His first comedy recording, the eponymous 1968 debut Richard Pryor on the Dove/Reprise label, captures this particular period, tracking the evolution of Pryor's routine. Afterward, Pryor began working profanity into his act, including the word nigger. He walked onto the stage at the Aladdin Hotel in Las Vegas (with Dean Martin in the audience), looked at the sold-out crowd, exclaimed over the microphone, "What the fuck am I doing here!?", and walked off the stage. In September 1967, Pryor had what he described in his autobiography Pryor Convictions (1995) as an " epiphany". In 1966, Pryor was a guest star on an episode of The Wild Wild West.
The first five tracks on the 2005 compilation CD Evolution/Revolution: The Early Years (1966–1974), recorded in 19, capture Pryor in this period. His popularity led to success as a comic in Las Vegas. He began appearing regularly on television variety shows such as The Ed Sullivan Show, The Merv Griffin Show, and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. Inspired by Bill Cosby, Pryor began as a middlebrow comic, with material less controversial than what was to come. The next night was the same, and the next, and I rocked him each time. I couldn't bear to watch him shiver, so I put my arms around him there in the dark and rocked him like a baby until he calmed down. He shook like he had malaria, he was so nervous. Simone recalls Pryor's bout of performance anxiety: On one of his first nights, he opened for singer and pianist Nina Simone at New York's Village Gate. In 1963, Pryor moved to New York City and began performing regularly in clubs alongside performers such as Bob Dylan and Woody Allen. Career 1960s Publicity photo of Pryor for one of his Mister Kelly's appearances, 1968–1969 Angered that a white soldier was overly amused at the racially charged scenes of Douglas Sirk's film Imitation of Life, Pryor and several other black soldiers beat and stabbed him, although not fatally. According to a 1999 profile about Pryor in The New Yorker, Pryor was incarcerated for an incident that occurred while he was stationed in West Germany. Army from 1958 to 1960, but spent virtually the entire stint in an army prison. While in Peoria, he became a Prince Hall Freemason at a local lodge. He was sexually abused at age seven, and expelled from school at the age of 14. Pryor was one of four children raised in his grandmother's brothel. After Gertrude abandoned him when he was 10, Pryor was raised primarily by Marie, a tall, violent woman who would beat him for any of his eccentricities. His father, LeRoy "Buck Carter" Pryor (June 7, 1915 – September 27, 1968), was a former boxer, hustler and pimp. He grew up in a brothel run by his grandmother, Marie Carter, where his alcoholic mother, Gertrude L. Pryor was born on December 1, 1940, in Peoria, Illinois. He collaborated on many projects with actor Gene Wilder, including the films Silver Streak (1976), Stir Crazy (1980), See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), and Another You (1991). He also appeared in action films, like Superman III (1983). His occasional roles in dramas included Paul Schrader's Blue Collar (1978). As an actor, he starred mainly in comedies. Is It Something I Said? (1975), Bicentennial Nigger (1976), Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979), Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982), and Richard Pryor: Here and Now (1983). Pryor's body of work includes the concert films and recordings: Richard Pryor: Live & Smokin' (1971), That Nigger's Crazy (1974). In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked him first on its list of the 50 best stand-up comics of all time. He was listed at number one on Comedy Central's list of all-time greatest stand-up comedians. He won the Writers Guild of America Award in 1974. He received the first Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 1998.
Pryor won a Primetime Emmy Award and five Grammy Awards.
He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most important stand-up comedians of all time. (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor.
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