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Richard Franklin Lenox Thomas Pryor (born December 1, 1940 in Peoria, Illinois) is an American actor and comedian.
Known for his frequent use of colorful language, vulgarities, as well as racial epithets (such as "nigger"), Pryor shattered many barriers for African American stand-up comedians. Pryor is often ranked among the best stand-up comedians.
Richard was at his best when he took the tragic events that happened during his life and made them a part of his on stage routine in such concert movies and recordings such as "Richard Pryor: Live & Smokin'" (1971), "That Nigger's Crazy" (1974), "Bicentenntial Nigger" (1976), "Richard Pryor: Wanted - Live In Concert" (1979), and "Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip" (1982).
Comfortably successful and into the zenith of his career, Pryor visited Africa in 1979 and witnessed firsthand the injustices of apartheid. Upon returning to the United States, Pryor swore he would never use the "N" word in his stand-up comedy routine again.
Pryor appeared in several popular films including Lady Sings The Blues, The Mack, Uptown Saturday Night, Silver Streak, Which Way Is Up?, Car Wash, The Toy, Superman III, Brewster's Millions, Stir Crazy, Moving and See No Evil, Hear No Evil. In four of his films, he co-starred with Gene Wilder.
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.
In 1986, Pryor announced that he suffers from multiple sclerosis and today is confined to a wheelchair. In 1999, Pryor won the inaugural Mark Twain Prize for American Humor.
In 2004, Pryor was voted #1 of the "Greatest Standup Comedians of All Time" by Comedy Central.
In a 2005 British poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, Pryor was voted the 10th greatest comedy act ever by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.