The Last Days of Richard Pryor

>>> YOU KNOW WHAT I LOVE MOST ABOUT RICHARD PRYOR?

>> REBEL. TABOO.

>> FUNNEST PERP ON THE PLANET.

>> UNSENSORED.

>> OH, MY GOD.

>> LEGEND.

>> EVERYTHING.

>> YOU NEVER KNEW WHAT WAS GOING TO HAPPEN BECAUSE HE WAS RICHARD

PRYOR.

>> DUN DUN DUN.

>>> FOR THE FIRST TIME IN TELEVISION, RICHARD PRYOR.

>> I'M FROM THE AVERAGE TYPE FAMILY, ELEVEN KIDS.

NO MOTHER OR FATHER, JUST KIDS.

>> RICHARD WAS BRUTALLY HONEST.

>> I KNOW I'M HARD TO GET ALONG WITH.

I KNOW THAT BECAUSE I MIGHT WAKE UP IN THE MORNING AND GO, HEY,

WAKE UP. WHAT WAS THAT YOU SAID

LAST FEBRUARY?

>> HE CHANGED THE WAY PEOPLE THOUGHT ABOUT BLACKS, WHITES,

THEMSELVES.

>> THEY CALL IT AN EPIDEMIC NOW. THAT MEANS WHITE FOLKS ARE DOING

IT.

>> HIS LIFE CHALLENGED THE STATUS QUO, HIS COMEDY

CHALLENGED THE STATUS QUO.

>> YOU CAN'T EVEN TALK LIKE THAT NOW.

>> YOU EVER NOTICE HOW NICE WHITE PEOPLE GET WHEN THERE'S A

BUNK BUNCH OF AROUND? THEY GET OUTSIDE THEY TALK TO

EVERYBODY. SAY HI, HOW YOU DOING? I DON'T KNOW YOU BUT HERE'S MY

WIFE. HELLO!

>> HE WAS REPRESENTING A GROUP OF PEOPLE, AN ERA, A STRUGGLE, A

TIME.

>> I JUST LOVED HIM, IMMEDIATELY AND IMMENSELY.

>> BEFORE THERE WAS YOUTUBE, BEFORE THERE WAS DIGITAL, BEFORE

ANY OF THAT, THERE WAS RICHARD PRYOR.

>> WE WENT, WOW. AND THEN LIKE A COMET, IT FLAMED

OUT.

>> COMEDIAN RICHARD PRYOR IN A CRITICAL CONDITION TONIGHT AND

GIVEN LESS THAN A 50/50 CHANCE SURVIVING AFTER SUFFERING

THIRD‐DEGREE BURNS OVER HALF OF HIS BODY.

>> HE WAS IN A DRUG PSYCHOSIS. I WAS THERE.

AND OF COURSE, IT ENDED UP AS A SUICIDE ATTEMPT.

>> I WOKE UP IN AN AMBULANCE, RIGHT?

AND IT WASN'T NOTHING BUT WHITE PEOPLE STARING AT ME.

I SAID AIN'T THIS A BITCH. I DONE DIED AND WOUND UP IN THE

WRONG HEAVEN.

>> THE FIRST TIME I MET HIM, I FELL MADLY IN LOVE.

AND WHAT WAS IT THAT I WAS ATTRACTED TO WAS HIS

VULNERABILITY.

>> SOMETIMES I FEEL LIKE THERE'S A PERSON, RICHARD PRYOR, AND HE

DOES ALL THIS COMEDY, HE DOES ALL THIS STUFF, AND THEN THERE'S

ME, AND I WONDER WHAT I HAVE TO DO WITH RICHARD.

>> IT TAKES A LOT OF COURAGE TO BE A COMIC.

>> I LIVED IN A NEIGHBORHOOD OF A LOT WHOREHOUSES, NOT MANY

CANDY STORES OR BANKS, LIQUOR STORES AND WHORE HOUSES.

>> YOU HAVE TO EXPOSE YOUR SOUL IN WAYS THAT ARE DANGEROUS TO

YOU, AND NOT EVERYONE SURVIVES.

>> WHEN CRITICS SAY THAT YOU'RE YOU'RE A GENIUS, DO YOU SAY,

YEP, THAT'S ME?

>> I ALWAYS THINK ABOUT WHAT MY FATHER CALLED ME.

>> WHAT DID YOUR FATHER CALL YOU? NOT THAT.

>> DUMB SON OF A BITCH. BUT THE REALITY OF WHAT I AM HAS

NOTHING TO DO WITH WHAT THEY SAY.

>> HE APPEARS ON THE RUDY VALLEY SHOW, ON BROADWAY TONIGHT, IT'S

HIS TV DEBUT, AND HE SAYS THAT HE'S GOING TO TALK ABOUT HIS

LIFE.

>> HE TELLS A COMPLETE STORY ABOUT HIS FAMILY BACKGROUND AND

WHERE HE COMES FROM.

