Talk:Richard Pryor

Broken page

The top of the Pryor page is a mess. Could someone please fix it? Thanks. 50.54.237.202 (talk) 17:38, 21 June 2015 (UTC)

Sexuality

Should something be added about RP's bisexuality?

Especially women. Their stories about him are anything but funny, and not even knowledge of what Pryor must have learned during his boyhood can erase the horror that he inflicted as an adult. The stories of beatings are just business as usual; the woman beaten about the head with two brandy bottles, one in each fist, takes it up a notch. Those who chose to stay with him had to get used to coming home and finding him in bed with somebody else (usually female, but not always; he acknowledged his bisexuality). Sometimes, they were ordered to participate, willingly or not.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/05/books/becoming-richard-pryor-scott-sauls-biography.html

50.172.40.221 (talk) 05:43, 29 December 2014 (UTC)

Religious Beliefs?

I notice no mention of Pryor being an atheist or agnostic, despite the fact that he did a standup in which he called religion "bullshit." [1] He also made skits mocking televangelists [2] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.20.243.213 (talk) 23:26, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

Then again, there's this: [3] — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.20.243.213 (talk) 23:32, 31 December 2011 (UTC)

That appears to be entirely satirical. For goodness' sake, he is talking about "thanking God" for not having his penis catching fire. Come on now. Karin Anker (talk) 22:15, 2 September 2014 (UTC)

Mudbone

There is no mention of Pryor's Mudbone character on his bio page, yet there is already a wikipedia entry for the character itself. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.86.203.65 (talk) 06:35, 17 April 2008 (UTC)

More content needed

We need more content on him and his movies and performances. Specifically the movies done with Gene Wilder.

More content, comin' up! How about a brief summary of his short-lived children's show, Pryor's Place? M.Neko

As an aside here, you can see an early Pryor performance in "The Wild Wild West" in Season 2, episode 1 "The Night of the Excentrics". He plays a vantriloquist who appears to have only a line or two but is given credit in the finals as "Villan". CMac —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.169.140.147 (talk) 00:44, 12 December 2008 (UTC)

How about Richard Pryor having Multiple Sclerosis (MS)? Stryteler (talk) 16:09, 12 August 2009 (UTC)

One of the few African Americans in the Midwest?

That may have been true in the 1840s, but certainly not after World War I. Now it is possible that Peoria was mostly white at that time, and perhaps that should be commented upon.

Uhhhh.... Kansas City was one of the most important places Jazz evolved. Charlie Parker among others was from there. There's a famous number called...St. Louis Blues. And for that matter, isn't Chicago the midwest? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 213.154.76.187 (talk) 08:40, 7 August 2008 (UTC)

Please

Please somebody add his famous comment "When you're running down the street on fire, people get out of your way"

Richard Pryor performed with a sensitivity and openness seldom seen. Simply put - he was gifted. One only has to watch a few minutes of any one of his stand up appearances to understand his power as a performer and story teller. His comedic style was conversational. As an audience member, you felt as if he was speaking directly to you. You were a welcomed guest in the world of this imaginative performer who constantly pushed you to the edge and made you laugh at yourself. He took racial issues head on and taught us a little bit about ourselves while putting a smile on our face. He did this by simply telling us the truth. Although he abused himself with drugs and struggled to keep his personal life together, he never let up on giving all of himself to his fans. He will be missed.

John (Huge fan!)

--24.193.225.82 22:55, 10 December 2005 (UTC) There has got to be something done with this page. He is one of the greatest commedians in our lifetime.

~n

How do we know this?

"On June 1, 1980, Pryor set himself on fire while free-basing cocaine. This was a suicide attempt, but at the time Pryor's manager tried to protect him by claiming that it was an accident."

How do we know it was a suicide attempt and not just an accident, did he admit this? --Deglr6328 20:31, 29 May 2005 (UTC)

Pryor did later admit that he set himself on fire purposefully.

in the near future check into http:www.nonepryor.com a tribute site dedicated to the comic genius. made by a small web group based out of peoria.

