50 Fun Facts About Richard Pryor

In which Illinois city was Richard Pryor born and raised?

A bronze statue of him now stands downtown near the neighbourhood where he grew up.

How many Grammy Awards did Pryor win during his career?

He also won a Primetime Emmy and, in 2006, a posthumous Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.

Pryor was the first recipient of which humour honour in 1998?

The Kennedy Center said he, like Twain, was a trenchant social critic who spoke the truth however outrageous.

Which Mel Brooks western did Pryor co-write?

He expected to play Sheriff Bart, but Cleavon Little got the role.

With which actor did Pryor make four films, starting with Silver Streak in 1976?

The others were Stir Crazy, See No Evil Hear No Evil and Another You.

What business did Pryor's grandmother run, in which he grew up?

His mother lost custody of him in court when he was ten.

At what age was Pryor expelled from school?

He then met Juliette Whittaker, who ran the Carver Center's theatre programme.

Where did Pryor spend virtually his entire 1958-60 stint in the US Army?

He and other black soldiers had beaten a white soldier who laughed at Imitation of Life.

Which singer rocked a terrified young Pryor 'like a baby' before he opened for her?

She said he shook like he had malaria, and she did it night after night.

Which comedian was Pryor's initial model before he found his own controversial voice?

He began as a middlebrow comic on Ed Sullivan and Merv Griffin.

At which Las Vegas hotel did Pryor walk off stage in 1967 with Dean Martin watching?

He described it in his autobiography as an epiphany.

What was the title of the comedian's 1995 autobiography?

Kiss Me Like a Stranger was his frequent co-star's memoir.

To which Californian city did Pryor move in 1969 to immerse himself in the counterculture?

He met Huey P. Newton and Ishmael Reed there.

For which comedian's 1973 TV special did Pryor share an Emmy as a writer?

He also wrote for Sanford and Son and The Flip Wilson Show.

Which label tried to block sales of Richard Pryor's That Nigger's Crazy in 1974?

In the settlement, the label was allowed to keep releasing old material, which it did until 1983.

Which Memphis soul label had Pryor signed with in 1973?

The label briefly closed during the legal battle and Pryor returned to Reprise/Warner Bros.

In which 1972 concert documentary about Watts did Pryor riff on race relations?

He was still relatively unknown at the time.

Pryor was the first Black host of which show, in its debut 1975 season?

His word-association sketch that night became a highlight.

Which SNL cast member appeared with Pryor in the famous 'word association' sketch?

Pryor is one of only three SNL hosts ever put on a five-second delay.

How many episodes of The Richard Pryor Show aired on NBC in 1977 before cancellation?

He said they offered ten but he had said all he wanted to in four.

On his short-lived variety show, Pryor played what historic figure?

He also spoofed the Star Wars cantina and lampooned racism aboard the Titanic.

After a 1979 trip to which country did Pryor swear off using a racial slur in his act?

He was at the height of his success at the time.

Which 1980 film made Pryor the first Black actor paid a seven-figure fee for a single picture?

It grossed $101 million on a $10 million budget.

Which actor-turned-director made the 1980 prison comedy starring Wilder and Pryor as framed friends?

Wilder and Pryor play friends given 125-year sentences for a bank robbery they did not commit.

On what date did Pryor set himself on fire while freebasing cocaine?

He ran burning down Parthenia Street until police subdued him.

In his 1982 concert film, Pryor joked that the fire was caused by dunking a cookie into what?

He then waved a lit match and said: What's that? Richard Pryor running down the street.

Who replaced Pryor at the last minute in Mel Brooks's History of the World, Part I after the fire?

He also had to pull out of a Muppet Show appearance, and writer Chris Langham stepped in.

How much was Pryor's five-year deal with Columbia Pictures, signed in 1983?

He also started his own production company, Indigo Productions.

In which superhero sequel did Pryor play computer programmer Gus Gorman?

Richard Lester directed it, and it grossed $80.2 million worldwide.

Which role, eventually played by a younger comedian, was Pryor originally considered for?

Pryor's own softer 1980s films included Moving and See No Evil, Hear No Evil.

What was the comedian's short-lived 1984 CBS children's show called?

It used Sid and Marty Krofft puppets and a theme song by Ray Parker Jr.

In Brewster's Millions, how much must Pryor's character spend in 30 days to inherit ten times as much?

Montgomery Brewster is a minor-league pitcher for the Hackensack Bulls, and John Candy plays his catcher.

Pryor's only directorial effort, a 1986 fictionalised autobiography, was titled Jo Jo Dancer, what?

He co-wrote it with Paul Mooney and Rocco Urbisci and shot early scenes in his hometown.

Which 1989 film cast Pryor, Redd Foxx and its writer-director as three generations of comedians?

It remains its director's only film behind the camera, and he won a Razzie for the screenplay.

What distinction does Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979) hold?

It was shot at the Terrace Theater in Long Beach and added to the National Film Registry in 2021.

Which comedian called Live in Concert 'the single greatest stand-up performance ever captured on film'?

Pauline Kael called it probably the greatest of all recorded-performance films.

What is Richard Pryor's old storyteller character from Tupelo, Mississippi, called?

The album won the Grammy for Best Comedy Recording in 1982.

With which disease was Pryor diagnosed in 1986, leading him to use a mobility scooter?

He joked that MS stood for More Shit.

Which director's 1997 film Lost Highway gave Pryor his final movie role?

He played a garage manager named Arnie, appearing on his scooter.

How many times was Pryor married?

To five different women; he married Jennifer Lee and Flynn Belaine twice each.

Which actress, met through Freddie Prinze, helped Pryor learn to read while they dated?

They started dating on the set of Greased Lightning in 1977.

Which animal-rights group gives out an award in Pryor's name?

He was a vegetarian and campaigned against KFC's treatment of birds.

Where were Pryor's ashes scattered in 2019?

He died of his third heart attack on 10 December 2005.

Which magazine ranked Pryor first on its 2017 list of the 50 best stand-up comics of all time?

Comedy Central also placed him at number one on its all-time list.

Which British writer replaced Pryor as a Muppet Show guest star after his 1980 freebasing accident?

The same accident forced Mel Brooks to hand Pryor's History of the World, Part I role to Gregory Hines.

Pryor co-hosted the 49th Academy Awards in 1977 with Jane Fonda, Ellen Burstyn and which actor?

He returned for the 55th ceremony in 1983 alongside Liza Minnelli, Dudley Moore and Walter Matthau.

For a guest role on which medical drama did Pryor earn a Primetime Emmy nomination?

He had already won an Emmy as a writer on Lily Tomlin's 1973 special.

How old was Pryor when he suffered his first mild heart attack in November 1977?

He was back performing by January 1978; a second heart attack struck in Australia in 1990 and a third, fatal one in 2005.

Which label gained access in 2004 to almost 40 hours of Pryor's recovered Laff-era tapes?

Pryor and his wife Jennifer Lee had won legal rights to the material in 2002, including the whole of Craps (After Hours).

For which 1977 film were Pryor and Pam Grier both cast when they began dating?

Grier tried to help him with his drug addiction; he married another woman while they were still dating.