pryor

00:21:20.329 --> 00:21:23.890
Show, on NBC. Huge opportunity. Huge. But despite

00:21:23.890 --> 00:21:26.170
the platform, canceled up for only four episodes.

00:21:26.410 --> 00:21:30.220
Four? That's it. Yep. Swift cancellation, largely

00:21:30.220 --> 00:21:32.359
due to the show's controversial subject matter,

00:21:32.900 --> 00:21:35.640
and Pryor's absolute unwillingness to alter his

00:21:35.640 --> 00:21:37.940
material for network sensors. They just weren't

00:21:37.940 --> 00:21:40.279
ready. What kind of stuff was he doing? He portrayed

00:21:40.279 --> 00:21:43.000
the first black president decades before it happened,

00:21:43.599 --> 00:21:46.259
spoofed the Star Wars Cantina, included a serious

00:21:46.259 --> 00:21:48.680
non -comedy skit on gun violence, surprisingly

00:21:48.680 --> 00:21:51.839
prescient, lampooned racism on the sinking Titanic,

00:21:52.000 --> 00:21:54.779
and even used clever costuming to appear visually

00:21:54.779 --> 00:21:57.740
nude on network TV. Wow. He wasn't holding back.

00:21:57.900 --> 00:21:59.779
Not at all. He famously said about the show,

00:21:59.980 --> 00:22:02.200
they offered me 10 episodes, but I said all I

00:22:02.200 --> 00:22:05.059
wanted to and for. Huh. Classic Pryor. Yeah.

00:22:05.220 --> 00:22:07.859
Commitment to his art over network demands. Tells

00:22:07.859 --> 00:22:10.740
you everything. But another truly significant

00:22:10.740 --> 00:22:12.940
shift occurred in his personal and artistic life.

00:22:13.259 --> 00:22:15.720
A pivotal moment of introspection. The trip to

00:22:15.720 --> 00:22:19.519
Africa. Exactly. In 1979, at the absolute height

00:22:19.519 --> 00:22:22.279
of his success, Richard Pryor visited Kenya.

00:22:23.259 --> 00:22:26.319
Upon returning, he made a profound and very public

00:22:26.319 --> 00:22:29.279
declaration. He swore he would never use the

00:22:29.279 --> 00:22:31.680
word nigger in his stand -up routine again. Which

00:22:31.680 --> 00:22:34.019
was huge, considering how central it had become

00:22:34.019 --> 00:22:36.740
to his commentary. Right, how he famously reclaimed

00:22:36.740 --> 00:22:39.559
it from a slur into this complex, comedic tool,

00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:42.200
a striking decision. Yeah, this self -imposed

00:22:42.200 --> 00:22:45.500
ban on the N -word after his Africa trip is a

00:22:45.500 --> 00:22:48.180
truly pivotal moment, artistically and personally.

00:22:48.460 --> 00:22:50.759
It signifies a profound shift in his understanding

00:22:50.759 --> 00:22:53.359
of racial language, and his responsibility as

00:22:53.359 --> 00:22:55.500
an influential voice. What do you think he gained

00:22:55.500 --> 00:22:58.119
from that trip, experiencing a black majority

00:22:58.119 --> 00:23:00.900
society? That's likely a huge part of it. Perhaps

00:23:00.900 --> 00:23:03.240
experiencing a different reality of black identity,

00:23:03.619 --> 00:23:06.079
one not constantly defined by the white gaze

00:23:06.079 --> 00:23:08.980
or the historical trauma of slavery, gave him

00:23:08.980 --> 00:23:10.700
a new perspective on the power and potential

00:23:10.700 --> 00:23:12.779
harm of that word. A different weight to it.

00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:15.430
Right. He spoke about feeling a different kind

00:23:15.430 --> 00:23:17.910
of burden responsibility after that experience.

00:23:18.369 --> 00:23:20.589
Choosing to lead by example, even when it meant

00:23:20.589 --> 00:23:23.170
re -evaluating one of his most potent, albeit

00:23:23.170 --> 00:23:26.549
controversial, comedic tools. It showcases remarkable

00:23:26.549 --> 00:23:29.609
capacity for introspection and growth, even at

00:23:29.609 --> 00:23:38.579
the peak of his fame. So the 1980s kick off with

00:23:38.579 --> 00:23:41.039
both unprecedented professional success and this

00:23:41.039 --> 00:23:44.180
nearly fatal personal crisis for Pryor, a dramatic

00:23:44.180 --> 00:23:46.220
illustration of the dualities that defined his

00:23:46.220 --> 00:23:48.619
life. The highs and lows are extreme. Absolutely.

00:23:49.019 --> 00:23:51.880
In 1980, he achieves this groundbreaking milestone,

00:23:52.299 --> 00:23:54.400
first black actor to earn a million dollars for

00:23:54.400 --> 00:23:57.079
a single film. We're still crazy. A million bucks

00:23:57.079 --> 00:23:59.680
in 1980. That was huge. Barrier breaking. Not

00:23:59.680 --> 00:24:01.859
just a personal triumph, but a massive moment

00:24:01.859 --> 00:24:04.119
for black actors in Hollywood. However, this

00:24:04.119 --> 00:24:06.380
triumph was quickly overshadowed by that harrowing

00:24:06.380 --> 00:24:10.160
incident on June 9th, 1980. The fire. Yeah. While

00:24:10.160 --> 00:24:12.380
on a free -basing binge, that highly volatile

00:24:12.380 --> 00:24:14.640
method of smoking cocaine. Right. Very dangerous

00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:17.160
process. Pryor doused himself in rum and set

00:24:17.160 --> 00:24:19.700
himself on fire. Right. Now, there are conflicting

00:24:19.700 --> 00:24:22.720
accounts. Some, including Pryor, said he poured

00:24:22.720 --> 00:24:25.579
rum on himself in a moment of drug -induced psychosis.

