Becoming Richard Pryor (90 page)

Bay Area Gay Liberation, 445

Beatles, 143

Belafonte, Harry, 80, 167–68, 342, 508n82

Bell, Jimmy, 503n63

Belushi, John, 121–22, 376–77, 414, 415, 547n376

Bennett, Lerone, Jr., 259

Benny, Jack, 415

Bergman, Andrew, 282, 283, 286–87, 288, 307, 308, 535n288

Berkeley, CA

counterculture and, 245–47, 248, 253

Farley in, xi, 244 (
see also
Farley, Alan)

KPFA in, xii

“People’s Park,” 268

political power struggles in, 268–69

RP in (1971), xi–xii, 245–70

RP residences in, 248, 257

RP’s cocaine use and, 261–62

Telegraph Avenue, 245–46

Berkeley Barb
, 246, 247

Berle, Milton, 161, 346, 415, 549–50n394

advice to Lenny Bruce, 346

skirmish with RP, 343–46

Bernhard, Harvey, 288, 289, 292, 293, 294, 295

Bernhard, Sandra, 431

Bicentennial Nigger
(album), 331, 397–99

Billboard
, 171, 526n213

Is It Something I Said?
, 374–75

Richard Pryor
, 526n213

That Nigger’s Crazy
, 336

Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor-Kings, The
(film), 366–73, 380–83, 396, 450, 472, 476, 486, 546n373, 547n383

