The first-ever Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize for American Humor was presented to him in 1998. In 1974, he also won two American Academy of Humor awards and the Writers Guild of America Award. Another frequent collaborator was actor/comedian/writer Paul Mooney. He collaborated on many projects with actor Gene Wilder. As an actor, he starred mainly in comedies such as Silver Streak (1976), but occasionally in dramas, such as Paul Schrader's Blue Collar (1978), or action films, such as Superman III (1983). Is It Something I Said? (1975), Bicentennial N***** (1976), Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979), Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982), and Richard Pryor: Here and Now (1983). Pryor's body of work includes the concert movies and recordings: Richard Pryor: Live & Smokin' (1971), That N*****'s Crazy (1974). As Bill Cosby reportedly once said, 'Richard Pryor drew the line between comedy and tragedy as thin as one could possibly paint it.' Richard was the highest evolution of comedy.' This legacy can be attributed, in part, to the unusual degree of intimacy Pryor brought to bear on his comedy. Dave Chappelle said of Pryor, 'You know those, like, evolution charts of man? He was the dude walking upright. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time: Jerry Seinfeld called Pryor 'The Picasso of our profession' and Bob Newhart heralded Pryor as 'the seminal comedian of the last 50 years'.

He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style.

Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities and profanity, as well as racial epithets. Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor (December 1, 1940В вЂ“ December 10, 2005) was an American comedian, actor, and social critic.

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