00:24:26.259 --> 00:24:30.059
Others, like the LAPD, described it as an explosion

00:24:30.059 --> 00:24:32.519
while he was free -basing. Either way. The result

00:24:32.519 --> 00:24:35.920
was horrific. Severe consequences. He ran screaming

00:24:35.920 --> 00:24:38.579
down Parthenia Street from his L .A. home, was

00:24:38.579 --> 00:24:41.480
subdued by police, treated for second - and third

00:24:41.480 --> 00:24:43.660
-degree burns covering more than half his body

00:24:43.660 --> 00:24:46.059
at the Grossman Burn Center. Just unimaginable

00:24:46.059 --> 00:24:48.920
pain. His daughter, Rain Pryor, later said it

00:24:48.920 --> 00:24:52.359
was drug -induced. reduced psychosis. His widow,

00:24:52.619 --> 00:24:54.519
Jennifer Lee, who had moved out after watching

00:24:54.519 --> 00:24:57.380
his addiction spiral, recalled the drug had become

00:24:57.380 --> 00:25:00.000
his lover, that she did not exist in its presence,

00:25:00.299 --> 00:25:03.839
devastated. Remarkably, and this is just pure

00:25:03.839 --> 00:25:06.680
Pryor, he famously incorporated a description

00:25:06.680 --> 00:25:09.039
of this trauma into his show, Richard Pryor,

00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:13.559
live on the Sunset Strip in 82. With his characteristic

00:25:13.559 --> 00:25:15.940
gallows, he uttered that dark, ironic approach.

00:25:16.079 --> 00:25:18.519
He joked the event was caused by dunking a cookie

00:25:18.519 --> 00:25:21.150
into of that mill causing an explosion. At the

00:25:21.150 --> 00:25:23.089
end of the bit, he even poked fun at people telling

00:25:23.089 --> 00:25:25.009
jokes about him by waving a lit match and saying,

00:25:25.470 --> 00:25:28.190
what's that? Richard Pryor running down the street.

00:25:28.490 --> 00:25:30.970
Playing with fire, literally and figuratively,

00:25:31.589 --> 00:25:35.170
transforming near fatal experience into uncomfortable

00:25:35.170 --> 00:25:38.130
cathartic laughter. That's Pryor. Drawing these

00:25:38.130 --> 00:25:40.230
threads together, this incident is such a stark

00:25:40.230 --> 00:25:43.470
illustration of his unwavering commitment to

00:25:43.470 --> 00:25:46.569
mining his own pain for his art. It's a classic

00:25:46.569 --> 00:25:49.369
albeit extreme example of gallows humor, right?

00:25:49.450 --> 00:25:52.349
Textbook. Where he takes a deeply personal tragedy

00:25:52.349 --> 00:25:55.130
and through the sheer force of his comedic genius

00:25:55.130 --> 00:25:57.769
transforms it into a collective catharsis for

00:25:57.769 --> 00:26:00.309
his audience. This highlights the severe and

00:26:00.309 --> 00:26:02.390
very public struggles he faced with substance

00:26:02.390 --> 00:26:05.309
abuse showcasing how deeply entwined his personal

00:26:05.309 --> 00:26:07.869
demons were with his creative process. They fueled

00:26:07.869 --> 00:26:10.410
each other maybe? It seems that way. This wasn't

00:26:10.410 --> 00:26:13.049
just storytelling. It was a form of self -exorcism.

00:26:13.130 --> 00:26:15.890
performed live on stage, forcing both himself

00:26:15.890 --> 00:26:18.730
and his audience to confront the darkest corners

00:26:18.730 --> 00:26:21.609
of his experience. It's a powerful example of

00:26:21.609 --> 00:26:24.529
an artist not just surviving, but actively transmuting

00:26:24.529 --> 00:26:26.930
immense suffering into something profoundly impactful.

00:26:27.609 --> 00:26:30.730
The free -basing incident had immediate, significant

00:26:30.730 --> 00:26:33.930
professional repercussions too, forced him to

00:26:33.930 --> 00:26:36.619
step back from projects at a critical time. Right,

00:26:36.980 --> 00:26:39.160
momentum interrupted. He was replaced by Gregory

00:26:39.160 --> 00:26:41.900
Hines in Mel Brooks's History of the World, Part

00:26:41.900 --> 00:26:44.680
One, a role Brooks had written specifically for

00:26:44.680 --> 00:26:48.039
him. Ouch. Similarly, a scheduled appearance

00:26:48.039 --> 00:26:50.059
on The Muppet Show around that time, which could

00:26:50.059 --> 00:26:52.599
have broadened his audience, had to be filled

00:26:52.599 --> 00:26:54.940
by the show's British writer, Chris Langham.

00:26:55.289 --> 00:26:58.309
Prior was just unable to perform. Understandable,

00:26:58.369 --> 00:27:00.710
given the circumstances. Despite the profound

00:27:00.710 --> 00:27:03.289
trauma, the impact on his health and career,

00:27:03.769 --> 00:27:05.589
Prior didn't stay away from stand -up for long.

00:27:06.029 --> 00:27:08.589
Incredible resilience. He bounced back. Within

00:27:08.589 --> 00:27:10.950
a year of the incident, he filmed and released

00:27:10.950 --> 00:27:13.589
a new concert film and album, Richard Prior,

00:27:13.809 --> 00:27:16.430
here and now in 83, which he notably directed

00:27:16.430 --> 00:27:19.289
himself. Taking control again. Later, in 86,

00:27:19.390 --> 00:27:21.869
he took his experiences to the big screen, writing

00:27:21.869 --> 00:27:24.809
and directing Joe Dancer, Your Life is Calling.

00:27:25.160 --> 00:27:27.660
a fictionalized account of his life, directly

00:27:27.660 --> 00:27:30.299
inspired by the 80 incident. Right, that autobiographical

00:27:30.299 --> 00:27:32.799
film? Wasn't a major commercial success, but

00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:36.460
another deeply personal artistic endeavor, processing

00:27:36.460 --> 00:27:38.980
his trauma through performance. Using art to

00:27:38.980 --> 00:27:42.079
heal, maybe. The mid -80s saw Pryor attempting

00:27:42.079 --> 00:27:44.980
to navigate Hollywood with a major studio deal.

00:27:45.579 --> 00:27:48.019
a move some critics and fans felt steered him

00:27:48.019 --> 00:27:50.079
away from his raw roots towards more commercial

00:27:50.079 --> 00:27:53.880
fare. The Columbia deal. Yep. In 83, signed a

00:27:53.880 --> 00:27:56.220
massive five -year contract with Columbia Pictures

00:27:56.220 --> 00:28:00.259
for an astonishing $40 million. Unheard of for

00:28:00.259 --> 00:28:03.079
a black actor, then. $40 million, wow. As part

00:28:03.079 --> 00:28:05.700
of the deal, he started his own production company,

00:28:05.980 --> 00:28:08.619
Indigo Productions, promising to open opportunities

00:28:08.619 --> 00:28:11.000
for minorities in the industry, still committed

00:28:11.000 --> 00:28:13.519
to representation. Good for him. But the films

00:28:13.519 --> 00:28:15.519
changed. This period was characterized by what

00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:17.900
had been described as softer, more formulaic

00:28:17.900 --> 00:28:21.279
films, big budget projects like Superman the

00:28:21.279 --> 00:28:23.019
Third for which he got four million dollars.

