Richard Pryor dies of heart attack

Posted Saturday, December 10, 2005 at 7:22 PM Central

by Tim Briscoe

Legendary comedian and actor Richard Pryor died of a heart attack in Los Angeles on Saturday. He was 65.

Pryor grew to prominence in the late '60s and then to infamy in the '70s as a groundbreaking stand-up comedian which he transitioned into a successful film career. His blue and brutally honest comic style led the path for many African-American comedians such as Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, Chris Rock and Damon Wayans.

During his career he was honored with five Grammys, one Emmy, and an Oscar nomination for his role in 1972's Lady Sings the Blues. He also directed (and starred in) the semiautobiographical Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling in 1986.

Youth was anything but easy for Pryor. He grew up in a brothel owned by his grandmother and would see his mother turn tricks. Molested himself at age six, his mother abandoned him when he was ten. He dropped out of school at age 14.

In adulthood, he fell victim to drug addiction, violence, broken marriages, and health problems. He had his first heart attack in 1977 and then another in 1990. Pryor underwent triple-bypass heart surgery in 1991. In that same year he went public with his multiple sclerosis, a condition he was diagnosed with in 1986. He co-wrote a memoir titled "Pryor Convictions and Other Life Sentences" in 1995.