Richard Pryor 1940-2005: Revealed Reality of African-American Experience to Wide Audience

On Saturday, the groundbreaking comedian, Richard Pryor died in Los Angeles at the age of 65. The cause was a heart attack. Pryor's health had been in decline for many years and he had a long publicized history with drug abuse. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1986.

Richard Pryor's body of work set the standard for American comedy while penetrating and revealing the African-American experience to a wide audience. An obituary in Newsday states that his body of work was a "political movement in itself and was steeped in race class and social commentary." Comedian Steve Martin, upon hearing of Pryor's death said to the Associated Press quote "By expressing his heart, anger and joy, Richard Pryor took comedy to its highest form."

Pryor was born in 1940 in Peoria, Illinois and had a stint in the army after getting kicked out of school in the eighth grade. He then toured the club circuit before finding success in television and film. Pryor is one of the few comedians to have had success in both the black clubs known as the "chitlin circuit" and the predominately Jewish hotels in the Catskills called the "Borscht Belt." His career encompassed film, television, concert halls and comedy albums. He recorded more than 20 albums and appeared in more than 40 films. In the early 1980's he was the highest paid black performer in the entertainment industry. Pryor was also was a sought after writer. In 1974 he won an Emmy for writing a Lily Tomlin television special and won the American Writers Guild Award for his script for the movie, "Blazing Saddles" which he co-wrote with Mel Brooks. He was also a frequent writer for the television series Sanford and Son and the Flip Wilson Show. Throughout his career, Pryor won five Grammys and an Emmy. In 1998, he was honored by the Kennedy Center with the first Mark Twain Prize for American humor. His acceptance statement read, "I feel great to be honored on par with a great white man- now that's funny!"

Richard Pryor recorded some of his most successful albums in the 1970's. They were also some of his most political work.

* "That Nigger's Crazy" - excerpt from 1974 Richard Pryor album. After a trip to Africa in 1979, he regretted using the racist epithet and changed the title to "That African American's Crazy."
* "Bicentennial Nigger" - excerpt from 1976 Richard Pryor album.

For more on Richard Pryor's life and career we are joined by journalist and author, Mel Watkins.

* Mel Watkins, former editor and writer for The Sunday New York Times Book Review and the author of "On the Real Side: A History of African American Comedy." His latest book, "Stepin Fetchit: The Life and Times of Lincoln Perry," was recently published.

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