00:28:23.339 --> 00:28:24.640
Superman the Third, yeah, that was something.

00:28:24.880 --> 00:28:27.480
Brewster's Millions, moving, See No Evil, Hear

00:28:27.480 --> 00:28:29.960
No Evil, often starring alongside Gene Wilder.

00:28:30.180 --> 00:28:33.019
More mainstream comedies. Was it purely artistic

00:28:33.019 --> 00:28:36.799
choice? or a pragmatic move in a tough industry,

00:28:37.259 --> 00:28:39.940
especially for him navigating past controversies

00:28:39.940 --> 00:28:43.240
and a huge studio deal. It's complex, highlights

00:28:43.240 --> 00:28:46.240
that tension between creative integrity and commercial

00:28:46.240 --> 00:28:48.519
viability. Always a balancing act in Hollywood.

00:28:48.980 --> 00:28:51.519
Interestingly, he was originally considered for

00:28:51.519 --> 00:28:53.880
Billy Ray Valentine in trading places back in

00:28:53.880 --> 00:28:57.559
83, the part Eddie Murphy eventually took. Ah,

00:28:57.859 --> 00:29:01.039
another what if prior and Murphy in that. Wow.

00:29:01.640 --> 00:29:03.500
In a move that might have seemed completely out

00:29:03.500 --> 00:29:05.940
of character, he even ventured into children's

00:29:05.940 --> 00:29:09.299
television. Really? In 84, briefly hosted a show

00:29:09.299 --> 00:29:12.220
on CBS called Prior's Place, similar to Sesame

00:29:12.220 --> 00:29:14.579
Street, where he'd also appeared earlier. Featured

00:29:14.579 --> 00:29:17.039
puppets, dealt with more sobering issues. Huh.

00:29:17.460 --> 00:29:19.799
How'd it go? Canceled shortly after its debut.

00:29:20.000 --> 00:29:22.519
Maybe too subtle. or just too far from his established

00:29:22.519 --> 00:29:24.539
image. Probably. Hard to square that with his

00:29:24.539 --> 00:29:26.940
standard persona. He also took on the high -profile,

00:29:26.940 --> 00:29:29.400
challenging role of co -hosting the Academy Awards.

00:29:29.740 --> 00:29:33.140
Twice. First in 77, again in 83. The Oscars.

00:29:33.140 --> 00:29:35.000
That must have made the censors nervous. Oh,

00:29:35.059 --> 00:29:37.710
definitely. Given his reputation for profanity,

00:29:37.950 --> 00:29:40.470
network censors issued stern warnings. After

00:29:40.470 --> 00:29:42.849
an early slip in one appearance, a five -second

00:29:42.849 --> 00:29:45.029
delay was instituted when returning from breaks.

00:29:45.130 --> 00:29:47.809
A delay just for him. Made him one of only three

00:29:47.809 --> 00:29:50.309
SNL hosts, along with Sam Kinison and Andrew

00:29:50.309 --> 00:29:53.309
Diceclay, subjected to that. The networks were

00:29:53.309 --> 00:29:57.009
clearly both enamored and terrified of his unpredictable

00:29:57.009 --> 00:29:59.380
genius. That makes sense. Yeah. Which naturally

00:29:59.380 --> 00:30:01.259
leads us to ask an important question about the

00:30:01.259 --> 00:30:02.980
challenges of working with Pryor during this

00:30:02.980 --> 00:30:05.759
period, especially as his personal struggles

00:30:05.759 --> 00:30:08.480
intensify. Yeah, his reputation. He developed

00:30:08.480 --> 00:30:11.099
a reputation on film sets for being quite demanding,

00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:14.220
disrespectful, frequently late, making selfish

00:30:14.220 --> 00:30:17.200
and difficult requests. Gene Wilder provided

00:30:17.200 --> 00:30:20.220
a firsthand account in his autobiography detailing

00:30:20.220 --> 00:30:22.420
Pryor's behavior during Stir Crazy. What did

00:30:22.420 --> 00:30:25.160
he say? Wilder recounted Pryor demanding a helicopter

00:30:25.160 --> 00:30:28.539
to fly him to and from set. asserting his star

00:30:28.539 --> 00:30:32.000
status, maybe acting out. Wow, the diva behavior.

00:30:32.519 --> 00:30:34.420
Wilder also described an infamous incident he

00:30:34.420 --> 00:30:37.279
called the watermelon incident. Last week of

00:30:37.279 --> 00:30:39.799
filming, lunch break, crew member jokingly tosses

00:30:39.799 --> 00:30:43.180
watermelon, lands at Pryor's feet. Oh boy. Pryor

00:30:43.180 --> 00:30:45.740
immediately got up, went home, announced he was

00:30:45.740 --> 00:30:47.640
quitting show business, wouldn't return. Just

00:30:47.640 --> 00:30:50.460
like that. Days later, he returned all smiles

00:30:50.460 --> 00:30:52.859
after the camera operator who threw the watermelon

00:30:52.859 --> 00:30:56.960
was fired. Wilder... Looking back, assumed Prior

00:30:56.960 --> 00:30:59.880
was using drugs during filming, connecting the

00:30:59.880 --> 00:31:03.059
substance abuse to his erratic, demanding, sometimes

00:31:03.059 --> 00:31:05.579
paranoid behavior, paints a complex picture.

00:31:05.880 --> 00:31:09.140
Definitely. A man wrestling with internal demons

00:31:09.140 --> 00:31:12.200
that profoundly impacted his professional relationships.

00:31:12.599 --> 00:31:14.759
So drawing these threads together, what's the

00:31:14.759 --> 00:31:17.299
core takeaway here? It highlights the immense

00:31:17.299 --> 00:31:19.400
pressure, the deep personal struggles he was

00:31:19.400 --> 00:31:22.000
grappling with and how that manifested directly

00:31:22.000 --> 00:31:24.460
in his professional life. Right. The lines blurred

00:31:24.460 --> 00:31:26.960
completely. Paints a picture of an artist incredibly

00:31:26.960 --> 00:31:29.900
gifted, visionary, but also deeply troubled by

00:31:29.900 --> 00:31:33.039
his own demons and the immense toll of his life

00:31:33.039 --> 00:31:36.759
experiences. This tumultuous internal world often

00:31:36.759 --> 00:31:39.160
spilled over into his external conduct. Which

00:31:39.160 --> 00:31:41.680
makes his groundbreaking work even more remarkable.