The New Yorker article I cited mentions it as a suicide attempt.--Priceyeah 17:26, 15 February 2006 (UTC)

CNN reporting his death

--Saucy Intruder [[User_talk:Saucy_Intruder|(talk)]] 21:21, 10 December 2005 (UTC) --24.193.225.82 22:55, 10 December 2005 (UTC)

NPR also reporting his death

NPR is reporting his death, too, censoring the usage of the word motherfucker, but not of the word nigger.

rip richard. a true comic. funny even as he died. his MS bits as he went were inspirational. .."Epidemic" means white people are dying from it. motherfaqqin genius. -:)Ozzyslovechild 05:25, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

Richard Pryor's roots

http://www.progenealogists.com/pryor

Is it Lennox, Lenox, or Lenora?

Looks like the answer is Lenora. It was originally Lenox, was changed to Lenora, then to Lennox and the page is locked. It needs to go back to Lenora.

Uh, f*ck no...

(I would have said "hell", but this is Rich Pryor we're talking about here...)

Pryor was often ranked among the best stand-up comedians, but to most Americans did not get his full due because he was in reality an extreme reverse-racist.

This line, or at least the second part (which is total bullshit) has got to go when this page is unprotected.

How dare they speak ill of the dead. To the vandal that put this worthless line up, I say the same thing Richard Pryor would have said... "Fuck you, motherfucker!" -- Cjmarsicano 03:07, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

What is this reverse racist comment on the wikipedia site for Richard? You best correct that litte KKK comment!

That is the work of a vandal. I agree it needs to be removed PRIOR to locking up the page BabuBhatt 02:45, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

DIDO

I agree, this is ridiculous, did whoever wrote that idiotic and clearly fallacious comment take their head out of their own ass long enough in the eightees to even watch his stuff. He campainged against all forms of racsism later in his career, and most "reverse racsist" comments he made were in jest or, well, true. As a middle-class white male, I am thoroughly unnofended by the late Mister Pryor's material, and think it is actually quite hilarious. You should be too. Brothers O'Neil 22:23, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

Birth name

I just wanted to fix the birth name which (according to IMDB) is: Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III 70.19.23.6 03:43, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

External links

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/arts/11pryor.html?ex=1291957200&en=ea88c61b92de25e6&ei=5090 http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/10/AR2005121001406.html

Vprotected

This page was getting hit with alot of vandalism. We have a section on his death. Probably won't need to anything else for a bit anyway. --Woohookitty^{(cat scratches)} 05:33, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

"Add"?? BabuBhatt 05:36, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

Free-base or freebase

I wanted to change it, but I'm not sure whether it is hyphenated or not. And the page is locked, obviously. Webhat 11:07, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

Either form is considered acceptable use. (although the hyphenated form was more common in the 1980s).  ALKIVAR™ 12:10, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

Yesterday someone locked it after new information on Pryors death was announced. I don't blame he/she, it was important should have been kept safe.--King of the Dancehall 16:41, 11 December 2005 (UTC)

Finally changed it to make it consistent. Webhat (talk) 05:32, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

"Because he was so controversial"? sounds racist to me

I'm pretty sure that regardless which standard one might choose to apply, this statement does not stand inclusion for posterity in Wikipedia:

• "although he rarely got his due among white American audiences because he was so controversial."

from:

• "Pryor was often ranked among the best stand-up comedians, although he rarely got his due among white American audiences because he was so controversial."

The first portion of the sentence stands all tests I can envision being applied, but after the first comma I fear it devolves a bit.

- justification of the usage of the word 'because' in that sentence? what is the causal relationship? is it known to numbers? is it perhaps full of bullspit? --numbers on 'rarely'? --numbers on 'rarely got his due'? --justification for suggestion of causation of absence of "due" from "white American audiences" being due to him being "so controversial"? --number of others, but i'm bored now so basta.

rip richard. don't take any guff from these faqqing swine.

-:)Ozzyslovechild 05:25, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

I have changed the sentence in disupte, and I think it is now a fair observation and NPOV. However, I think that this entire artcile could use a clean-up tag, as I think it could be written much better. Allthesestars 20:05, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

Like your rewrite bit, but I'm wit ya on that, Allthesestars, re clean-up tag.-:)Ozzyslovechild 03:25, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

See also

A "See Also" section may be useful, especially for people who had an influence/were influenced by Pryor, and other topics, that were not mentioned previously for the article. There seems to be plenty of notable articles that link to this, but are not mentioned in return. — TheKMan^talk 08:24, 13 December 2005 (UTC)

Justifiable?

Pryor shattered many barriers for American stand-up comedians such as Dave Chappelle, Robin Williams, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Arsenio Hall, David Letterman, and others.

