Becoming Richard Pryor (92 page)

Negro Ensemble Company, 232

Negro Liberty League, 10

Newhart, Bob, 482

Newsweek
, 313, 409, 411

Cosby interview, 113, 114

The Richard Pryor Show
and, 427

Newton, Huey, xvi, 221–23, 242, 244, 290, 293, 338

Newton-John, Olivia, 466

New West
magazine, 396

New York City.
See also
Greenwich Village

Harlem, 116

RP arrives in (1963), 115,
116

RP in, 115–44,
116
,
122
, 148–54, 163, 183, 282–88

New Yorker
, 306, 320, 390, 470

New York Herald Tribune
, 119

New York
magazine, 382, 423

New York Times
, 136, 255, 382, 391, 392, 431, 453, 458

review of
Which Way Is Up?
463–64

RP’s 1977 interview, 40, 430

on RP’s death, 481

19 Necromancers from Now
(anthology), 256

Nixon, Richard M., 336, 338, 339

“Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” (song), 159

Northridge, CA, 384–85

Oakie, Jack, 308, 311, 385

Oakland, CA, 289, 290, 292, 293–94

Oakland Coliseum, 329

Oakland Tribune
, 217

obscenity laws, 12, 135, 180, 339–40, 483

O’Donoghue, Michael, 375

Oh, God!
(film), 549n391

Omit the Logic
(documentary), xvi, 482

On Broadway Tonight
(TV show), 130–35,
132
,
133

O’Neal, Ryan, 157

Open City
(alternative newspaper), 192

Operation: Entertainment
(TV show), 179, 212

Opium Exclusion Act, 11

Ostin, Mo, 194

Oswald, Russell, 265, 533n267

“The Button Down Mind of Russell Oswald” (RP’s sound collage), 267

Our Show of Shows
(TV show), 281, 282, 283

Outkast, 292

Oz
(HBO series), 532n267

Pack, Harvey, 170

Page, LaWanda, 111

Pappas, Helen and Michael, 7–8, 17

Paramount Studios, 386, 391

Parker, Charlie, 558n463

Parker, Harold, 41,
44
, 44, 95–99,
97
,
98
, 103, 104–5, 159

Parker, Margaret “China Bee,” 41

Parton, Dolly, 148

Partridge Family, The
(TV show), 211, 230, 242–43

Pat Boone Show, The
(TV show), 179

Patterson, Floyd, 106

“people-ology,” 95

Peoria, IL, 18, 25, 336–37

Ashanti Umoja Center, 340

Black Power movement in, 228

black residents in, 23, 57–58, 104

black underworld of, 41–45, 58, 63–64

Bumboat and city government, 19

burial of Marie Bryant, 471

China Bee’s (brothel), 55, 57

corruption in, 22, 23, 26, 57

curfew in, 80–81, 507n80

George Washington Carver Community Center, 66–74,
67
, 142, 228, 340

history and culture, 20–24

Hotel Pere Marquette, 77, 79, 164, 507n77

industry in, 21

interracial socializing in, 44–45

Lakeview Museum, 71

map,
20

map, North Washington Street District of the 1940s,
42

Marie Bryant and family arrive in, 21

Marie Bryant running brothels in, 8, 25–26, 30, 39–40, 51, 57–58

movie theaters, 37

the Oasis brothel in, 18

police brutality in, 24, 80–81

public records on RP and family, xv

racism in, 23–24, 50, 53–54, 63–65, 76, 503n50

reform movements in, 29–30, 56–58, 144

“Richard Pryor Days,” 340–41

RP born in St. Francis Hospital, 28

RP leaves (1962), 107–8

RP as product of, xvi, 108

RP returns (1966), 164

RP returns (1969), 226–29

RP returns (1974), 340–41

RP returns (1977), 416

RP returns and has heart attack (1977), 465–66

RP’s family’s avoidance of disclosure, xiii–xiv

RP’s generosity to, 340

RP’s summation of, 424

schools and education of black children, 50, 58–63, 66, 75–76, 157, 159, 486, 503n50

