![]() ![]() By the age of 14, he was performing with a local amateur dramatic group, and in 1964 he relocated to New York City to pursue a career in standup. Living in the worst slum in the Peoria area, he often found himself the target of gang violence his sense of humor was his only defense mechanism, and Pryor soon developed a reputation as a class cut-up. His early life was confusing and difficult raised in the brothel owned by his grandmother, Pryor's mother was herself a prostitute, and his father was a pimp. Richard Pryor was born December 1, 1940, in Peoria, Illinois. But while Gregory used the standup stage as a pulpit to preach messages of peace, equality, and social change, Pryor seethed with bitterness and anger his was the foul-mouthed voice of the growing Black Power movement, uncompromisingly decrying the continued oppression of the conservative establishment while reporting on the African-American experience - warts and all - with honesty and conviction. ![]() Like Dick Gregory before him, Pryor explored issues of racial inequity with great insight and depth, tackling taboo topics that mainstream white America would have preferred swept permanently under the rug. The most groundbreaking and daring comic talent since the heyday of Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor was also the most controversial.
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