- prolly a safe bet to say he shattered, or at least was of the bunch that shattered, some barriers. presuming such: -- justifiable to say that he shattered them for the list as it is stands currently? -- to justify that, it seems that either: ---1- he would need to have known them and undertaken conscious action with them as motivating factors (not likely and not likely intended by the sentences creator), or ---2- those that are listed would need be plainly connectable in some way with the particular barriers which he is being suggested to have played a role in shattering.

---

i presume #1 doesn't apply, and i submit that not all of those listed are justifiable #2 realms. rock and chappelle, almost surely. murphy, maybe. robin navigated his own currents. letterman, i'd be curious to hear the defense of his inclusion. arsenio did stand up? sorry, couldn't resist. think i recall he did somee good race stuff, but can't recall hearing anything that would justify attributing his being able to "go there" artistically speaking to richard pryor. he pushed other envelopes, and the groundswell of other flows in our culture would surely have led via paved road to his ability to say anything he said by that time he said it.

---

anyhoo,, i might adjust this part of the sentence tomorrow, or maybe next week. -Ozzyslovechild 03:53, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

I think you're right that the list is inadequate and probably not entirely justified. But you're even more right than that: the list shouldn't even be there. There's no way we could approach a complete list of comedians who address race and racism, subjects for comedy that Pryor played a major role in popularizing. I find that inadequate lists are unnecessary, usually POV, and are just sources of more contention. I'm taking this one out.

Moreover - with less conviction, I admit - I'm taking out the idea that Pryor shattered barriers, at least until it has some justification. There's no doubt that Richard Pryor popularized race and racism as suitable subjects for comedy, but he was not the first to make money cracking jokes about them by any means. At least the statement needs to be qualified, e.g. "Pryor was the first...for television" (if this was the case - I don't know) Omphaloscope » talk 07:06, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

Sept. '67 "epiphany" - two issues

He..looked at the sold-out crowd, said over the microphone "What the fuck am I doing here!?", and walked off the stage. Afterward, Pryor began working at least mild profanity into his act...

This passage seems to imply that the moment on stage in Sept. '67 precipitated Pryor's penchant for profanities. How? Did he, leaving the stage, hear the audience slapping knees and splitting bellies? It's unclear.

Additionally, the article only later describes this moment as a breakdown. Of course, it seems natural from just what's written above that the "epiphany" might have an instance of stage fright, but again, this is unclear.

Unfortunately, I haven't read the autobiography so I can't fix these problems. Omphaloscope » talk 06:42, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

I haven't read his autiobio either (unfortunately)... I was going by excerpted information on the liner notes either of his two recent Rhino anthologies (both of which I posted to Wiki) when I contributed to the article. --Cjmarsicano 07:04, 14 December 2005 (UTC)

Revision needed by one of the principal authors

I would strongly encourage one of the principal authors to revise the last paragraph of the Personal section, wherein his children are merely listed out.

First take a look at the Muhammed Ali article. There is a wonderful table which details what kid belongs to which relationship/wife, the years they were together/married in sequence, etc. It is would make a wonderful addition to this article.

I don't know enough about him to do it myself. Hokeman 23:30, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

The article says that Richard was married 7 times to 5 different women. However, only six marriages are listed.Marzolian (talk) 22:26, 27 August 2010 (UTC)

Whoopi Goldberg quote

I couldn't figure out how to add a reference for the Whoopi quote I added in the first section. She said it on the television program "Dawn French's Girls Who Do Comedy", which aired on the BBC in October of 2006. 66.16.174.205 17:49, 31 October 2006 (UTC)

Crack and Pryor

This article makes no reference to Pryor's alleged crack abuse. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Mmacmu1 (talk • contribs) 07:25, 11 December 2006 (UTC).

YouTube

Subjective assessment of the "quality" isn't a reason to delete this link. It's an on-set interview, not a Bertolucci trailer. As it is owned by a company--which uploaded it to you Tube via the director's program, which has a higher copyright verification standard than the general YT ToS, there is more than good reason to believe that it is certainly not a knowing infringement.-Cindery 17:32, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

Subjective assessment of the "quality" is always a reason to delete a link. ---J.S (T/C/WRE) 21:07, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

YouTube link

A couple of problems with the YT link:

• It is poor quality
• The copyright status is unclear (although the uploader has a "director account" that does not mean he was personally involved, and if he was, that he has rights to upload and distribute the content)
• It does not add appear to me to anything encyclopaedic to the article
• "Buddyhead.com presents: Richard Pryor loaded on cocaine" does not give the appearance of an encyclopoaedically neutral source.
• Buddyhead seems to flag their own work with "Buddyhead interviews" not presents.

