Becoming Richard Pryor (82 page)

294   
“What are you doing?”:
Author’s interview with Michael Campus, July 27, 2010.

294   
needed to prop him up:
Author’s interview with Michael Campus, Aug. 28, 2009.

295   
at 3:00 a.m., he knocked:
Commentary track,
The Mack
.

295   
“I was going to throw the coffee table on top”:
Author’s interview with Bernhard.

295   
The manager of the Marriott . . . would have to be written out:
Author’s interview with Michael Campus, Aug. 28, 2009.

296   
which Richard in fact was doing:
Robert Poole, “
The Mack
shooting script,” Michael Campus Papers, Special Collections, Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley, pp. 44–45;
“we’re gonna get the motherfucker”:
The Mack
.

297   
“I know ladies who’ve been abused”:
Commentary track,
The Mack
.

297   
fourth-highest-grossing film:
“50 Top Grossing Films,”
Variety
, Apr. 25, 1973, p. 10.

297   
“Bitch,” he said:
Unless otherwise noted, all details of this episode come from the author’s interview with Patricia Heitman, Sept. 11, 2011.

298   
a writing friend of Richard’s:
Author’s interview with Rick Edelstein, Mar. 15, 2013.

Chapter 16: Black Goes First

300   
“Shoulders stooped”:
[Paramount Pictures], “Richard Pryor Emerges as a Dramatic Actor,”
Hit!
publicity materials (1973), n.p., Cinematic Arts Library, University of Southern Calfornia, Los Angeles, CA.

300   
“a half-empty room”:
Author’s interview with Mel Stuart, July 16, 2009.

301   
“on one condition”
: Ibid.;
held an open call:
Wattstax publicity brochure, p. 1, Box 131, Folder 10, David L. Wolper Collection, David L. Wolper Center for the Study of the Documentary, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (hereafter DLWC); “Wattstax ‘72’ Film Shot by 90% Black Crews; 250G Budget for Docu,”
Variety
, Sept. 27, 1972; Larry Clark commentary on
Wattstax
, directed by Mel Stuart (Columbia, 1973), DVD (hereafter
Wattstax
).

301   
ninety-two thousand people:
William Earl Berry, “How Watts Festival Renews Black Unity,”
Jet
, Sept. 14, 1972, p. 54;
one hundred thousand feet of film:
“‘Wattstax ‘72’ Film Shot by 90% Black Crews”;
not unlike later film reviewers:
Dennis Hunt, “Pryor Highlight of ‘Wattstax’ Collage,”
Los Angeles Times
, Feb. 21, 1973, p. G10; John Hartl, “‘Wattstax’ Owes a Lot to Pryor,”
Seattle Daily Times
, June 8, 1973;
“It’s a newsreel”:
Author’s interview with Stuart.

302   
“There are directors I could name”:
Bridget Byrne, “Celebration Turned into Social Commentary,”
Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
, Mar. 4, 1973, p. D1.

302   
“Gentlemen, we need Shakespeare”:
Author’s interview with Stuart.

302   
felt he’d found his chorus figure:
Ibid. The site of Pryor’s performance—identified at the Summit Club in
Wattstax
’s records—has been mistakenly linked to the Summit Club of Hollywood. However, this Summit Club was closed by 1972; the Summit Club of Pryor’s performance was located at the intersection of La Brea and Stocker in the upscale black enclave of Baldwin Hills.

303   
I think that niggers:
For whatever reason, Pryor did not repeat this parable about the origins of
nigger
in any of his recorded performances onstage (Reggie Collins, e-mail to the author, July 11, 2013).

304   
“side-splittingly funny”:
Arthur Knight, “Facing Reality,”
The Saturday Review
, Apr. 1973, p. 72.

305   
“Here and Now Black Man”:
Sandra Haggerty, “1972 for Blacks: Gains and Losses,”
Los Angeles Times
, Dec. 31, 1972, p. B1. On the state of the Black Power movement in 1972, see Peniel Joseph,
Waiting ’Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America
(New York: Henry Holt, 2006).

305   
Not long after Richard tried to choke:
Author’s interview with Patricia Heitman, Sept. 11, 2011.

305   
ran a boutique label . . . made a list:
Author’s interviews with Ron DeBlasio, Dec. 28, 2010, and Jan. 8, 2011.

306   
“Richie, you were a sensation”:
Author’s interview with DeBlasio, Dec. 28, 2010.

306   
Richard popped by:
Ibid.;
glowing reviews:
Charles Champlin, “Two Ladies Who Sing the Blues,”
Los Angeles Times
, Oct. 25, 1972, p. E1; Gene Siskel, “A Nice ‘Lady,’ but She’s No Billie,” Oct. 27, 1972, p. B1; Andrew Sarris, “Films in Focus”; Kael, “
Lady Sings the Blues
: Pop Versus Jazz.”

