death_date nationality birth_date genre death_place influenced influences imagesize spouse image name medium caption death_cause active birth_place website subject notable_work article_title birth_name
10 december 2005 american 1 december 1940 political improvisational comedy , character comedy satire , observational comedy , black comedy , los angeles , california , u.s. george denis leary , margaret cho , eddie izzard , dave carlin chappelle , -lsb- ted_pndrgrass -rsb- , eddie murphy , bill , hicks , robin williams , colin quinn , bernie mac martin , louis c.k. , patton oswalt artie lange , jon lawrence stewart , richard lewis , and jim norton john oliver , george lopez , lenny dick gregory , redd foxx bruce , jack benny , jonathan winters , 220px patricia 1 child shelley r. bonis -lrb- 1968 -- 1969 ; price divorced -rrb- 1 child deborah mcguire -lrb- 1977 -- 1978 -lrb- ; divorced -rrb- jennifer lee -lrb- 1981 -- 1982 ; 1960 divorced -rrb- flynn belaine -lrb- 1986 -- 1987 ; divorced -- -rrb- 2 children flynn belaine -lrb- 1990 -- 1991 ; 1961 divorced -rrb- jennifer lee -lrb- 2001 -- 2005 ; widow ; -rrb- divorced -rrb- richard jpg pryor -lrb- 1986 -rrb- -lrb- cropped -rrb- . richard pryor stand-up , film , television pryor in february 1986 heart failure brought by last two heart attacks 1963 -- 1997 peoria , illinois , u.s. -lsb- http://richardpryor.com/ richardpryor.com -rsb- racism culture , human sexuality , religion , self-deprecation , everyday , life , recreational drug use race relations , american politics , african-american '' : live in concert '' and '' richard pryor : ` live on the sunset strip '' '' ` daddy rich himself '' ' in '' car wash '' '' ` wally '' karue '' ' in '' see no evil , hear ' no evil '' '' ` harry monroe '' ' in in '' stir crazy '' '' ` gus gorman '' ' '' in '' superman iii '' richard pryor richard pryor
 richard franklin lennox thomas pryor
richard pryor

richard franklin lennox thomas pryor -lrb- december 1 , 1940 -- december 10 , 2005 -rrb- was an american comedian , actor , film director , social critic , satirist , writer , and mc .
pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues , which employed colorful vulgarities and profanity , as well as racial epithets .
he reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style .
he is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time : jerry seinfeld called pryor `` the picasso of our profession '' , and bob newhart has called pryor `` the seminal comedian of the last 50 years '' .
this legacy can be attributed , in part , to the unusual degree of intimacy pryor brought to bear on his comedy .
as bill cosby reportedly once said , `` richard pryor drew the line between comedy and tragedy as thin as one could possibly paint it . ''
pryor 's body of work includes the concert movies and recordings : `` richard pryor : live & smokin -lrb- 1971 -rrb- , `` that nigger 's crazy '' -lrb- 1974 -rrb- , '' ... is it something i said ? ''
-lrb- 1975 -rrb- , `` bicentennial nigger '' -lrb- 1976 -rrb- , ' -lrb- 1979 -rrb- , ' -lrb- 1982 -rrb- , and ' -lrb- 1983 -rrb- .
he also starred in numerous films as an actor , such as `` superman iii '' -lrb- 1983 -rrb- , but was usually in comedies such as `` silver streak '' -lrb- 1976 -rrb- , and occasionally in dramatic roles , such as paul schrader 's film `` blue collar '' -lrb- 1978 -rrb- .
he collaborated on many projects with actor gene wilder .
another frequent collaborator was actor/comedian/writer paul mooney .
pryor won an emmy award -lrb- 1973 -rrb- and five grammy awards -lrb- 1974 , 1975 , 1976 , 1981 , and 1982 -rrb- .
in 1974 , he also won two american academy of humor awards and the writers guild of america award .
the first ever kennedy center mark twain prize for american humor was presented to him in 1998 .
pryor is listed at number 1 on comedy central 's list of all-time greatest stand-up comedians .