>> I HAD A WILD NEIGHBORHOOD, I GOT TO TELL YOU, BECAUSE MY

MOTHER'S PUERTO RICAN, AND MY

FATHER IS A NEGRO, AND WE LIVE IN A REAL BIG JEWISH TENEMENT

BUILDING, IN AN ITALIAN NEIGHBORHOOD.

EVERY TIME I GO OUTSIDE THESE KIDS SAY "GET HIM!

HE'S ALL OF 'EM!"

>> BUT IN FACT HE JUST MAKES UP AN ALTERNATIVE RICHARD PRYOR.

>> HE WASN'T TO MY KNOWLEDGE

PART PUERTO RICAN. HE WAS FROM PEORIA, ILLINOIS,

OF FULL AFRICAN DESCENT AND RAISED BY MESSED UP PEOPLE.

>> AND I THINK ONE REASON HE DIDN'T TELL PEOPLE THE TRUTH

ABOUT HIS BACKGROUND IS BECAUSE HE KNEW THEY COULDN'T TAKE IT.

>> THAT WILL BE THE STRUGGLE FOR HIM IS TO FIGURE OUT A WAY THAT

HE CAN BE A COMEDIAN OR PERFORMER AND TELL THE TRUTH

ABOUT HIS LIFE.

>> I REMEMBER WHITE PEOPLE USED TO COME DOWN HERE, DO YOU HAVE

ANY GIRLS THAT COVER YOU WITH ICE CREAM?

AND LITTLE BOYS THAT LICK IT OFF? HE WAS THE MAYOR.

>> I HEARD IN THE ALBUMS FIRST, THAT'S HOW I HEARD IT.

UP UNTIL THAT POINT, THOSE WERE JOKES.

HE TOLD THE JOKES ABOUT WHORE HOUSES AND ALL THOSE THINGS.

UNTIL I WENT PEORIA AND ACTUALLY SEEN IT, AND YOU GO, OH, IT'S

REAL.

>> DECEMBER 1, 1940. I WAS BORN RICHARD FRANKLIN

LENNOX THOMAS PRYOR III. I GOT NAMES FROM PIMPS AND

GANGSTERS AND ALL THAT. BUCK CARTER'S SON.

I COME FROM ROUGH STOCK.

>> IF HELL HAD A ZIPCODE, IN 1940s AMERICA, IT WOULD HAVE

BEEN PEORIA, ILLINOIS. EVERY VICE KNOWN TO MAN WAS

COMMONPLACE THERE.

>> AND THE REASON THIS IS IMPORTANT IS BECAUSE THIS IS HOW

HIS GRANDMOTHER CREATES HER LIVELIHOOD.

>> IS IT TRUE THAT YOUR GRANDMOTHER RAN A ‐‐ A HOUSE OF

PROSTITUTION?

>> SEVERAL.

ABOUT THREE. WHOREHOUSES.

WHITE FOLKS HAD HOUSES OF PROSTITUTION.

AND BLACK PEOPLE HAD WHOREHOUSES.

>> SHE WAS THE CHIEF MADAM.

>> SHE WAS THE MADAM, NOT THE CHIEF MADAM.

>> OKAY, SHE WAS THE MADAM.

>> THERE WERE NO OTHERS. MY GRANDMA WAS TOUGH.

>> THOSE WERE CALLED FAMILY BUSINESSES BACK IN THOSE DAYS.

WHOREHOUSES THAT WERE BEING RUN BY FAMILIES, AND RICHARD WAS

JUST ONE OF THEM.

>> THOSE WERE IN THE DAYS WHEN THE WOMEN USED TO PECK ON THE

WINDOW WITH QUARTERS. FOR PEOPLE, CUSTOMERS. HELLO.

HEY, SWEETIE, BABY. THEY'D BE TALKING THROUGH THE

WINDOW. NOBODY COULD HEAR THEM ON THE

STREETS.

>> HE GROWS UP AS THE CHILD OF A PROSTITUTE.

A FATHER WHO'S A PIMP. THERE'S CRIMINALITY ALL

THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE.

>> I MEAN, THAT WAS A BROTHEL WHERE HE WATCHED WHITE MEN COME

AND KNOCK ON THE DOOR. "HELLO, IS YOUR MOTHER HOME?"

>> ON ONE OF HIS ALBUMS HE SAID, THE LIPS THAT KISSED HIM GOOD

NIGHT HAD JUST PERFORMED ORAL SEX ON SOMEBODY.

>> I COULD HAVE BEEN PREJUDICED. I COULD HAVE BEEN PREJUDICED.

I COULD HAVE BEEN, MAN, BUT I MET NICE WHITE MEN.

HELLO, LITTLE BOY, IS YOUR MOTHER HOME?

I'D LIKE A .

>> IF YOU HAVE TO TELL SOMEONE STRAIGHT WHAT YOUR CHILDHOOD WAS

LIKE, DESCRIBE IT.

>> IT WAS HELL. BECAUSE I HAD NOBODY TO TALK TO.

