Richard Pryor

Pryor married seven times to five women and fathered seven children.

His first daughter was Renee Pryor, born in 1957, when he was 17, to his then girlfriend Susan.

He married Patricia Pryor in 1960 and had a son, Richard Pryor Jr., in 1961. He divorced Patricia the following year.

Richard Pryor was born Richard Franklin Lennox Pryor the Third, on December 1, 1940, in Peoria, Illinois, Chicago to Gertrude L. (Thomas), and LeRoy "Buck Carter" Pryor, a former boxer and hustler who also served the military during World War II.

His mother abandoned him when he was ten years old and he was raised by his grandmother, Marie Carter, in a brothel. His upbringing was stern and unforgiving, resulting in beatings for the smallest of eccentricities.

Pryor was one of the four children raised in his grandmother's brothel and was sexually abused at age seven by a teenage neighbor and later by a childhood preacher.

Despite these circumstances, he played the part of class clown at school and discovered his acting skills in his early teens.

He was expelled from school at the age of 14and ended up working a string of jobs until he joined the military.

After his stint in the military, Richard Pryor moved to New York City to try his luck in acting in 1963 and began performing acts in various clubs in New York.

In 1964, he made his television debut on the variety show 'On Broadway Tonight'.

He debuted on the big screen in 1967with ‘The Busy Body’ and followed through with ‘Wild In The Streets’ in 1968.Pryor’s first, self-titled comedy album released in 1968 as well, which was inspired by those turbulent years of his life.

The early 1970s were majorly successful for Pryor. He released his second album ‘Craps (After Hours)’. The major breakthrough came due to his role in ‘Wattstax’, a tragi-comic documentary.

Pryor’s original content then started attracting a lot of attention. His comedy was like a breath of fresh air, despite, or perhaps because of its X-rated content. Richard’s third comedy album ‘That Nigger’s Crazy’ sold extremely well and won the ‘Grammy Award for Best Comedic Recording’ in 1976. The era of the late 1970ssaw him create a thriving career as an actor, with acclaimed performances in 11 films.

Richard Pryor’s first major success was his third album, ‘That Nigger’s Crazy’, which released in 1974 and became a certified Gold hit. His next two albums, ‘….Is It Something I Said?’ and ‘Bicentennial Nigger’ enjoyed similar critical and commercial success.

He starred in 12 movies during the 1970s-80s, including box office hits such as ‘Lady Sings the Blues’ (1972), 'Silver Streak'(1976) with Gene Wilder, ‘Blue Collar’ (1978), and more.

Pryor reteamed with Gene Wilder for the popular crime comedy 'Stir Crazy'(1980); the film was a huge hit at the box office, earning more than $100 million.

The comedian wrote the autobiography 'Pryor Convictions: And Other Life Sentences' with Todd Gold, earning critical acclaim upon its release in 1995.