Richard Pryor died today
- Thread starter Antilles
- Start date
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2003
I'm not one for blue humor, but he was a sweet guy, and I'm really sorry that he's gone. I know he's been suffering for quite a while, though. I totally forgot he was from my area until the news came on. They were wanting to name a street after him in Peoria, a few years ago.
- Joined
- Jan 30, 2004
I was never really a fan of his, but I've been seeing a lot of coverage of Richard and his MS on one of those early evening celebrity news type shows (the one with Pat Obrien on it). He had a place in the comedy world and helped pave the path for a lot of others. It's a shame the last years of his life were so hard and that he's now gone. RIP Richard.
I was a huge fan of Richard Pryor. What he did for black entertainers and what he suffered as a result (freebasing cocaine, etc.) is beyond words. Then, just as he was starting to get his life together, he gets Multiple Sclerosis. He was lucky he was rich, but how ironic that the way he made his money almost killed him about 25 years ago when the coke he was free-basing caught fire and almost took him with it.
The article says he died of a heart attack. That's fortunate for him too. With the degree of MS symptoms he had, it was not something he would have wanted to live to be an old man with.
I don't know if he died in his sleep, but I'd bet my bottom dollar that as soon as he was aware he was dying, he probably said to himself, "Thank god. It's about time.
When I did see him perform in the 70s and 80s, I remember how brilliant he was. The black Lenny Bruce. He broke down so many race barriers by doing the very stereotypes people thought were real, but of course mumbling hilarious obscenities under his voice that the audience could hear. One minute he was a "yes, masser" Steppin Fetchit, the next minute, as soon as "da white folk was goned," many could that guy work his mouth.
Of course many people today are uncomfortable with his humor but we who loved him were such idiots too. He was scewering the "white, liberal, lock-jawed academic" as much as anybody.
I'm happy his suffering is over.
Rgirl
The article says he died of a heart attack. That's fortunate for him too. With the degree of MS symptoms he had, it was not something he would have wanted to live to be an old man with.
I don't know if he died in his sleep, but I'd bet my bottom dollar that as soon as he was aware he was dying, he probably said to himself, "Thank god. It's about time.
When I did see him perform in the 70s and 80s, I remember how brilliant he was. The black Lenny Bruce. He broke down so many race barriers by doing the very stereotypes people thought were real, but of course mumbling hilarious obscenities under his voice that the audience could hear. One minute he was a "yes, masser" Steppin Fetchit, the next minute, as soon as "da white folk was goned," many could that guy work his mouth.
Of course many people today are uncomfortable with his humor but we who loved him were such idiots too. He was scewering the "white, liberal, lock-jawed academic" as much as anybody.
I'm happy his suffering is over.
Rgirl
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