Richard Pryor is Now a Part of My Life...

So, the Plan?

I plan on writing my monologue from the perspective of Richard prior when he was in his mid to late 30’s after filming Grease Lightning (1977). Richard had been struggling with cocaine and alcohol and was on the verge of turning his life around when he was diagnosed with cancer. My monologue will be based on the life and demise of Richard. His opinions on how he lived/ lives and the turning point in his career and life.

Mini Biography & Artist Biography

Highly influential, and always controversial, African/American actor/comedian who was equally well known for his colorful language during his live comedy shows, as for his fast paced life, multiple marriages and battles with drug addiction. He has been acknowledged by many modern comic artist's as a key influence on their careers, and Pryor's observational humor on African/American life in the USA during the 1970s was razor sharp brilliance. He was born Richard Franklin Lennox Pryor III in Peoria, Illinois on December 1st 1940, the son of a prostitute, and was abandoned by his mother at ten years of age, after which he was raised in his grandmother's brothel. Unfortunately, Pryor was molested at the age of six by a teenage neighbor, and later by a neighborhood priest. To escape this troubled life, the young Pryor was an avid movie fan and a regular visitor to local movie theaters in Peoria. After numerous jobs, including truck driver and meat packer, the young Pryor did a stint in the US Army between 1958 & 1960 in which he performed in amateur theater shows. After he left the services in 1960, Pryor started singing in small clubs, but inadvertently found that humor was his real forte.