Becoming Richard Pryor (94 page)

with Lily Tomlin, writing and acting, 320–27,
323
, 413

Lily
(TV special), 322–24

The Lily Tomlin Show
, 320–22

The
Merv Griffin Show
, 143, 148–51,
150
, 154, 159, 161, 163, 200

Mike Douglas Show
, 47, 78

Mike Douglas Show
, cohost, 341–47

NBC deals, 408, 412, 415, 427–28

On Broadway Tonight
, 130–35,
132
,
133

Operation: Entertainment
, 179, 212

The Partridge Family
, 211, 230, 242–43

The Pat Boone Show, The
, 179

The Richard Pryor Show
, 427–28, 429, 430–39,
434
,
439
, 447, 454–62

The Richard Pryor Special?
412–15

A Time for Laughter: A Look at Negro Humor in America
, 167–70, 182

The Tonight Show
, 178, 207, 212

The Wild Wild West
, 163–64

The Young Lawyers
, 229, 230

Pryor, Richard, Jr. (son), 104, 228, 416, 482, 519n155

Pryor, Roy (grandfather), 12, 14–15

Pryor, Sharon Wilson (half-sister), 93, 191, 203–5

Pryor, Shelley Bonis (second wife), 187–89,
190
, 362

birth of daughter Rain, 232–33

divorce of RP, 235

domestic violence and, 220

financial backing of RP’s film, 221

home with RP as “House of Pain,” 220, 228, 233–34

marries RP, 191–92

RP’s cocaine use and, 220

in RP’s routines, 240

Pryor, Viola Anna Hurst “Ann” (stepmother), 55,
56
, 79, 164, 499n28

arrest and conviction, 144, 145

cancer of, 92, 145, 184

daughter June,
190
, 190

death of, 184

prostitution and, 55, 58, 92–93, 124, 144, 499n28

Pryor, William (granduncle), 12, 498n25

Pryor, William (uncle), 14

Pryor Convictions
(Pryor), 48

Putney Swope
(film), 235

Queen Booking, 329

race issues in America, 501n39.
See also
Black Power movement

alliance between blacks and white liberals, 135, 136, 137, 515n136

American caste system, 239–40

antimiscegenation laws, 44–45, 502n44

Attica prison uprising and, 265–69

black activism, 135–36

civil rights movement, 124, 125–26, 135, 194

counterculture and, 192

death of King, 193

desegregation of the 1950s, xv

discrimination in Peoria, 23–24

discrimination in the U.S., 211

Great Depression and, 18

interracial dating and, 44–45, 515n128

jobs available to blacks, 9, 18, 24, 76, 105, 211

lynch mobs, Decatur, 9–10

media industries and, 393

New York City (1964), 135–36

racism and, 23–24, 50, 53–54, 63–65, 76, 220, 503n50

summer of 1967 and urban unrest, 166–67, 520n166

in U.S. Army, 82–90, 508n82, 508n84, 508n85

word “nigger” and, 216–17, 256

Rasulala, Thalmus, 362

Reagan, Nancy, 212

Reagan, Ronald, 212

Realist, The
magazine, 252

Redd Foxx Club, 215, 216, 237, 245

‘Craps’
recorded at, 238, 529n238

RP and “coke Olympics” at, 216, 245

Red Ryder (film character), 49

Reed, Ishmael, 246, 255, 256, 485

Reid, Tim, 431–32, 459, 482–83

Reiner, Carl, 281

Reprise Records, 194, 201, 213

Reynolds, Burt, 396, 400, 474

Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, 84–87

Richard Pryor
(album), 194–203, 526n213

cover, 201–3,
202
,
203
, 221, 524–25n201

Richard Pryor: Live in Concert
(film), 1–2, 46, 78, 448, 468–70, 474

Richard Pryor Live on the Sunset Strip
(concert film), 474

Richard Pryor Show, The
(TV series), 427–39,
434
,
439
, 448, 452, 454–62

“Black Death,” 429, 556n438

Bo Jaws character, 432

“The 40th President of the United States,” 432–33

“Gun Shop,” 459–61,
460

innovation and, 475

Mersky’s monologue, 447, 456–58, 558n456, 558n457

“Mr. Fixit,” 455

Mudbone character, 458

NBC censorship and, 435–38

“New Talent,” 456

“Once Upon a Time,” 455–56

ratings plunge, 458

“A Rebuttal,” 461–62

RP’s substance abuse and, 433–34

“Satin Doll,” 429, 434–35

“Separate Tables,” 455

“Star Wars Bar,” 432, 434

Richard Pryor Special? The
(TV special), 412–15

Richmond Coliseum, 339, 340

Richmond Post-Dispatch
, 339

Rickles, Don, 162, 178

Rivers, Joan, 118

Robbins, Matt, 367–68

Roberts, Bobby, 179, 194, 197, 200–201, 213, 214, 217

Rock, Chris, 482

Rogers, Timmie, 85

Rolling Stone
magazine, 326, 467, 470