I WAS A CHILD, ALL RIGHT, AND I GREW UP SEEING MY MOTHER GOING

TO ROOMS WITH MEN AND MY AUNTIES GOING TO ROOMS WITH MEN, YOU

UNDERSTAND? WHEN I PEEKED THROUGH THE

KEYHOLES AND I PEEKED OVER THE TRANSIT, BUT I NEVER UNDERSTOOD

IT UNTIL THIS DAY. AND IT MESSED ME UP.

>> RICHARD FOUND OUT WHERE A LOT OF THE RAGE AND PAIN CAME FROM,

AND IT WAS PEORIA.

>> TO NOT TOTALLY DECAY AND BE FULL OF HATRED WITH THOSE

EXPERIENCES AND TO TURN IT INTO COMEDY, THERE'S JUST A GENIUS

THERE. THERE'S A GENIUS INSIDE THE

LITTLE MOTOR CONTROL THAT YOU'VE SEEN IN CARTOONS WITH THIS WHOLE

CREW INSIDE A PERSON'S BRAIN.

>> THROUGH THE FORCE OF HIS IMAGINATION AND THE FORCE OF HIS

WILL, HE MAKES A WORLD FOR HIMSELF.

>> WHO IS CHARLIE EGGER?

>> CHARLIE EGGY.

>> CHARLIE EGGY.

>> THAT'S MY MAGIC FRIEND. I MADE HIM UP.

WE USED TO PLAY TOGETHER. SEE, I AM THE SECRET PRINCE.

MY MOTHER IS QUEEN U, AND MY FATHER IS KING WHO.

MY FATHER LIVE ON LILY PAD WITH A FROG NAMED JIPPIDY‐DOO.

SO THAT'S WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU'RE THE SECRET PRINCE.

YOU HAVE TO BE MAGIC. AND YOU PUT MAGIC DUST ON PEOPLE.

>> DO YOU PUT MAGIC DUST ON PEOPLE?

>> YES, MA'AM.

>> ARE YOU MAGIC?

>> I'M MAGIC. I'M MAGIC.

>> WHO BELIEVED IN YOU? WHO CARED ABOUT YOU?

>> RICHARD FRANKLIN LENNOX THOMAS PRYOR III.

>> YOU.

>> AND MAGIC DUST.

>> I WAS IN THE FRONT YARD YOU KNOW, AND ALL THE FAMILY WAS

SITTING ON THE PORCH AND THERE WAS SOME DOG POOPOO IN THE FRONT

YARD. AND I SLIPPED AND FELL IN IT.

>> BIG SCREAM, HUH?

>> AND THEY STARTED LAUGHING SO I GOT UP AND FELL IN IT AGAIN.

>> FIRST RULE OF COMEDY, YES.

>> YOU'RE NOT GONNA GET ON THE ED SULLIVAN SHOW TALKING ABOUT

DRUG USE, SO HOW YOU DO IT?

>> NOAH?

>> HE DIDN'T WANT TO BE A BILL COSBY, AND YET HE COULD DO BILL

COSBY IN A SECOND IF HE WANTED TO.

>> WHAT ARE YOU DOING, NOAH?

YOU GOING TO BUILD A ARK IN?

>>> RICHARD PRYOR GROWING UP IN

PEORIA, WHO WAS 90% WHITE, HE BEGINS BY GOING TO THE MOVIES

AND BEING ENTRANCED BY JERRY LEWIS AND MOVIES LIKE

"SAILOR BEWARE."

>> YOU BETTER WATCH WHAT YOU'RE DOING.

>> STOP THE HEAD, AL, STOP THE HEAD.

>> I DON'T LIKE IT HERE. I'M GONNA QUIT.

>> "SAILOR BEWARE" WAS THE MOVIE.

THERE WAS 300 KIDS WHEN WE LEFT

THE THEATRE GOING ‐‐

>> I'M LIKE WATCHING CARTOON AFTER CARTOON AND THINKING "HOW

CAN I IMITATE THESE CARTOONISH EXPRESSIONS ON MY FACE?"

>> I THINK HE LOOKED AT TELEVISION AND FILMS DIFFERENT

THAN OTHER CHILDREN DID. BECAUSE IN HIS EARLY STAGES,

HIS VOICES, HIS CHARACTERS, THEY WERE FROM TV.

>> SO THAT'S THE COMEDY THAT HE LOVES.

IT TENDS TO BE PRETTY ZANY, HIGHLY PHYSICAL AND ANTIC.

>> DID YOU KNOW WHAT YOU WERE GOING TO BE?

>> YEAH. I WAS GOING TO BE RICHARD PRYOR.

DUN DUN DUN! I KNEW THAT. SOMETHING IN ME.

>> DID YOU KNOW IT WAS GOING TO BE SHOW BUSINESS?

>> YEAH. I KNEW SHOW BUSINESS EVEN BEFORE

THAT.

>> I ASKED HIM, "WHEN DID YOU FIRST FIND OUT YOU WERE FUNNY?"

AND HE SAID, WHEN I WAS 4.