00:31:42.019 --> 00:31:44.460
He delivered his genius despite, and perhaps

00:31:44.460 --> 00:31:46.980
because of, these profound internal conflicts,

00:31:47.660 --> 00:31:49.960
leaving those around him to navigate the often

00:31:49.960 --> 00:31:53.220
turbulent wake of his brilliant but volatile

00:31:53.220 --> 00:31:56.140
personality. Well put. Nearing the end of the

00:31:56.140 --> 00:31:59.259
decade, 1989, he starred in Harlem Nights. Ah,

00:31:59.279 --> 00:32:02.680
with Eddie Murphy and Red Fox. Exactly. Notable

00:32:02.680 --> 00:32:05.160
for bringing together three generations of black

00:32:05.160 --> 00:32:08.460
comedians. Prior, the ascendant Murphy and the

00:32:08.460 --> 00:32:11.819
legendary Fox in this comedy drama crime film.

00:32:11.920 --> 00:32:13.880
Must have been quite a scene on set. Can you

00:32:13.880 --> 00:32:17.180
imagine? The green room conversations, the stories,

00:32:17.559 --> 00:32:20.039
the sheer comedic power in one room. It was a

00:32:20.039 --> 00:32:23.039
significant collaboration. An elder statesman

00:32:23.039 --> 00:32:25.720
sharing the screen with a new wave he had undoubtedly

00:32:25.720 --> 00:32:28.319
influenced. A direct lineage of comedy genius

00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:31.140
right there. Hey! Later years, an enduring legacy.

00:32:31.369 --> 00:32:33.309
The later years were profoundly marked by that

00:32:33.309 --> 00:32:36.109
debilitating battle with multiple sclerosis,

00:32:36.549 --> 00:32:39.009
and market chronic, unpredictable disease affecting

00:32:39.009 --> 00:32:41.289
the central nervous system. Diagnosed in 86,

00:32:41.410 --> 00:32:44.349
right? Yes. By the mid -90s, the disease had

00:32:44.349 --> 00:32:46.769
progressed so much he largely relied on a power

00:32:46.769 --> 00:32:49.490
-operated mobility scooter, famously joking,

00:32:49.670 --> 00:32:52.049
with characteristic dark humor, that MS stood

00:32:52.049 --> 00:32:55.769
for more shit. Still finding the humor? Even

00:32:55.769 --> 00:32:58.299
then. Amazing. Even in the face of such a devastating

00:32:58.299 --> 00:33:01.200
illness, his wit remained sharp, his spirit unbroken.

00:33:02.119 --> 00:33:04.579
His last film appearance was a small but poignant

00:33:04.579 --> 00:33:07.640
role in David Lynch's surreal mystery Lost Highway

00:33:07.640 --> 00:33:11.440
in 97, appeared on his scooter as Arnie, an auto

00:33:11.440 --> 00:33:14.119
repair garage manager, bringing his unique presence

00:33:14.119 --> 00:33:16.740
even to unconventional projects. Even Lynch wanted

00:33:16.740 --> 00:33:19.869
him. It says a lot. In 2000, Rhino Records released

00:33:19.869 --> 00:33:22.390
that comprehensive box set and its deep two,

00:33:22.569 --> 00:33:25.269
the complete Warner Bros. recordings, 1968 and

00:33:25.269 --> 00:33:28.170
1992, remastering all his reprise and Warner

00:33:28.170 --> 00:33:31.170
Bros. albums, testament to his enduring discography.

00:33:31.289 --> 00:33:33.410
Preserving the legacy. His last television appearance

00:33:33.410 --> 00:33:36.130
was December 99 in the cold open of an episode

00:33:36.130 --> 00:33:39.029
of The Norm Show, playing Mr. Johnson, an elderly

00:33:39.029 --> 00:33:41.269
man in a wheelchair, again, incorporating his

00:33:41.269 --> 00:33:43.289
physical reality into his acting. Never shied

00:33:43.289 --> 00:33:46.680
away from it. In 2002, a significant legal victory.

00:33:47.220 --> 00:33:49.980
Pryor and his wife, Jennifer Lee Pryor, won legal

00:33:49.980 --> 00:33:52.480
rights to almost 40 hours of unreleased material

00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:55.279
from his earlier laugh records days. Ah, getting

00:33:55.279 --> 00:33:58.059
that early stuff back. led to the 2005 release

00:33:58.059 --> 00:34:01.460
of Evolution Revolution, the early years, 1966,

00:34:01.779 --> 00:34:04.819
1974, finally allowing fans to hear more of his

00:34:04.819 --> 00:34:07.920
early formative work, including the middle brow

00:34:07.920 --> 00:34:09.920
phase and the beginnings of his transformation.

00:34:10.119 --> 00:34:13.099
Important context. In late 2004, his sister claimed

00:34:13.099 --> 00:34:16.039
he had lost his voice due to MSSKEG, a heartbreaking

00:34:16.039 --> 00:34:18.039
possibility. Right, that rumor went around. But

00:34:18.039 --> 00:34:20.300
his wife, Jennifer Lee, directly refuted this

00:34:20.300 --> 00:34:23.599
on his official website in January 2005, quoting

00:34:23.599 --> 00:34:26.460
prior himself with his signature defiance. I'm

00:34:26.460 --> 00:34:28.119
sick of hearing this shit about me not talking.

00:34:28.179 --> 00:34:30.380
Not true. I have good days, bad days, but I still

00:34:30.380 --> 00:34:32.480
am a talking motherfucker. Still cry her right

00:34:32.480 --> 00:34:34.880
to the end. Fierce. On the morning of December

00:34:34.880 --> 00:34:38.579
10th, 2005, just nine days after his 65th birthday,

00:34:39.059 --> 00:34:41.159
Richard Pryor passed away. So young, really.

00:34:41.360 --> 00:34:43.219
Suffered his third and final heart attack at

00:34:43.219 --> 00:34:45.659
his LA home. His wife Jennifer's attempts to

00:34:45.659 --> 00:34:47.639
resuscitate him were tragically unsuccessful,

00:34:48.159 --> 00:34:51.659
pronounced dead at 7 .58 a .m. PST. Sad end.