RP interview, 177, 178–79

Rolling Thunder
(film), 418

Roosevelt, Theodore, 22

Rosenbaum, Jonathan, 470

Ross, Diana, 277, 382, 481

Roth, Manny, 128, 129, 163, 218, 515n128, 526n218

advice to RP, 119

Café Wha? and, 119, 128–29

RP leaves, 143

as RP’s manager, 119, 128–35

Russell, Bertrand, 151

Ruth, Margaret, 61–63,
62
, 64–65

Sales, Grover, 249–50

Sands, Diana, 393

Sands Hotel, 167

San Francisco, CA

counterculture and, xii

RP in (1971), xi, 244, 245–70

“That Nigger’s Crazy”
recorded in, 329, 352

San Francisco Chronicle
, 249, 440

San Francisco Examiner
, 249

San Francisco
magazine, 249–50

Sargent, Herb, 322

Saroyan, Lucy, 428, 429

Sarris, Andrew, 277, 470

Saturday Night Fever
(film), 368, 381, 477

Saturday Night Live
(SNL), 122, 322, 330, 331

“Acid,” 376

RP as guest host, 362–63, 375–80, 472

“Samurai Hotel,” 376–77, 546n376

“Word Association Test,” 377–80

Sausalito, CA, 265, 266, 298, 305

Save Our Human Rights Foundation, 440

Schickel, Richard, 429, 430

Schneemann, Carolee, 117

Schrader, Leonard, 418

Schrader, Paul, 274, 417–26,
420
, 486, 534n275

Schultz, Michael, 394

director,
Car Wash
, 395

director,
Greased Lightning
, 400, 402–3, 429, 463, 551n400

director,
Which Way Is Up?
, 394–95, 399, 400, 403, 406–10,
409
, 549–50n394

RP and, 394, 395, 399–400, 408, 410, 420, 486

Scott, Bruce, 140–41

Scott, George C., 342, 343

Scott, Wendell, 393, 394, 401, 463

Scott-Heron, Gil, 362

Seale, Bobby, 293–94

Seattle Daily Times
, 313

Seduction of Mimi, The
(film), 405–6, 410, 463

Seinfeld
(TV show), 240

Seinfeld, Jerry, 482

Sellers, Peter, 408

Sentinel
newspaper, 446

Shales, Tom, 436–37

Sharif, Omar, 156

Silver, Roy, 129

Silverman, Maxine, 138–41,
139
, 155,
160
, 171–72, 516n138, 516n142

birth of daughter Elizabeth, 172

child support suit by, 235

takes RP to court, 183

Silver Streak
(film), 308, 384–92,
389
, 419, 429, 486, 548n388

promotion of, 391

Simon, John, 382

Simon, Neil, 281

Sinatra, Frank, 76, 178, 241, 352

Sinatra, Nancy, 143, 157

Singleton, John, 478

Sirk, Douglas, 507n89

Sixx, Nikki, 529n242

Skelton, Red, 48, 60, 115

Sky River Rock Festival, 211–12

Smokey and the Bandit
(film), 396

Snoop Dogg, 292

Southern Christian Leadership Conference, 194

Spector, Phil, 181

Spelling, Aaron, 157, 229–30, 235, 245

Spheeris, Penelope, 225, 226, 233

Spielberg, Steven, 367, 368, 477, 534n275

Sprattling, David, 98

Springfield, IL, 19, 27, 33, 36, 51,
60

Rosalie’s (brothel), 27

Sragow, Michael, 475

Staple Singers, 301, 304

“Star-Spangled Night for Rights” concert, 439–46,
441
, 458, 556n442

Stax Records, 301, 337–38, 349

Steiger, Rod, 193–94

Steinberg, Norman, 273, 281, 285, 287, 305, 307, 535n288

Stenson, Sonny, 103

Stevenson, McLean, 361

Stir Crazy
(film), 392, 474

St. Jacques, Raymond, 312

Stone, Sly, 342, 343

Stuart, Mel, 300–302,
315
, 316, 318, 486

RP and chess incident, 315–16

Sturges, Preston, 241

Sullivan, Ed, 141, 143, 154, 165, 182

Summit Club, Los Angeles, 300, 302, 537n302

Sunset Towers, Los Angeles, 173–75, 183, 241–42, 529n242

Supremes, 143, 367

Susskind, David, 131

Swartz, Murray, 329, 347

Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song
(film), 258

Tanen, Ned, 274, 380

Tarantino, Quentin, 292

Tarnished Angel
(Lee), 467

Tate, Greg, 486–87

Tatum, Goose, 53

Taxi Driver
(film), 418

“Tearing” (Blumenthal), 558n456

Terkel, Studs, 250

Terrace Theater, Long Beach, CA, 1, 466

Terry, Clark, 347

Texaco Star Theater
(TV show), 343

“That Nigger’s Crazy”
(album), 329–31, 336, 337, 342, 352

Grammy won by, 349

tour, 338–39

unpaid royalties on, 341

Third World Cinema, 393

This Can’t Be Happening to Me
(unproduced screenplay), 260–61

Tholkes, Fabian, 173, 175

Thomas, Rufus, 301, 304, 312

Thornell, Joan, 255

Tieken, Fred, 99

Time for Laughter, A: A Look at Negro Humor in America, A
(TV special), 167–70, 182, 232

