Richard Thomas Pryor Accomplishments

“ I was a skinny little black kid with big eyes that took in the whole world and a wide smile that begged for more attention than anybody had to give.” Richard Franklin Lennox Pryor III started out as a kid with a hard life and big dreams, but by the end of his lifetime he’s know as an inspiration to many people around the world. He was born on December 1, 1940 in Peoria Illinois. His parents were Gertrude Thomas and Leroy Pryor, although he spent most of his time growing up with his grandmother, Marie Carter, and four other children in a brothel.

He didn’t have the easiest life, his mother left him at the age of ten and sold herself into prostitution. He also had little contact with his father throughout his life. At an early age he was physically and sexually abused and when he was fourteen he got expelled from school in 8th grade and never came back. Instead he worked jobs as a janitor, shoe shiner, and many other professions. Although these obstacles in his childhood did not deter him in the future. In fact
he was able to turn his traumatic experiences into comedy in his shows and doesn’t look at his past in a bitter perspective. Later on in his life when he finally made it big as a comedian, Richard Pryor faced more and possibly harder obstacle. He began to abuse drugs, which harmed his health and sometimes made him act violently. In 1980, while he was freebasing cocaine he lit himself on fire as a suicide attempt in a drug haze. When the news released it was reported as an accident but later in his autobiography he told the truth. In !982 he joined a rehab program and worked with other drug addicts to cure his addiction. Sadly, while he was clearing up his drug problem he was later diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a disease that affects the central nervous system.

However, he did not let this diagnosis get in the way of what he loved.
He still tried to remain as active as possible, making appearances in movies like Critical Condition (1987), Harlem Nights (1989), etc. When he was confined to a wheelchair in the 1990s he still continued to perform and stand -up. Being a comedian, and an actor must not have been enough for him considering he wrote his own autobiography in 1995, and established Pryor’s Planet, a charity for animals.

“ I lived big for a time, but never appreciated life. Nor did I think that people really liked me . That’s changed since I became ill. I’ve deeply touched in more ways than I could’ve imagined.” Richard Pryor was known as a man who turned his obstacles into success. Many people see him as the one who paved the road for the black community to become comedians and make it to fame. He was considered the greatest stand-up comedian of all time and is given credit for other stars’ success
today.