00:34:52.000 --> 00:34:53.980
Jennifer Lee was later quoted as saying, with

00:34:53.980 --> 00:34:56.719
poignant simplicity, at the end, there's a smile

00:34:56.719 --> 00:35:00.179
on his face. His body was cremated, ashes given

00:35:00.179 --> 00:35:03.239
to family, later scattered in Hana, Hawaii in

00:35:03.239 --> 00:35:07.639
2019. Forensic pathologist Michael Hunter attributes

00:35:07.639 --> 00:35:10.480
his fatal heart attack to severe coronary artery

00:35:10.480 --> 00:35:13.579
disease, at least partially brought on by years

00:35:13.579 --> 00:35:16.719
of heavy tobacco smoking, a somber reminder of

00:35:16.719 --> 00:35:18.920
the toll his lifestyle took. Yeah, the body keeps

00:35:18.920 --> 00:35:21.559
the score, doesn't it? To truly understand Pryor's

00:35:21.559 --> 00:35:24.199
unique genius, though, it's also incredibly important

00:35:24.199 --> 00:35:27.239
to look at who he admired, who he drew inspiration

00:35:27.239 --> 00:35:30.610
from. reveals the breadth of his artistic absorption.

00:35:30.670 --> 00:35:33.050
Good point. Who was on his list? His influences

00:35:33.050 --> 00:35:36.210
were remarkably wide -ranging, showcasing a deep

00:35:36.210 --> 00:35:38.610
appreciation for the craft across many styles.

00:35:39.190 --> 00:35:41.530
Physical comedians like Chaplin, Jackie Gleason,

00:35:41.730 --> 00:35:44.070
Red Skelton, Abbott, and Costello. The classics.

00:35:44.210 --> 00:35:46.130
Comedic actors like Jerry Lewis, Dean Martin,

00:35:46.369 --> 00:35:49.030
Jack Benny, Bob Hope. Intellectual and observational

00:35:49.030 --> 00:35:51.519
comics like Woody Allen. Dick Gregory, Lenny

00:35:51.519 --> 00:35:53.940
Bruce. Boundary pushers. And of course, fellow

00:35:53.940 --> 00:35:56.920
pioneers of black comedy like Bill Cosby, whom

00:35:56.920 --> 00:35:59.699
he initially drew inspiration from before his

00:35:59.699 --> 00:36:02.219
radical departure and the legendary Red Fox.

00:36:02.420 --> 00:36:04.559
That's quite a diverse group. This extensive

00:36:04.559 --> 00:36:08.000
list shows a remarkable breadth right, from slapstick

00:36:08.000 --> 00:36:10.739
to observational traditional entertainment to

00:36:10.739 --> 00:36:13.639
boundary pushing social commentary. It highlights

00:36:13.639 --> 00:36:16.860
how he didn't just imitate but deeply synthesize

00:36:16.860 --> 00:36:18.900
various styles and approaches. Filtered through

00:36:18.900 --> 00:36:21.500
his own life. Exactly. Filtering them through

00:36:21.500 --> 00:36:24.380
his own tumultuous life experience to forge a

00:36:24.380 --> 00:36:26.659
voice that was utterly unique. It wasn't about

00:36:26.659 --> 00:36:29.139
simply copying. It was absorbing these diverse

00:36:29.139 --> 00:36:31.440
elements and then through the crucible of his

00:36:31.440 --> 00:36:34.119
own lived chaos, creating something entirely

00:36:34.119 --> 00:36:37.360
new. Exploding the forms. Totally. Infusing them

00:36:37.360 --> 00:36:39.739
with a rawness and truth that was unprecedented.

00:36:40.360 --> 00:36:42.630
Truly elevating comedy to an art form. capable

00:36:42.630 --> 00:36:45.989
of profound social commentary. His death, far

00:36:45.989 --> 00:36:48.030
from diminishing his impact, really solidified

00:36:48.030 --> 00:36:50.869
his place as an unparalleled master, a giant.

00:36:51.070 --> 00:36:53.309
Absolutely. The acclaim from his peers says it

00:36:53.309 --> 00:36:55.909
all. Jerry Seinfeld, meticulous craftsman, called

00:36:55.909 --> 00:36:58.449
Pryor the potasso of our profession. Picasso,

00:36:58.750 --> 00:37:02.210
high praise. Bob Newhart, dead pan master, heralded

00:37:02.210 --> 00:37:05.889
him as the seminal comedian of the last 50 years.

00:37:06.610 --> 00:37:09.650
Dave Chappelle, profoundly influenced by Pryor's

00:37:09.650 --> 00:37:12.230
fearlessness. Chappelle owes a lot to him. declared,

00:37:12.289 --> 00:37:15.250
and I quote, you know those like evolution charts

00:37:15.250 --> 00:37:17.750
of man? He was the dude walking upright. Richard

00:37:17.750 --> 00:37:20.489
was the highest evolution of comedy. Wow. That

00:37:20.489 --> 00:37:22.510
paints a picture. Pushing the boundaries of what

00:37:22.510 --> 00:37:25.070
comedy could be. And Bill Cosby, from whom Prior

00:37:25.070 --> 00:37:27.130
initially drew inspiration before his break,

00:37:27.489 --> 00:37:29.989
famously observed, Richard Prior drew the line

00:37:29.989 --> 00:37:32.510
between comedy and tragedy as thin as one could

00:37:32.510 --> 00:37:34.949
possibly paint it. perfectly capturing that unique

00:37:34.949 --> 00:37:37.449
blend of tears and laughter. His groundbreaking

00:37:37.449 --> 00:37:40.130
contributions were recognized with numerous awards

00:37:40.130 --> 00:37:44.530
and honors, life imposterously. In 98, he received

00:37:44.530 --> 00:37:47.710
the very first Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize

00:37:47.710 --> 00:37:50.659
for American humor. The first one ever. Fitting.

00:37:50.659 --> 00:37:53.659
Fitting tribute to a man who, like Twain, used

00:37:53.659 --> 00:37:56.840
wit to expose uncomfortable truths. He was slurred,

00:37:56.900 --> 00:37:58.699
as the Kennedy Center president said, because

00:37:58.699 --> 00:38:01.840
he struck a chord and a nerve with America, forcing

00:38:01.840 --> 00:38:04.159
it to look at large social questions of race

00:38:04.159 --> 00:38:06.340
and the more tragicomic aspects of the human

00:38:06.340 --> 00:38:09.239
condition. Nailed it. In 2004, Comedy Central

00:38:09.239 --> 00:38:11.639
voted him number one on their definitive list

00:38:11.639 --> 00:38:14.579
of the 100 greatest standups of all time. Number

00:38:14.579 --> 00:38:18.039
one? Ahead of everyone. posthumously awarded

00:38:18.039 --> 00:38:20.820
the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2006,

00:38:21.659 --> 00:38:23.760
recognition of his monumental recording legacy,

00:38:24.400 --> 00:38:27.239
also received the NAACP Image Award Hall of Fame

00:38:27.239 --> 00:38:31.639
in 96, Outstanding Actor NAACP Award in 81, and

00:38:31.639 --> 00:38:34.139
shared that Writers Guild Award for Blazing Saddles