There does not appear to have been much discussion of this link, only a lame edit war. Guy (Help!) 17:34, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

"Poor quality" is subjective--I can say, in my opinion it has lo-fi charm. Read up on the Director's program--anything on it is really unlikely to be copyvio. There's no "reasonable doubt."-Cindery 17:46, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

So it should be trivially easy for you, as the editor seeking to include content, to demonstrate that it is copyright clean... Guy (Help!) 17:58, 24 January 2007 (UTC)

MS and relevant edits

I came to this page to find out about Pryor's multiple sclerosis. I didn't really expect to find it listed under "Aftermath of freebasing incident". MS is a pretty wacky disease with no sure cause, but I'm willing to bet that nobody thinks Pryor contracted MS because he set himself on fire.

It seems to me that that section should perhaps be broken out into a new paragraph, or moved to the "Later life" section at the very least.

Also: please edit "wheelchair-bound" at the end of the relevant paragraph. It's kind of offensive usage; very few of us wheelies actually have to be tied into our chairs, and it makes our wheels sound like a trap instead of a darn useful device. I generally edit to "uses a wheelchair" instead of "wheelchair-bound", but that doesn't seem to convey the same implied meaning here, so I didn't change it myself. Maybe the right phrasing here is something more like "unable to walk unaided" or "was using a wheelchair/powerchair to compensate for severe MS symptoms". Having not seen the movie and not being too familiar with this phase of Pryor's life, I don't know what his condition was at the time. Maybe someone more familiar can edit appropriately. I also don't know if Pryor ever spoke about his MS or did any activism or charity work related to his disability, but that might be nice to mention in this context. 69.255.26.39 07:44, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

forgot to log in: above is me: Feyandstrange 07:48, 6 February 2007 (UTC)

Gonna remove a [citation needed]...

There's a [citation needed] at the end of the following paragraph:

"Pryor made this part of his heralded "final" stand up show Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982). After joking that the incident was actually caused when he dunked a cookie into a glass containing two different types of milk, he gave a poignant yet funny account of his accident and recovery, then poked fun at people who told jokes about it by waving a lit match and saying "What's this? It's Richard Pryor running down the street.[citation needed]".

I just watched Live on the Sunset Strip and everything mentioned here is in that movie so surely it doesn't need any further citation. Rogertastic 01:48, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

You can use this as a source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23724276 : "...Within a year he was back on stage making self-deprecatory gags about the incident. He would light a match, wave it in the air and joke: "What's that? Richard Pryor running down the street." 5.44.248.3 (talk) 21:22, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Influenced

Richard Pryor has influenced countless comedians that have come after him. Since only a limited number of names can be added to the "influenced" section, I think it should be only the most notable and respected ones who have cited him as a major influence on their career, (Chris Rock, Eddie Murphy, Dave Chappelle, Colin Quinn, and others) but someone insists on using the last remaining spots for Dean Obeidallah, George Lopez, and Dane Cook!? What gives? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.126.165.190 (talk) 07:25, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

Agreed. It should be tightened so only the major comedians influenced are listed (Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Colin Quinn, Norm Macdonald, Jim Norton, Patton Oswalt, and Patrice O'Neal). Maybe a couple more, but certainly delete Dane Cook, George Lopez, and Dean Obellelalahh. They are just taking up space. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.179.94.233 (talk) 01:00, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

I'm sorry but even if Dane Cook has stated Richard as one of his influences, he has to be taken off that list. Dane Cook's so-called humor was definitely NOT influenced by such a comedic genius. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Heathergoodbye (talk • contribs) 00:33, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

British comedian Lenny Henry cites him as a major influence 5.44.248.3 (talk) 21:21, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

"Epic roles"

"and epic roles like Gus Gorman from Superman III" - errrm, someone's taking the piss, surely? Epic?! 78.86.171.48 (talk) 22:52, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Deborah McGuirre

I used to talk to her frequently at a coffee shop in San Diego (I was initially skeptical of her story, but this photo confirmed it. She made it sound like that the shooting-the-gun-at-her-Mercedes-thing was widely reported, but I'm having trouble finding a source for it. Anyone? OhNoitsJamie ^Talk 07:22, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

How can there be two banners for "Hosts of the Academy Awards Ceremonies"?

