Another legend gone

Damn. Richard Pryor is dead.

Nearly every guy in his 30s or early 40s probably has a story about sneaking a listen to a Richard Pryor album as a kid. My personal tale is having my dad prohibit me from listening to his vinyl album of "Live on the Sunset Strip", then waiting until my folks went to sleep and playing the album on the turntable with my headphones on so Dad wouldn't hear me listening to it.

A month or so later, my family was at a pig-pickin' and my dad and a couple of his friends start reciting one of the routines. I start laughing hysterically and recite the scene with them under my breath, or so I thought. My dad noticed I was a little too familiar with the album and read me the riot act, but it was some funny stuff.

In addition to his groundbreaking stand-up work, Pryor was underappreciated as an actor. His pairings with Gene Wilder, especially in "Stir Crazy", were fantastic (as in the photo above - the "We Bad" scene). And I used to love Saturdays as a teenager or 20-something when you could catch "Bustin' Loose" on the afternoon movie.

He pushed the envelope, both in profanity and material, but the world is a funnier place for it. I think my favorite Pryor line came via Eddie Murphy, who said that Bill Cosby complained about Murphy's profanity in his stand-up routine. Murphy called Pryor for support, and Pryor advised Murphy to tell Cosby to "have a Coke and a smile and shut the fu*k up."

Classic. Thanks, Richard. You were the best at what you did.