00:38:34.139 --> 00:38:37.119
in 74. The accolades just kept coming, rightfully

00:38:37.119 --> 00:38:40.079
so. Beyond his artistic achievements, Prior also

00:38:40.079 --> 00:38:42.599
had this deep humanitarian side, particularly

00:38:42.599 --> 00:38:45.280
concerning animal welfare. Oh right, the PETA

00:38:45.280 --> 00:38:47.780
connection. Received a PETA humanitarian award

00:38:47.780 --> 00:38:50.480
in 99, and the organization now gives out an

00:38:50.480 --> 00:38:53.150
award in his name. He actively campaigned for

00:38:53.150 --> 00:38:55.130
animal welfare, concerned about elephants and

00:38:55.130 --> 00:38:57.429
circuses and zoos, was also a vegetarian. Didn't

00:38:57.429 --> 00:38:59.690
know he was vegetarian. Interesting facet. His

00:38:59.690 --> 00:39:02.570
hometown of Peoria honored him with that magnificent

00:39:02.570 --> 00:39:05.309
life -size bronze statue, Richard Pryor, more

00:39:05.309 --> 00:39:08.030
than just a comedian. Created by artist Preston

00:39:08.030 --> 00:39:11.010
Jackson, placed downtown in 2015 near his childhood

00:39:11.010 --> 00:39:12.909
neighborhood. Keeping his memory alive right

00:39:12.909 --> 00:39:15.130
where it started. Ensuring his physical presence

00:39:15.130 --> 00:39:17.820
is remembered in the place that shaped him. Most

00:39:17.820 --> 00:39:20.300
recently, inducted into the National Comedy Center

00:39:20.300 --> 00:39:23.840
in Jamestown, New York in 2022. Cementing his

00:39:23.840 --> 00:39:26.380
place in the pantheon. Where he belongs. Decades

00:39:26.380 --> 00:39:29.119
after his breakthrough, documentaries and biopics

00:39:29.119 --> 00:39:32.500
continue to explore his rich, complex life. Testament

00:39:32.500 --> 00:39:34.679
to the enduring fascination. People are still

00:39:34.679 --> 00:39:36.840
trying to figure him out. Numerous documentaries.

00:39:37.460 --> 00:39:40.139
The Funny Life of Richard Pryor. Richard Pryor.

00:39:40.440 --> 00:39:42.760
I Ain't Dead Yet. Hashtag percent, West tag it

00:39:42.760 --> 00:39:45.719
a day. The Funniest Man Dead or Alive. Richard

00:39:45.719 --> 00:39:49.280
Pryor. Omit the logic, I am Richard Pryor. Each

00:39:49.280 --> 00:39:51.539
offering different perspectives. So much material

00:39:51.539 --> 00:39:53.980
to cover. His film work celebrated in retrospectives

00:39:53.980 --> 00:39:57.000
like a Pryor engagement at BAM Cinemas in 2013,

00:39:57.579 --> 00:40:00.400
allowing new generations to appreciate his cinematic

00:40:00.400 --> 00:40:03.059
impact. Right. Introduce him to new audiences.

00:40:03.480 --> 00:40:05.800
The efforts to create a definitive biopic, Richard

00:40:05.800 --> 00:40:07.500
Pryor, or is it something you say, have been

00:40:07.500 --> 00:40:09.860
ongoing for years. Challenging endeavor, given

00:40:09.860 --> 00:40:11.960
the complexities. I bet. Who do you get to play

00:40:11.960 --> 00:40:14.960
Pryor? Tough casting. Various actors, Marlon

00:40:14.960 --> 00:40:17.619
Wayans, Mike Epps, Eddie Murphy, and directors

00:40:17.619 --> 00:40:20.480
like Bill Condon, Lee Daniels have been attached.

00:40:21.039 --> 00:40:23.280
Oprah has been a producer. Mike Epps, currently

00:40:23.280 --> 00:40:26.420
attached to Star, shows the enduring power and

00:40:26.420 --> 00:40:28.780
challenge of bringing his incredible story to

00:40:28.780 --> 00:40:30.559
the screen. Hopefully they get it right someday.

00:40:30.960 --> 00:40:37.530
That's a story that needs telling. Yeah. His

00:40:37.530 --> 00:40:39.949
personal life was, in many ways, as tumultuous

00:40:39.949 --> 00:40:42.769
and unpredictable as his stage persona, marked

00:40:42.769 --> 00:40:45.130
by a series of intense relationships and marriages,

00:40:45.429 --> 00:40:47.289
often intertwined with his public struggles.

00:40:47.449 --> 00:40:49.809
Yeah, rarely simple with Pryor. He dated actress

00:40:49.809 --> 00:40:52.210
Pam Greier, met her through Freddie Prinze, cast

00:40:52.210 --> 00:40:54.909
together in Greased Lightning in 77. Greier tried

00:40:54.909 --> 00:40:57.590
to help him with his drug addiction, but in a

00:40:57.590 --> 00:40:59.710
complicated turn, Pryor ended up marrying another

00:40:59.710 --> 00:41:01.989
woman while still dating Greier. Oof, Bessie.

00:41:02.110 --> 00:41:04.309
He also dated actress Margo Kidder during the

00:41:04.309 --> 00:41:07.570
filming of Some Kind of Hero in 82. Kidder famously

00:41:07.570 --> 00:41:09.750
said she fell in love with Pryor in two seconds

00:41:09.750 --> 00:41:13.369
flat upon meeting him, described a powerful immediate

00:41:13.369 --> 00:41:16.190
connection. He clearly had charisma, intense

00:41:16.190 --> 00:41:18.849
magnetism. Which brings us to a rather astonishing

00:41:18.849 --> 00:41:23.590
statistic. Pryor was married seven times to five

00:41:23.590 --> 00:41:26.110
different women. Seven times. Wow. OK, let's

00:41:26.110 --> 00:41:30.039
listen. Patricia Price, 1960 -61. Shelley Bonas,

00:41:30.219 --> 00:41:34.659
1967 -69. Deborah Maguire, 1977 -78. Jennifer

00:41:34.659 --> 00:41:38.199
Lee, initially 81 -82, then remarried 2001 until

00:41:38.199 --> 00:41:41.139
his death in 2005. Though validity contested,

00:41:41.320 --> 00:41:43.739
she still controls his estate. Right. Jennifer

00:41:43.739 --> 00:41:46.219
Lee, the constant later on. And Flynn Belain,

00:41:46.559 --> 00:41:50.079
initially 86 -87, then remarried 90 -91. This

00:41:50.079 --> 00:41:52.800
dizzying array of marriages speaks volumes, doesn't

