Richard Pryor

Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian and actor. Known for reaching a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential comedians of all time. He made his film debut in William Castle’s The Busy Body (1967), with Sid Caesar, Robert Ryan, Anne Baxter, Kay Medford, Jan Murray, Arlene Golonka, Ben Blue, Dom DeLuise, Bill Dana, Godfrey Cambridge, Marty Ingels, and George Jessel.

Other early films include Barry Shear’s Wild in the Streets (1968), with Shelley Winters, Christopher Jones, Diane Varsi, Hal Holbrook, Millie Perkins, Bert Freed, Kevin Coughlin, Larry Bishop, and Ed Begley Sr.; TV movie Carter’s Army (1970), with Stephen Boyd, Robert Hooks, Susan Oliver, Rosey Grier, Moses Gunn, Glynn Turman, Billy Dee Williams, and Paul Stewart; and You’ve Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You’ll Lose That Beat (1971), with Zalman King, Allen Garfield, Robert Downey Sr., Liz Torres, and Roz Kelly.

Other films of the early 1970s include Sidney J. Furie’s Lady Sings the Blues (1972), with Diana Ross, Williams, James T. Callahan, and Scatman Crothers; Michael Campus’s The Mack (1973), with Max Julien, Juanita Moore, Carol Speed, Roger E. Mosley, Dick Anthony Williams, Don Gordon, and George Murdock; Some Call It Loving (1973), with King, Carol White, and Tisa Farrow; Uptown Saturday Night (1974), with Sidney Poitier (who also directed) Bill Cosby, Harry Belafonte, Flip Wilson, Paula Kelly, Rosalind Cash, Roscoe Lee Browne, Johnny Sekka, and Calvin Lockhart; and Adios Amigos (1975), with Fred Williamson (who also directed), James Brown, Robert Phillips, and Mike Henry.

Films in the mid to late 1970s include John Badham’s The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976), with Williams, James Earl Jones, Stan Shaw, Tony Burton, Mabel King, and Ken Foree; Michael Schultz’s Car Wash (1976), withFranklyn Ajaye, George Carlin, Irwin Corey, Ivan Dixon, Bill Duke, Antonio Fargas, Jack Kehoe, Clarence Muse, Lorraine Gary, The Pointer Sisters, and Garrett Morris; Arthur Hiller’s Silver Streak (1976), with Gene Wilder (their first of four collaborations), Jill Clayburgh, Patrick McGoohan, Ned Beatty, Clifton James, Ray Walston, Scatman Crothers, and Richard Kiel; Greased Lighting (1977), with Beau Bridges, Pam Grier, Cleavon Little, Vincent Gardenia, Richie Havens, Bill Cobbs, and Noble Willingham; Which Way Is Up? (1977), with Lonette McKee and Margaret Avery; Paul Schrader’s Blue Collar (1978), with Harvey Keitel, Yaphet Koto, Ed Begley Jr., Lame Smith, and Cliff DeYoung; Sidney Lumet’s The Wiz (1978), with Ross, Michael Jackson, Nipsey Russell, Ted Ross, and Lena Horne; Herbert Ross’s California Suite (1978), with Alan Alda, Michael Caine, Cosby, Jane Fonda, Walter Matthau, Elaine May, and Maggie Smith; and a cameo in James Frawley’s The Muppet Movie (1979).

Films in the early 1980s include Wholly Moses! (1980), with Dudley Moore, Laraine Newman, James Coco, Paul Sand, Jack Gilford, DeLuise, John Houseman, Madeline Kahn, David L. Lander, and John Ritter; In God We Trust (1981), with Marty Feldman (who also directed), Andy Kaufman, Louise Lasser, and Peter Boyle; Stir Crazy (1980), with Wilder, Georg Stanford Brown; JoBeth Williams, Miguel Ángel Suárez, Craig T. Nelson, Barry Corbin, and Erland Van Lidth; Bustin’ Loose (1981), with Cicely Tyson,,Robert Christian, and George Coe; Michael Pressman’s Some Kind of Hero (1982), with Margot Kidder, Ray Sharkey, and Ronny Cox; Richard Donner’s The Toy (1982), with Jackie Gleason, Scott Schwartz, Ned Beatty, Teresa Ganzel, and Virginia Capers; and Richard Lester’s Superman III (1983), with Christopher Reeve, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, Annette O’Toole, Annie Ross, Pamela Stephenson, Robert Vaughn, and Kidder.