sex trade in, 22–23, 24, 29–30, 39, 52, 55, 57

Shrine Mosque, 340

Thomas family moves to, 27

underground economy in, xiii, 22, 57, 58

urban renewal in, 56–57, 58, 144

vice district, 8, 18–19, 26, 29, 52, 56, 67, 72, 104

World War II and, 29, 499n29

Peoria Journal
, 22, 63

Peoria Journal Star
, xiv, xv, 164, 165, 220, 226, 227, 228, 466

Peoria Star
, 70

Perry, Tyler, 464

Persian Fuckers, 246, 262

Petry, Ann, 356

Philadelphia Tribune
, 118

Phillip and Sala Burton Academic High School, xi

Pilot, IL, 27

Piper, Abner (great-great-grandfather), 8

Pleshette, Suzanne, 157

Poitier, Sidney, 128, 131, 168–69, 215, 327, 363–65, 394, 486, 508n82

Poole, Robert, 288, 290, 291

Powell, Colin, 84

Presley, Elvis, 352

Prinze, Freddie, 342, 343, 350

Pryor, Deboragh McGuire (third wife), 417, 428, 429

leaves RP, 465

marriage to RP, 447, 448–53,
451
, 465

marriage to RP ends, 466–67

Pryor, Dee (aunt),
31
, 473

Pryor, Denise (cousin), 165, 190,
190

Pryor, “Dickie” (uncle),
7
, 14, 25, 27,
31
, 58, 88, 92, 165, 342, 347, 465

arrest and imprisonment for narcotics, 63–64, 504n63

Pryor, Elizabeth (daughter), 172, 348, 516n142

Pryor, Gertrude Thomas (mother), 19, 26–28,
31
, 229, 499n28

appearance, 27

birth of RP, 28

divorce and custody fight, 32–36, 500n36

domestic violence and, 32

marriage to Buck Pryor, 30

RP in Springfield with, 33, 36, 51

RP visits (1969), 227–28

working in Marie’s brothel, 27

Pryor, Herman (granduncle), 80, 228

Pryor Jennifer Lee (fourth wife), xv, 429, 449

conflict with RP’s children over estate, 481–82

relationship with RP, 449–51, 465,
467
, 467, 480–81

Pryor, Leroy “Buck,” Jr. (father),
31

appearance, 25, 27–28

arrest for keeping house of prostitution, 184

birth, 12

birth of RP, 19, 28

childhood, 14

children fathered by, 29, 34, 79, 93, 190–91

death of, 205, 206–8

death of wife, Ann, 184, 189,
190

divorce from Gertrude Thomas and custody fight for RP, 32–36

domestic violence and, 32, 220

love affair with Gertrude Thomas, 19, 27–28

marriage to Ann Hurst, 55

marriage to Gertrude Thomas, 30

relationship with RP, 28–29, 46–47, 53–54, 65, 73, 76, 77–79, 92–93, 101, 145–46, 164, 184, 189, 484

RP buys new house for (1319 Millman), 146, 190, 517n146

RP’s marriage to Patricia Watts and, 101

in RP’s routines, 47, 78, 81, 229

RP thrown out by, 107

sexual abuse of daughter Sharon, 191, 203–5

sexual cynicism of, 79

in U.S. Army and dishonorable discharge, 30, 31–32, 499n31

violence and criminality of, 32

women and, 28

work in the sex trade, 25, 58, 92, 144–45, 184

Pryor, Maxine (aunt), 14, 25, 27,
190
, 190, 206, 330, 471

Pryor, Patricia Watts (first wife), 100–103, 141, 509–10n101

birth of son, 104

child support suit by, 235

divorced by RP, 155, 518n155

left behind in Peoria, 108

RP beats, 102

Pryor, Rain (daughter), 232–33, 348, 480

Pryor, Richard, xiii

biographers of, xiii–xiv, 493nxii, 493nxiv

bitterness of, 164, 247, 307

censorship and fight for free speech, 216, 322–24, 339, 341, 342, 361, 375, 435–37, 438, 453, 457, 556n438

charisma as performer, 373

as childlike and uninhibited, 214, 459

creativity of, 3, 124–25, 171, 194–97, 214, 216, 221, 237, 247, 249, 258, 259, 266, 283, 286, 290, 291, 320, 322, 327, 358, 404–6, 454, 475, 483–84, 485, 486

dark side of, 213, 308, 459, 481

Decatur, paternal ancestors and family in, 7–19

depression and, 83, 90, 349, 424–25, 455, 472, 474

fear of heights, 340, 369

interviewers and, xiii

money, carefree attitude toward, 130, 140

“nigger” used by, 52, 209–10, 216–17, 236, 239, 249, 285–86, 303, 329, 332–33, 373, 378, 387, 537n303

personality, as mercurial, contradictory, antic, 3, 87, 130, 174, 306, 326–27, 391–92, 458

as trickster, 72, 210, 213, 226, 283, 316, 337, 469

violence and, 89–90, 126, 130, 173–75, 183, 213, 295, 361, 375, 420–21, 422, 461

violence by, against women, 102, 107, 112–13, 140, 141, 220, 234, 280, 287, 297–98, 310, 348, 349