00:41:52.800 --> 00:41:55.099
it? About his passionate nature, his search for

00:41:55.099 --> 00:41:57.159
stability, perhaps the difficulty of maintaining

00:41:57.159 --> 00:41:59.880
conventional relationships amidst his extraordinary

00:41:59.880 --> 00:42:01.539
life and personal struggles. Probably above,

00:42:02.179 --> 00:42:04.159
probably. Chaos seemed to follow him, or he created

00:42:04.159 --> 00:42:06.719
it. He also had a large family, fathering seven

00:42:06.719 --> 00:42:08.760
children with six different women. Reflecting

00:42:08.760 --> 00:42:11.099
the complex, often chaotic nature of his personal

00:42:11.099 --> 00:42:13.639
world. Seven kids, too. Big family. Renee Pryor,

00:42:13.739 --> 00:42:16.000
born 57 with girlfriend Susan. Richard Pryor

00:42:16.000 --> 00:42:18.320
Jr., born 62 with first wife Patricia Price.

00:42:18.619 --> 00:42:20.940
Elizabeth Ann, born 67 with girlfriend Maxine

00:42:20.940 --> 00:42:23.719
Anderson. Rain Pryor, born 69 with second wife

00:42:23.719 --> 00:42:25.960
Chilly Bonus. Rain is quite well known herself.

00:42:26.420 --> 00:42:28.840
Stephen, born 84 with Flynn Belaine, who later

00:42:28.840 --> 00:42:32.300
became wife hashtag five. Franklin, born 87 with

00:42:32.300 --> 00:42:34.900
girlfriend Geraldine Mason. And Kelsey, born

00:42:34.900 --> 00:42:38.639
87, also with fifth wife Flynn Belaine. Wow.

00:42:38.980 --> 00:42:42.480
Complicated Family Tree underscores the unconventional

00:42:42.480 --> 00:42:45.320
paths of his life, but also his legacy as a father,

00:42:45.760 --> 00:42:48.940
a role often unmentioned amidst his public persona,

00:42:49.119 --> 00:42:51.900
which naturally leads us to a fascinating and

00:42:51.900 --> 00:42:54.719
for some controversial aspect of his personal

00:42:54.719 --> 00:42:57.820
identity, his sexuality. This raises an important

00:42:57.820 --> 00:42:59.940
question about the fluidity of identity and public

00:42:59.940 --> 00:43:02.340
perception, especially given the various accounts

00:43:02.340 --> 00:43:04.559
and the times he lived in. Right. This came up

00:43:04.559 --> 00:43:06.679
more recently. Nine years after his death in

00:43:06.679 --> 00:43:09.630
2014. That biography, Becoming Richard Pryor

00:43:09.630 --> 00:43:12.070
by Scott Saul, stated Pryor acknowledged his

00:43:12.070 --> 00:43:15.269
bisexuality. Then in 2018, both music legend

00:43:15.269 --> 00:43:18.510
Quincy Jones and Pryor's widow Jennifer Lee made

00:43:18.510 --> 00:43:20.989
headlines. The Quincy Jones interview, that was

00:43:20.989 --> 00:43:23.449
wild. Stating he had a sexual relationship with

00:43:23.449 --> 00:43:26.110
iconic actor Marlon Brando and was open with

00:43:26.110 --> 00:43:28.170
friends about his bisexuality and sleeping with

00:43:28.170 --> 00:43:30.949
men. Caused quite a stir. Pryor's daughter Rain

00:43:30.949 --> 00:43:33.610
later disputed these claims, leading Jennifer

00:43:33.610 --> 00:43:37.969
Lee to state Rain was in denial. Lee also notoriously

00:43:37.969 --> 00:43:41.110
commented on TMZ. It was the 70s. Drugs were

00:43:41.110 --> 00:43:42.849
still good. If you did enough cocaine, you'd

00:43:42.849 --> 00:43:44.829
fuck a radiator and send it flowers in the morning.

00:43:45.170 --> 00:43:48.530
Yikes. A cynical but maybe era reflective take?

00:43:48.800 --> 00:43:51.179
highlights the hedonism and blurred lines back

00:43:51.179 --> 00:43:53.780
then. Perhaps. These differing accounts underscore

00:43:53.780 --> 00:43:56.059
the challenge of piecing together a comprehensive

00:43:56.059 --> 00:43:59.199
narrative of such a private yet publicly exposed

00:43:59.199 --> 00:44:01.440
life. What's truly fascinating here, though,

00:44:01.619 --> 00:44:03.539
beyond the differing accounts from others, is

00:44:03.539 --> 00:44:06.039
how multiple narratives contribute to our understanding

00:44:06.039 --> 00:44:08.860
and how Prior himself was remarkably candid,

00:44:09.000 --> 00:44:11.579
even provocative, about his experiences long

00:44:11.579 --> 00:44:13.800
before these discussions were common or acceptable.

00:44:13.920 --> 00:44:16.449
He talked about it himself. Oh, yeah. In his

00:44:16.449 --> 00:44:18.650
autobiography, Prior Convisions, he discussed

00:44:18.650 --> 00:44:20.730
a two -week relationship with a trans woman named

00:44:20.730 --> 00:44:23.789
Matrosha, referring to it openly as two weeks

00:44:23.789 --> 00:44:26.610
of being gay. Wow, okay. In his first special,

00:44:26.750 --> 00:44:29.090
Live and Smokin', he openly discussed experimenting

00:44:29.090 --> 00:44:32.010
with homosexuality. He was even more explicit

00:44:32.010 --> 00:44:34.849
at a 1977 gay rights show at the Hollywood Bowl.

00:44:35.090 --> 00:44:37.170
What did he say there? He stated, I have sucked

00:44:37.170 --> 00:44:40.670
a dick. Clarifying the incident happened in 1952,

00:44:40.909 --> 00:44:43.630
when he was 11 or 12, with someone named Wilbur

00:44:43.630 --> 00:44:46.619
Harp. and admitted to engaging in anal sex with

00:44:46.619 --> 00:44:50.719
heart. Whoa. That level of raw, uncensored self

00:44:50.719 --> 00:44:54.000
-revelation delivered publicly in the 70s. Truly

00:44:54.000 --> 00:44:56.639
ahead of its time. demonstrated a radical honesty

00:44:56.639 --> 00:44:59.320
about his own experiences, regardless of societal

00:44:59.320 --> 00:45:02.400
judgment. Incredible candor. His body also bore

00:45:02.400 --> 00:45:04.480
the heavy toll of his lifestyle and illnesses,

00:45:04.900 --> 00:45:07.260
which undoubtedly contributed to his later struggles.