306   
the Pied Piper:
Gertrude Gipson, “Gertrude Gipson’s Candid Comments,”
Los Angeles Sentinel
, Nov. 23, 1972, p. B3A.

307   
near the end of 1972:
“Cleavon Little Plays ‘Black Bart’ Title Role,”
Daily Variety
, Dec. 19, 1972;
an amiable, classically trained actor:
Glenn Collins, “Cleavon Little, Award-Winning Actor, Dies at 53,”
New York Times
, Oct. 23, 1992;
“acting out so many things,”
Felton, “This Can’t Be Happening to Me,” p. 71;
asked [Warner Bros.] on bended knee:
Jacoba Atlas, “Mel Brooks Interview,”
Film Comment
(Mar.–Apr. 1975);
even flew out to New York:
Mel Brooks commentary track,
Blazing Saddles
;
“Very simply . . . they’re afraid”:
Felton, “This Can’t Be Happening to Me,” p. 71.

307   
“Warner Bros. wouldn’t touch him”:
Author’s interview with Andrew Bergman, July 12, 2010.

307   
“a thorn in my heart” . . . “They used me and that’s not fair”:
Martin Weston, “Richard Pryor: Every Nigger Is a Star,”
Ebony
, Sept. 1976, p. 56; Mooney,
Black Is the New White
, pp. 154–55;
claiming credit later for the film’s most famous scene:
Pryor Convictions
, p. 132.

307   
“Nobody takes credit”:
Author’s interview with Norman Steinberg, July 6, 2010.

308   
“Good morning, ma’am”:
Blazing Saddles
;
“Richie had a dark side”:
Author’s interview with Bergman.

308   
“Cleavon is not a threatening figure”:
Author’s interview with Bergman. Earlier in 1972, Pryor had actually shared screen time with Little on “The Connection,” the season-premiere episode of
The Mod Squad
. Richard played a jazz trumpeter with a lucrative sideline in heroin smuggling; Cleavon, his squirrelly right-hand man. In their scenes together, the difference between them as actors is striking. Richard is streetwise and rugged, spitting words with earned authority; Cleavon is stagy and broad, an actor putting curlicues on his tough-guy role. (“The Connection,”
The Mod Squad
, aired Sept. 14, 1972.)

308   
disappointed with the scripts:
Pryor Convictions
, p. 133;
“I don’t want to become Jack Oakie”:
Gregg Kilday, “Richard Pryor—Rapman without an Exit Line,”
Los Angeles Times
, Mar. 15, 1973, p. H29.

309   
“Lincoln-doctor’s-dog of a movie”:
Charles Champlin, “Billie Dee and the Soiled Six,”
Los Angeles Times
, Oct. 3, 1973, p. D1;
allowed to improvise:
“Hit!,”
Hollywood Reporter
, Sept. 19, 1973, pp. 3, 8.

309   
Hit!
’s production in late 1972:
“Richard Pryor in Paramount’s ‘Hit!,’”
Hollywood Reporter
, Nov. 29, 1972;
Richard served as best man . . . “Me and Billie”:
Author’s interview with Patricia Heitman, Sept. 11, 2011.

309   
jealous of Billie:
Author’s interview with Rob Cohen, Aug. 18, 2010;
“I didn’t know anyone more aware”:
Pryor Convictions
, p. 108;
turned often to Richard for advice:
Author’s interview with Patricia Heitman, Sept. 11, 2011;
called Richard a “genius”:
James J. Murray, “Williams Says ‘Hit’ Film Puts Drugs Down,”
New York Amsterdam News
, Sept. 29, 1973, p. C6.

309   
poker:
Ponchitta Pierce, “A Look into the Private Life of Billie Dee Williams,”
Ebony
, Apr. 1974, p. 64;
drawn into an affair:
Author’s interview with Patricia Heitman, Sept. 11, 2011.

310   
Then, one day, . . . burning up:
Ibid.

310   
“The secret of the film’s success”:
Judith Crist, “Seasonal Slurp,”
New York
, Sept. 23, 1973, p. 89;
a typical pan . . . “made the bizarre choice”:
“Hit!,” p. 3; Vincent Canby, “Furie’s ‘Hit!’ Is a Caper Film without Style,”
New York Times
, Sept. 19, 1973, p. 38.

310   
“Pryor’s humor pierces through”:
Jay Cocks, “Bad Dope,”
Time
, Oct. 29, 1973.

311   
“His work may relieve the tension”:
“Hit!,” p. 9;
spent three hours . . . “fashion free-for-all”:
Beth Ann Krier, “‘Wattstax’ Outdoes Premiere-Goers,”
Los Angeles Times
, pp. F1, F8;
range of politicians:
Leah Davis, “Wattstax Premiere,”
SOUL
, Mar. 12, 1973; “‘Wattstax’ to Open at Music Center’s Ahmanson Theater,”
Hollywood Reporter
, Jan. 19, 1973; Marvene Jones, “The V.I.P.’s,”
Hollywood Reporter
, Feb. 6, 1973; Norma Lee Browning, “Is This an Offer Brando Can’t Refuse?,”
Chicago Tribune
, Feb. 12, 1973; Marilyn Beck, “Cream of Filmland Society, Watts Residents to Preview
Wattstax
,”
San Jose News
, Dec. 5, 1972—all in Box 131, Folder 1, DLWC.

