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Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and actor. He is currently listed at Number 1 on Comedy Central's list of all-time greatest stand-up comedians.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Comedy Central's 100 Greatest Stand-Ups of all Time )〕 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''' (1971), ''That Nigger's Crazy'' (1974), ''...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). He also starred in numerous films as an actor, such as ''Superman III'' (1983), but was usually in comedies such as ''Silver Streak'' (1976), and occasionally in dramatic roles, such as Paul Schrader's film ''Blue Collar'' (1978). He collaborated on many projects with actor Gene Wilder. Another frequent collaborator was actor/comedian/writer Paul Mooney. Pryor won an Emmy Award (1973) and five Grammy Awards (1974, 1975, 1976, 1981, and 1982). 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. == Early life == Born on December 1, 1940 in Peoria, Illinois, Pryor grew up in his grandmother's brothel, where his mother, Gertrude L. (Thomas), practiced prostitution.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Richard the Great )〕 His father, LeRoy "Buck Carter" Pryor (June 7, 1915 – September 27, 1968), was a former boxer and hustler.〔(【引用サイトリンク】website=RichardPryor.com )〕 After his alcoholic mother abandoned him when he was 10, Pryor was raised primarily by his grandmother Marie Carter,〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Richard Pryor website )〕 a tall, violent woman who would beat him for any of his eccentricities.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Richard Pryor )〕 Pryor was one of four children raised in his grandmother's brothel and was sexually abused at age seven. He was expelled from school at the age of 14. His first professional performance was playing drums at a night club. Pryor served in the U.S. Army from 1958 to 1960, but spent virtually the entire stint in an army prison. According to a 1999 profile about Pryor in ''The New Yorker'', Pryor was incarcerated for an incident that occurred while stationed in Germany. Angered that a white soldier was overly amused at the racially charged sections of Douglas Sirk's movie ''Imitation of Life'' (1959), Pryor and some other black soldiers beat and stabbed him, though not fatally.〔 During this time, Pryor's girlfriend gave birth to a girl named Renee. In 1960, he married Patricia Price, and they had one child together, Richard Jr. They divorced in 1961.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Richard Pryor」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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