15 Pop Culture Facts About Richard Pryor Movies
Comedy legend Richard Pryor would have turned 85 this month. Twenty years after his death, Pryor is still widely considered one of the greatest voices in the history of comedy and many cite him as the single greatest stand-up comedian of all time. That said, for being a master of comedy, his film career was inconsistent, with more misses than hits. Still, because they feature Pryor, each of his movies has its funny moments, which is why we dug up these trivia tidbits.
Pryor’s Favorite Movie He Did
Brewster’s Millions director Walter Hill told The Hollywood Reporter that “Over the years, he told me several times Brewster’s was his favorite” because “he specifically liked being a comedic actor rather than a full-blast comedian in it.”
See No Evil
Richard Pryor visited the Braille Institute in preparation for his role as a blind man in See No Evil, Hear No Evil so as not to mock the blind in his portrayal. “(Gene Wilder and I) were very careful in the script and the work that we did that we wouldn’t do anything that we were consciously aware of that would offend,” Pryor said in an interview.
Hard Nights in Harlem
Richard Pryor was a hero to Eddie Murphy, yet Murphy admitted that he was disappointed when he worked with Pryor on Harlem Nights, telling Spin in 1990, “It was disappointing because Richard wasn't the way I thought Richard was gonna be. I thought it would be like a collaborative thing where I would get to work with my idol, and then it would be like, ‘This is great.’ But Richard would come to the set, say his line and leave, it wasn't like a collaborative thing.” It should be noted that Pryor was afflicted with multiple sclerosis.
Crazy on ‘Stir Crazy’
The legendary Sidney Poitier directed Pryor in the 1980 comedy Stir Crazy. He said Pryor was so funny on set that “You can’t do your work.” Poitier also noted a difficulty, saying, “You play a scene with Richard and it’s dynamite and you say ‘Terrific and now I want close-ups and I want another angle,’ (but) he does a different scene!”
A Broken Toy
Of the 1982 film The Toy, Pryor wrote in his autobiography, “I worked on The Toy with Jackie Gleason in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. I didn't much care for the picture. Like the others, I did it for the monies. But Jackie and I hit it off famously, like kindred souls.”
Too Hot For ‘Blazing Saddles’
Richard Pryor was one of the writers who contributed to Blazing Saddles. According to Gene Wilder, Pryor was supposed to play Black Bart in the film, but Warner Brothers refused because he was too controversial and they feared Pryor’s drug use made him a risk.
The Beginning of a Beautiful Friendship
Despite both having worked on Blazing Saddles, Richard Pryor and Gene Wilder didn’t meet until they were both cast in Silver Streak.
Not So Super
While doing the flying scenes on wires during Superman III, Pryor told Johnny Carson he was “petrified” and was “ready to cry.”
One for the Birds
For years, Richard Pryor was attached to a drama film about legendary jazz saxophonist Charlie “Bird” Parker where he would play the lead, but by the time the deal was finalized Pryor lost interest. Forest Whitaker would end up taking on the role instead.
Animals and Arsenic
Pryor’s other unrealized projects included an adaptation of George Orwell’s Animal Farm and a remake of Arsenic and Old Lace.
Busted
Pryor offered opinions about two of his movies during substance abuse issues in the early 1980s. From his autobiography: “I squandered away the summer, working two days for $50,000 on the lame comedy In God We Trust and preparing for a major role co-starring with Cicely Tyson in Family Dreams (later retitled Bustin’ Loose). But neither picture, when it came to facing facts, was of the caliber I should've been doing if my head hadn't been lost in a haze of vodka, coke, and anger,” wrote Pryor.
Wild Wiz
Pryor played “The Wiz” in the 1978 The Wizard of Oz adaptation The Wiz, where he struggled with substance abuse. In his autobiography he wrote, “At the end of October the craziness began all over again when I went to work on The Wiz in New York. I couldn't help myself. I caroused with sleazy, doped-up nogoodniks all night. I was as lit as the white suit I wore playing the Wiz himself. I answered my wake-up calls by saying, ‘Oh, shit, I made it again.’”
No More Muppets
Richard Pryor’s cameo in The Muppet Movie was supposed to lead into him hosting an episode of The Muppet Show, but in 1980 Pryor attempted suicide while he was freebasing cocaine. The result was a fire where he was badly burned, and that prevented him from hosting.
Moving Out of the Spotlight
While he still played supporting and co-starring roles into the 1990s, Richard Pryor’s health began to decline in the late 1980s with the onset of multiple sclerosis. His final solo outing was Moving in 1988. The film’s director, Alan Metter, said about Pryor and the film, “I was a huge fan of Pryor, but his health was failing by this time, so it was a tough mountain to climb. I think it has its moments, though.”
On Watching Himself
Pryor was very uncomfortable watching himself onscreen, so he often didn’t watch his movies. “I can’t see myself work. I just really really cannot. I get petrified. I don’t know what it is. I just, I don’t like what I see,” Pryor told Johnny Carson.