312   
“I’m not equipped”:
Kilday, “Richard Pryor—Rapman without an Exit Line,” p. H29.

312   
grand marshal:
“Eighth Watts Festival to Open Aug. 15,”
Los Angeles Times
, July 29, 1973;
Richard was chosen to headline it:
Los Angeles Sentinel
, Feb. 15, 1973, p. B4A.

313   
“wickedly funny”:
Arthur Cooper, “Watts Happening,”
Newsweek
, Feb. 26, 1973;
“breathtakingly irreverent and ironic”:
Charles Champlin, “Vibrations from a Black Woodstock,”
Los Angeles Times
, Feb. 27, 1973, p. H1;
“the most talented black comedian”:
Ronald E. Butler, “Viewpoint,”
Tulsa World
, June 23, 1973.

314   
Even those less captivated:
Vincent Canby, “‘Wattstax,’ Record of Watts Festival Concert,”
New York Times
, Feb. 16, 1973, p. 17;
“Without Pryor’s wise rudder”:
Peter Herbst, “‘Wattstax’ Tells Life-Style,”
Boston Herald-American
, Mar. 23, 1973;
“Perhaps Pryor should have directed”:
Hartl, “‘Wattstax’ Owes a Lot to Pryor.”

314   
in London:
James Bacon, “Ayres Turmoil Recalled by Amnesty Controversy,”
Los Angeles Herald Examiner
, Feb. 15, 1973;
United Nations:
“Wattstax,”
Richmond African-American
, May 12, 1973;
Washington, DC:
“Previewing ‘Wattstax’ for Washington Brass,”
Daily Variety
, Jan. 19, 1973;
“You Can’t Judge a Movie by Its Color”:
Unidentified clipping, Box 131, Folder 9, DLWC.

314   
So Richard journeyed:
Marilyn Beck, “Hollywood Closeup,”
Milwaukee Journal
, May 2, 1973.

314   
roulette wheels spun:
Rex Reed, “Drop a Bomb over Cannes and There Goes Show Biz,”
Chicago Tribune
, May 27, 1973, p. E9;
Wolper asked Richard:
Author’s interview with Ron DeBlasio, Dec. 28, 2010.

314   
took in the Cannes parade:
Ibid.;
Ladies of the night . . . see-through swimsuits:
Norma Lee Browning, “Standing on the Corner Watching the Girls,”
Chicago Tribune
, May 21, 1973, p. B26;
garrulous and open . . . sad-faced girl:
Dorothy Manners, “Tourists Star-Hunting at Festival,”
Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
, May 18, 1973; “‘WATTSTAX’ ou Cent Milles Noirs en Couleur . . . ,” unidentified clipping, Box 131, Folder 9, DLWC.

314   
talked with African filmmakers:
Author’s interview with DeBlasio;
exulted at seeing writer James Baldwin:
Brown, “Remembering Richard Pryor”;
“one of the uproarious delights”:
Charles Champlin, “Merv’s Glimpses of the Cannes Festival,”
Los Angeles Times
, July 31, 1973, p. C12.

315   
at Richard’s urging . . . “No, black goes first”:
Author’s interview with Mel Stuart; Commentary track,
Wattstax
.

316   
he’d made films for both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon:
David L. Wolper,
Producer: A Memoir
(New York: Scribner, 2003), pp. 75–80, 183;
large enough for forty but holding eight:
Author’s interview with DeBlasio;
“Princess Grace can’t see you today”:
Author’s interview with Mel Stuart.

316   
La Chaumière . . . “What’s wrong?”:
Wolper,
Producer
, p. 183.

317   
No one knew how to translate:
Author’s interview with Patricia Heitman, Sept. 11, 2011.

Chapter 17: Be Glad When It’s Spring, Flower

318   
James B. Harris:
Author’s interview with James B. Harris, July 30, 2010;
Mel Stuart:
Author’s interview with Mel Stuart, Oct. 4, 2010;
he would remove some cocaine:
Author’s interview with Ron DeBlasio, Dec. 28, 2010;
“I had to jump through hoops with him”:
Author’s interview with Lily Tomlin, Nov. 4, 2010.

318   
took Lily to a black part of Los Angeles:
Ibid.;
“meant, if you were a girl”:
Jeff Sorensen,
Lily Tomlin: Woman of a Thousand Faces
(New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1989), p. 14.

318   
only if she could pay her own way . . . “Nude Live Girls”:
Author’s interview with Lily Tomlin, Nov. 4, 2010.