womanizing by, 102–3, 171–72, 233, 310, 348, 465, 529n242, 559n465

—1940–1962 (P
EORIA YEARS
), 28–108

adolescent affair and first child born (1957), 79

alcohol use, 77–78, 80, 94, 105

ambitions and dreams of, 55, 77,
91
, 107, 108

appearance, 51, 80

“the backside of life” (brothels, gambling, vice), 25, 51, 71, 72, 77, 498n25

birth of, in Peoria, 28

birth of son, Richard Jr., 104

Blaine-Sumner elementary school, 58–63, 66, 157, 159, 486

childhood as “hell,” 38–39, 92

Collins Corner job, 105–8

comedy as means of acceptance for, 50, 59–63

comedy stand-up routines, 80

drug use begins, 103

education and schools attended, 50–54, 55–66,
60
, 75–76, 501n39

exposure to adult sex, 40, 55

expulsion from high school, 76

false memories of custody battle for, 34–35, 36

Famous Door tavern and, 42–43

fantasy life of, 49, 54–55

father’s relationship with, 28–29, 46–47, 53–54, 65, 73, 76, 77–79, 92–93, 101

father throws him out, 107

fear and, 39, 46–47, 79–80

first jobs, menial, 77, 79,
91

friendships with white children, 51–52, 53–54, 61–63, 66

Glow Girls and, 61–63

grandmother’s brothel and, 30, 36, 38, 39–40, 51

grandmother’s relationship with, 28, 38–39, 45–46, 50, 65, 77–78

health and physical condition, 83

income, money situation of, 92, 93, 102, 105, 107

influence of teacher, Margaret Yingst, 58–63

leaves Peoria for good, 107–8

legitimated by marriage, 30

mother’s relationship with, 28, 32–36, 51, 499n28

movies, love of and cinema heroes, 37–38, 48–49, 54–55, 93

neighborhood and characters of early years, 40–45,
42

nightclub debut and comedy sets at Harold’s Club, 95–96, 102–3, 486

Patricia Watts, affair, pregnancy, and marriage, 100–103

Peoria characters used in comedy routines, 94–95, 99

Peoria nightclub world and, 93–96, 103–4

as a prankster and rule-breaker, 52–53, 54, 72–73

punishment and beatings, 46–47, 77–78

racism and, 53–54, 63–64, 65

rat incident, 47–48

Rumpelstiltskin
production, 69–70, 142

school performances, 59–63, 64–65

self-image, 81

sexual abuse incident, 48

sexual mores, Germany, 88

sister Sharon and, 93

stepmother’s relationship with, 55, 499n28

stigma of family’s business and, 55–56

stint in family prostitution business, 107

truancy of, 65

in U.S. Army, 82–91, 509n87

witness to domestic violence, 33

Youth Theater Guild, Carver Community Center and, 66–74,
67

—1962–1971 (
DEFINING HIMSELF
), 111–270

acting roles, 163–64, 211, 219, 229–32, 242–43, 269–70

appearance, 118, 129–30, 142–43, 158, 187, 225, 232, 261–62, 516n143

arrest for assault and battery and jail, 112–13, 513n112

arrest for marijuana, 172, 521n172

Attica prison uprising, impact on RP, 265–69, 533n267

Bay Area friends, 255–56

Bay Area year (1971), xi–xii, 245–70

bench warrant for default of legal fees, 235

Berkeley friends, 245

breaks with nightclub circuit, 235–36, 249

child support suits against, 235

Chitlin Circuit and on the road, (1962), 111–15, 511n112

comedian friends, 120–23, 126–27, 154, 214–15

Cosby and, 113–15, 168

counterculture and, xii, 117–18, 151, 169, 192, 211–12, 240, 247, 248

crack-up, Aladdin hotel, 175–80, 181, 182–83, 194, 332, 339, 472, 522n180

daughter Elizabeth born, 172

daughter Rain born, 232–33

debts to drug dealers, 237

divorces wife Patricia, 155, 518n155

family in Peoria and, 135, 145–46, 183–84

fantasy version of his life, 131, 165, 515n130

father’s death and, 206–8

father’s relationship with, 145–46, 164, 184, 189

finances and, 140, 144, 173, 177, 213, 226, 522n173

friendship with Alan Farley, 248–50

friendship with Bobby Darin, 159–62,
160
, 519n159

friendship with Cecil Brown, 254–57

friendship with Henry Jaglom, 123–26, 135, 136–38, 147–48, 518n148

friendship with LeRoi Jones (Amiri Baraka), 136–38

friendship with Paul Mooney, 214–15, 217–18, 220, 305

Gallin as agent, 148, 154, 157, 167, 182, 183, 212, 213, 523n183

General Artists as manager, 143, 148

Hollywood friends and hangouts, 155–57, 245

identity issues, 211–13, 221, 245, 257–58, 332

industry reputation as unmanageable, 213

King memorial benefit, Hollywood Bowl and controversy, 193–94, 211, 524n194

meltdowns and self-destructive behavior, 167, 175–80, 181, 182–83, 212, 232, 332, 472 (see also substance abuse
below
)

as “Mr. Congenialty,” 128–46, 332

Peoria visits, 164, 187, 189–91,
190
, 206–8, 226–29