00:45:07.380 --> 00:45:09.300
Yeah, the health issues piled up. Suffered a

00:45:09.300 --> 00:45:12.920
mild heart attack at age 36 in November 77. Struck

00:45:12.920 --> 00:45:15.079
reminder of the long -term consequences of years

00:45:15.079 --> 00:45:17.599
of heavy smoking and drinking. 36 is so young

00:45:17.599 --> 00:45:19.599
for a heart attack. Experienced a second heart

00:45:19.599 --> 00:45:22.769
attack in Australia in 1990. subsequently underwent

00:45:22.769 --> 00:45:26.050
triple heart bypass surgery in 1991, intense

00:45:26.050 --> 00:45:28.570
medical procedure. The third and final heart

00:45:28.570 --> 00:45:31.389
attack, as we discussed, was in 2005, and most

00:45:31.389 --> 00:45:33.869
significantly, diagnosed with multiple sclerosis,

00:45:34.090 --> 00:45:37.190
MS in 86, progressively led to severe mobility

00:45:37.190 --> 00:45:39.329
issues, forcing him onto the scooter by the mid

00:45:39.329 --> 00:45:41.829
-90s. And the claims about losing his voice near

00:45:41.829 --> 00:45:44.730
the end? Were, as we heard, famously refuted

00:45:44.730 --> 00:45:48.579
by Pryor himself through his wife. underscoring

00:45:48.579 --> 00:45:51.019
his fierce determination to maintain his voice,

00:45:51.340 --> 00:45:54.039
his essence. These numerous health battles highlight

00:45:54.039 --> 00:45:56.340
the immense physical and mental challenges he

00:45:56.340 --> 00:45:59.260
faced throughout his career and later life, often

00:45:59.260 --> 00:46:01.099
performed and processed right there in the public

00:46:01.099 --> 00:46:04.400
eye. Yeah, open book, even in suffering. Outro.

00:46:05.340 --> 00:46:07.940
So drawing all these incredible, often contradictory

00:46:07.940 --> 00:46:10.800
threads together, what's the core takeaway from

00:46:10.800 --> 00:46:13.179
our deep dive into the life of Richard Pryor?

00:46:13.480 --> 00:46:15.619
We've journeyed through the incredible highs

00:46:15.619 --> 00:46:18.000
and profound lows of his existence. Quite the

00:46:18.000 --> 00:46:20.380
journey. From a childhood marked by abuse and

00:46:20.380 --> 00:46:22.840
instability growing up in a brothel, suffering

00:46:22.840 --> 00:46:25.739
deep trauma to becoming this unparalleled comedic

00:46:25.739 --> 00:46:29.739
voice who fearlessly tackled race, class, sexuality,

00:46:30.139 --> 00:46:33.000
personal demons, we've seen how his raw honesty

00:46:33.239 --> 00:46:35.280
born from these intensely personal struggles,

00:46:35.840 --> 00:46:37.780
even harrowing incidents like the free -basing

00:46:37.780 --> 00:46:41.260
fire, fundamentally transformed comedy, consistently

00:46:41.260 --> 00:46:43.619
challenged audiences, even as his own life was

00:46:43.619 --> 00:46:46.019
often a battlefield of addiction, health crises,

00:46:46.300 --> 00:46:49.000
complex relationships. A figure of immense contradictions.

00:46:49.230 --> 00:46:52.670
Absolutely. But those very contradictions were

00:46:52.670 --> 00:46:54.989
the fertile wellspring of his genius, weren't

00:46:54.989 --> 00:46:56.550
they? Yeah, if we connect this to the bigger

00:46:56.550 --> 00:46:59.690
picture, Pryor's journey is such a powerful reminder

00:46:59.690 --> 00:47:03.389
that genius often emerges from unexpected, even

00:47:03.389 --> 00:47:07.110
deeply painful places. His unparalleled ability

00:47:07.110 --> 00:47:09.989
to distill his most vulnerable, controversial,

00:47:10.190 --> 00:47:13.489
even traumatic experiences into humor that resonated

00:47:13.489 --> 00:47:16.949
so deeply with millions. It speaks to a unique

00:47:16.949 --> 00:47:19.570
kind of bravery. Definitely. understanding of

00:47:19.570 --> 00:47:22.329
the human condition. His legacy isn't just about

00:47:22.329 --> 00:47:24.469
the countless laughs he provided, it's about

00:47:24.469 --> 00:47:26.909
the uncomfortable, unflinching years he held

00:47:26.909 --> 00:47:30.690
up to society and to himself. Forcing us to confront

00:47:30.690 --> 00:47:33.969
difficult truths. Exactly. About racism, addiction,

00:47:34.429 --> 00:47:36.369
identity, the resilience of the human spirit.

00:47:36.670 --> 00:47:39.329
He didn't just redefine the boundaries of what

00:47:39.329 --> 00:47:41.449
comedy could achieve, he detonated them, leaving

00:47:41.449 --> 00:47:43.489
a landscape where honesty became the highest

00:47:43.489 --> 00:47:46.030
form of art. Richard Pryor not only changed comedy,

00:47:46.210 --> 00:47:48.449
he fundamentally changed how we talk about race,

00:47:48.710 --> 00:47:51.690
class, sexuality, addiction, often by simply

00:47:51.690 --> 00:47:54.489
being fearlessly, uncomfortably, unapologetically

00:47:54.489 --> 00:47:56.849
himself. That's the core of it. His work invites

00:47:56.849 --> 00:47:59.929
us to consider what truly constitutes courage

00:47:59.929 --> 00:48:03.190
in an artist to bear one's soul with such intensity.

00:48:03.829 --> 00:48:06.889
And maybe what price are we as a society willing

00:48:06.889 --> 00:48:08.869
to let them pay for the uncomfortable truths

00:48:08.869 --> 00:48:10.949
they reveal about ourselves and the world we

00:48:10.949 --> 00:48:13.360
inhabit? Heavy question. It is. It's a question

00:48:13.360 --> 00:48:16.019
that, like Pryor's legacy, continues to echo

00:48:16.019 --> 00:48:18.960
profoundly, challenging us to look deeper and

00:48:18.960 --> 00:48:21.480
laugh harder even when it hurts. A legacy that

00:48:21.480 --> 00:48:22.940
endures. No doubt about it.