I think I said it all there.. HOW can there be Two Banners for "Hosts of the Academy Awards Ceremonies"?I generally stick to editing music biographies, but I'd say I have a fair enough amount of experience to say, if two banners with the same title (and presumably, the same reason for existing-- the same function, I guess I'm saying), then, yeah, if I'm confused, then I assume casual readers looking for information might glance at the article as I did, and wonder, "What the heck is that???" Can we get some clarity, please? Thanks. --leahtwosaints (talk) 22:38, 28 December 2008 (UTC)

'despite a reputation for profanity... he hosted a children's show'

Pee Wee Hermans stage act was not exactly The Little Engine that Could, before he got a children's show. I think it'd be interesting to figure out other children's show folks and compare and contrast. Decora (talk) 15:04, 29 October 2009 (UTC)

multiple sclerosis

Why is Pryor's MS so underplayed here? It's literally the one thing that took him out of show biz and led to his cardiac arrest.

I forgot what he suffered from, mistakingly thinking it might have been Parkinsons. I came to the wiki page, didn't see it in the main section, didn't see a sub category and didn't even see it in his death section!

I think it should be added, at least, to the lede and should have its own section. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.34.245.48 (talk) 05:37, 14 November 2009 (UTC)

MS. A recent article on the BBC says "Pryor was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1986" 5.44.248.3 (talk) 21:20, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Pryor's childhood

Hi. I was wondering about the section of text that goes as follows: "His father, LeRoy "Buck Carter" Pryor was a former bartender, boxer, and World War II veteran who worked as his wife's pimp."

I found no mention of his father at his website NNDB should not be used as a first-hand reference.

Oops. I did find a reference to his father - "Father LeRoy Pryor Jr. (aka Buck Carter), a bartender, boxer, and WWII vet, died in 1968.". However the reference doesn't support the assertion that he was his "wife's pimp". Rms125a@hotmail.com (talk) 14:00, 3 January 2010 (UTC)

The recent BBC article does support this. "The son of a prostitute and a pimp, Pryor grew up in a brothel in the town of Peoria, Illinois" - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23724276 5.44.248.3 (talk) 21:19, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Racist beating

Can the 'reverse-racism' charge now be settled, since he stabbed and beat a white man for the way he was laughing? Toothis (talk) 15:03, 9 August 2011 (UTC)

Revision required?

RE: Final line in section titled Freebasing Incident

I don't see what this has to do with the freebasing incident, and should rather be in the section below titled Marriages and Relationships Robvanvee (talk) 16:04, 16 October 2012 (UTC)

Pryor on Wild Wild West

Prior was in an episode of Wild Wild West in 1966 titled The Night of the Eccentrics. It was the first episode of the second season. Don't know where it should go. IMBD Episode Link — Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.68.49.16 (talk) 17:33, 26 March 2013 (UTC)

Change of view

Didn't Pryor change his view about using the N-word? Didn't at some point in his career he stop using the N-word? 71.138.133.231 (talk) 18:48, 27 July 2013 (UTC)

Yes, when he visited Kenya. See this BBC article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-23724276 "In 1979 Pryor visited Africa for the first time. When he returned to the US from Kenya, he vowed never to use the n-word again." 5.44.248.3 (talk) 21:18, 25 August 2013 (UTC)

Furious Cool

Is there a reason Furious Cool: Richard Pryor and the World That Made Him isn't included as a reference in this article? Is it just such a new biography that no one has gotten around to reading it, and citing it yet? Lithistman (talk) 05:34, 26 November 2013 (UTC)

"Harlem Nights" a "financial success"?

I removed this questionable and unsourced claim, although anyone who can find a source is welcome to return it. I call the claim "questionable" because at the time, Harlem Nights was well known as the movie that ended Eddie Murphy's winning streak and single-handedly almost killed his career. Even if you consider that OR, any claim here that the movie was a success directly contradicts the Wikipedia article on the movie itself, which calls it a bomb. Obviously, both claims can't be right. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.198.83.14 (talk) 17:21, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

Hometown statue needs update

It says statue will be dedicated in May of 2015 72.193.14.129 (talk) 10:49, 2 July 2015 (UTC)

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