Films in the mid to late 1980s include Walter Hill’s Brewster’s Millions (1985), with John Candy, McKee, Stephen Collins, and Hume Cronyn; Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986), with Kelly, Art Evans, Barbara Williams, Wings Hauser, Michael Ironside, and Dennis Farina; Michael Apted’s Critical Condition (1987), with Rachel Ticotin, Rubén Blades, Joe Montegna, Bob Dishy, Sylvia Miles, Joe Dallesandro, Randall “Tex” Cobb, Bob Saget, Jon Polito, and Wesley Snipes; Moving (1988), with Beverly Todd, Dave Thomas, Dana Carvey, and Randy Quaid; See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989), with Wilder, Joan Severence, Kevin Spacey, Alan North, and Anthony Zerbe; and Harlem Nights (1989), with Eddie Murphy (who also directed), Red Foxx, Danny Aiello, Michael Lerner, Della Reese, and Charlie Murphy.

Films in the 1990s include Another You (1991), with Wilder, Mercedes Ruehl, Stephen Lang, Vanessa Williams, Vincent Schiavelli, Kevin Pollak, Phil Rubenstein, and an uncredited Michael J. Pollard; The Three Muscatels (1991), with Flynn Belaine, Cal Wilson, Reynaldo Rey, Joe Torry, Roy Fegan, and Ron Goss; Mad Dog Time (1996), with Ellen Barkin, Gabriel Byrne, Richard Dreyfuss, Jeff Goldblum, Diane Lane, Gregory Hines, Kyle MacLachlan, Burt Reynolds, Henry Silva, Billy Idol, Angie Everhart, Billy Drago, and Rob Reiner; and David Lynch’s Lost Highway (1997), with Bill Pullman, Patricia Arquette, Balthazar Getty, Robert Blake, Natasha Gregson Wagner, Gary Busey, Robert Loggia, Mink Stole, and Jack Nance.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

The Busy Body (1967) – directed by William Castle
Wild in the Streets (1968) – directed by Barry Shear
Carter’s Army (1970) – directed by George McCowan – TV movie
The Phynx (1970) – directed by Lee H. Katzin – cameo as himself
You’ve Got to Walk It Like You Talk It or You’ll Lose That Beat (1971) – directed by Peter Locke
Richard Pryor: Live & Smokin’ (1971) – directed by Michael Blum – self – also writer – concert film
Dynamite Chicken (1971) – directed by Ernest Pintoff
Lady Sings the Blues (1972) – directed by Sidney J. Furie
The Mack (1973) – directed by Michael Campus
Some Call It Loving, (1973) – directed by James B. Harris
Hit! (1973) – directed by Sidney J. Furie
Wattstax (1973) – directed by Mel Stuart – self/host – concert film
Blazing Saddles (1974)** – directed by Mel Brooks – co-writer only
Uptown Saturday Night (1974) – directed by Sidney Poitier
Adios Amigo (1976) – directed by Fred Williamson
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976) – directed by John Badham
Car Wash (1976) – directed by Michael Schultz
Silver Streak (1976) – directed by Arthur Hiller
Greased Lightning (1977) – directed by Michael Schultz
Which Way Is Up? (1977) – directed by Michael Schultz
Blue Collar (1978) – directed by Paul Schrader
The Wiz (1978) – directed by Sidney Lumet
California Suite (1978) – directed by Herbert Ross
Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979) – directed by Jeff Margolis – self – also writer – concert film
The Muppet Movie (1979)** – directed by James Frawley – cameo
Wholly Moses! (1980) – directed by Gary Weis
In God We Trust (1980) – directed by Marty Feldman
Stir Crazy (1980) – directed by Sidney Poitier
Bustin’ Loose (1981) – directed by Oz Scott & Michael Schultz (uncredited) – also story, co-producer
Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982) – directed by Joe Layton – self – also writer, producer – convert film
Some Kind of Hero (1982) – directed by Michael Pressman
The Toy (1982) – directed by Richard Donner
Superman III (1983) – directed by Richard Lester
Richard Pryor: Here and Now (1983) – self – also director, writer – concert film
Brewster’s Millions (1985) – directed by Walter Hill
Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986) – also producer, co-writer, director
Critical Condition (1987) – directed by Michael Apted
Moving (1988) – directed by Alan Metter
See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) – directed by Arthur Hiller
Harlem Nights (1989) – directed by Eddie Murphy
Another You (1991) – directed by Maurice Phillips
The Three Muscatels (1991) – directed by Romell Foster-Owens
Mad Dog Time (1996) – directed by Larry Bishop
Lost Highway (1997) – directed by David Lynch

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