Time
magazine, 163, 390, 409, 429, 474

Timmes, Kathryn, 66, 70, 72–73

Tituba of Salem Village
(Petry), 356

Tomlin, Lily, 70, 148, 300, 384, 441, 442, 484

Emmy Awards, 325–26

feminism and, 326–27

free expression and, 320, 436

“Juke and Opal,” 320, 322,
323
, 323–26, 540n325

RP and, 318–27,
319
, 413

“War Games,” 322

Tonight Show, The
(TV show), 255, 362

Cosby on, 114, 119

RP on, 179, 207, 212

Toronto, Canada, 384, 387, 388

Toy, The
(film), 475

Traviesas, Herminio, 436

Trosper, Wayne, 173–75

Troubadour, West Hollywood, 147, 151, 165, 194, 195–96, 197, 200, 517n147

Trunk, Ray, 144

Tulsa World
, 313

Turman, Glynn, 231

Twain, Mark (Samuel Clemens), 484–85

Twentieth Century Fox, 397

2001: A Space Odyssey
(film), 331

Tyson, Cicely, 131

Uger, Alan, 534n282, 535n288

“Uncle Sam Wants You Dead, Nigger” (screenplay), 250–52, 531n251

Uncle Tom’s Fairy Tales
(film), 212, 217–21, 223–24, 225–26, 230, 258

funding for, 221, 226

private showing for Cosby, 234–35

RP as director, 226

RP’s substance abuse and, 226

shelving of, 235, 238

shooting of, 225–26

Spheeris works on, 225, 226, 233–34

UCLA equipment used for, 225

Universal Studios, 274, 352–53, 367, 380, 382, 395–96, 407, 409, 419, 462

Uptown Saturday Night
(film), 327, 363–65, 382

Urban League, 194

Urbisci, Rocco, 412, 415, 429, 433, 438, 452, 455, 456–57, 556n438

U.S. Army

race issues in, 82–90, 508n82, 508n84, 508n85

RP’s arrest and “elimination,” 88–91, 508n87

RP’s father’s service and dishonorable discharge, 30, 31–32, 499n31

RP’s induction and service in Germany, 88–91

Vallee, Rudy, 131

Van Peebles, Melvin, 258, 259, 304, 400, 402, 551n400

Variety
, 130, 162, 164, 200, 462

Vereen, Ben, 342

Vidal, Gore, 342

Vietnam War, 211, 212, 246, 395

RP criticizes, 167, 251

Village Gate, 130, 522n173

Village Voice
, 120, 277, 306, 382, 390, 419, 463, 470

Wade’s Inn, 94

Wagner, Jane, 320, 324, 326, 327

Wagner, Leon “Daddy Wags,” 373

Wald, Jeff, 193

Wallace, George, 211

Wall Street Journal
, 382

Walters, Barbara, 487

Ward, Frank, 290, 293

Warfield, Martha, 431, 455, 458, 459

Warner Bros. Studios, 281, 307, 349, 351, 374, 397, 400

multi-film deal with RP, 430

Warren, Rusty, 176, 180

Washington, DC

RP in, 237, 314, 328, 333

Washington Post
, 236, 329, 334, 381–82, 409, 431, 433, 436–37, 481

Wasserman, John, 440

Watkins, Mel, 481

Watts, Gladstone “Fox,” 509–10n101

Watts Summer Festival

Wattstax
(film), 300–305, 311–17, 337–38, 391, 486, 537n302

premiere, 311–12,
313
, 321

Wattstax (the concert), 301, 304

Wayans, Damon, 482

Wayans brothers, 464

Wayne, John, 37, 50, 241

Weiner, Mark, 222

Weinstein, Hannah, 393, 397, 400, 402, 429, 486, 551n400

Weinstein, Lisa, 397

Weintraub, Fred, 129

Weisbord, Sam, 352

Wertmüller, Lina, 394, 395, 405–6, 407, 463

Weston, Jay, 276–77, 279

“What’s Going On” (Gaye), 257

Which Way Is Up?
(film), 394, 400, 401, 462–64, 486, 551n400

earnings, 463

filming, RP and, 408–12,
409