Binkley, Jimmy, 105

Bitter End, NYC, 117, 130, 135

Bitter End West, Los Angeles, 236

Blackie’s Archway, Peoria, IL, 103

blackface minstrelsy, 50, 221, 232, 256, 463, 503n50

A Time for Laughter
and history of, 168–69, 521n168

“Bicentennial Nigger” and, 398

Silver Streak
and, 386–90

“Super Nigger” and, 210

Black Panthers, 222, 242, 248, 507n80

RP contributes to, 223, 527n223

shooting of
The Mack
and, 293–94

trial of Huey Newton, 221–23

Black Power movement, xvi, 126, 192, 193, 217, 221, 222, 243, 254, 288

in Peoria, 228–29, 341

RP contributes to, 223

Black Stranger, The
(screenplay), 327, 394

Black Sun production company, 217–24, 235

Blazing Saddles
(film), 274, 275, 307–8, 386, 477

RP collaborates on script, 281–88, 534n282, 535n288

RP’s part given to Cleavon Little, 307, 391

Blue Angel club, Chicago, 145, 517n146

Blue Collar
(film), 232, 417–26,
420
,
425
, 477, 486, 553n419

Blue Shadow tavern, Peoria, IL, 93–94, 103, 446

Blum, Michael, 252

Blumenthal, Marcia, 558n456

Bob Banner Productions, 154

Bonaduce, Danny, 242, 243

Bonis, Herb and Bunny, 221, 226

Bonis, Shelley.
See
Pryor, Shelley Bonis

Bostic, Earl, 155

Boston Herald-American
, 313

Boston Phoenix
, 475

Boyd, Stephen, 231

Bradley, Tom, 312,
313

Bradley, William, 93

Brando, Marlon, 215

Brewster’s Millions
(film), 475

Bridges, Beau, 401

Brooks, Albert, 250

Brooks, Mel, xvi, 70, 318, 482, 484, 486

Blazing Saddles
and, 274, 275, 281, 282–88, 391, 535n288

RP’s loss of part and, 307

Brown, Cecil, 254–57, 395, 403, 406, 551n403

Brown, Charles, 236

Brown, Claude, 255, 256, 261, 397

Brown, H. Rap, 166, 193, 283, 520n166

Brown, Jim, 312

Brown, “Preacher,” 94, 95, 99

Bruce, Lenny, 135, 139, 216, 339, 346, 483, 516–17n143

death of, 181

obscenity laws and, 180–81, 483

Bryant, Marie Carter (grandmother),
7
,
31

appearance, 25

arrests, 15, 17

assault of white shopkeeper (1929), 7–8, 17

as band manager, 15

birth of, 8

as bootlegger, 8, 16–17, 58

as brothel keeper, 8, 25–26, 30, 39–40, 51, 57–58

children with Roy Pryor, 14

death of, and last message to RP, 470, 471

death of son Buck, 205

divorces Roy Pryor (1922), 14

domestic violence and, 12–13, 14

early life and family in Decatur, 7–19

Famous Door tavern, owner of, 30,
31
, 32, 42–44,
44
, 45, 51, 58, 432, 504n63

funeral and burial, 471–72

Gertrude Thomas and, 27, 28, 227

marries Roy Pryor (1914), 12

marries Thomas Bryant (1927), 15, 501n39

Mike Douglas Show
appearance, 78, 342, 343, 346–47

motto of, 25

personality, 8, 13, 15

raising of RP, 28, 38–39, 45–46, 50, 65, 77

razing of black neighborhood and, 57–58

RP gives a house to, 416

RP’s girlfriends and, 428–29

RP’s heart attack and, 465

RP’s marriage to Patricia Watts and, 101, 102

RP’s reaction to death of, 471–72

in RP’s routines, 1–2, 46, 229

on set of
Bingo Long
, 373

on set of
Greased Lightning
, 399

standards and values of, 45–46, 126

as storyteller, 483–84

violence, brutality, and, 25–26, 205–6

World War II and, 30

Bryant, Thomas “Pops” (step-grandfather), 15, 18, 25, 39, 165, 228, 501n39

pool hall of, 58, 71, 94

Burden, Gary, 201–3, 221, 524–25n201

Burns, George, 548n391

Burnside, Vy,
56

Bush, Samuel, 9

Bustin’ Loose
(film), 474

Busy Body, The
(film), 163

Butler, Jerry, 153

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

Caesar, Sid, 60, 100, 115, 163, 281, 411, 484

Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas, 162,
176

Café au Go Go, 135, 151

Café Wha?, 117, 118, 128, 130, 143, 174

Cambridge, Geoffrey, 153, 168, 176

Campus, Michael, 275, 289, 291, 292, 293, 294–95, 297, 486

Canby, Vincent, 463–64, 475

Carlin, George, 143, 384

Carmichael, Stokely, 215

Carson, Johnny, 151, 212, 255

Carter, Blanche (great-aunt), 13, 14

Carter, Jim (great-uncle), 13–14

Carter, Julia (great grandmother), 13, 14, 495n13

Carter, Richard (great grandfather), 10, 11, 16, 496n16

Carter, “Tip” (great-great-uncle), 10–11

arrest record, 11, 495n11

domestic violence and, 13

Carter’s Army
(TV movie), 229, 230–32, 251

Car Wash
(film), 394–95, 396, 477

Casablanca club, Youngstown, OH, 112, 512n112

Cassavetes, John, 218

Cassidy, David, 242, 243

Castle, William, 163

Caterpillar Corporation, Peoria, IL, 21, 24, 29, 70, 104–5

Cause
magazine, 463

CBS

Lily Tomlin, RP, and, 320, 322, 325, 361

Stax Records and, 337, 338

Cellar Door, 237, 328

Champlin, Charles, 462, 463

Chappelle, Dave, 433, 478

Charles, Albert “Goodkid,” 103–4

Charles, Ray, 155, 160, 329

Chase, Chevy, 250, 376, 377–80

Checker Motor Company, 419

Cher, 361

Chess brothers, 213

Chestnutt, Charles, 356

Chicago, 21, 23, 30, 41, 53, 76, 97–98, 105, 108, 121, 155, 181, 394.
See also
Blue Angel club; Mister Kelly’s nightclub;
specific clubs

Chitlin Circuit and, 111

riots at Democratic National Convention, 211

riots following King assassination, 193

RP Army induction in, 82

RP staying with Wilbur Harp in, 446

RP performing in, 145, 193, 223, 229, 236

Chicago Defender
, xv, 96, 170

Chicago Sun-Times
, RP interview, 182–83

Chicago Tribune
, 163, 306, 382

Chitlin Circuit, 108, 111–15, 168, 244, 411, 512n112

Cho, Margaret, 482

Christian Century, The
, 18

Clark, Mark, 507n80

Clark, Matt, 46, 80, 507n80

Claudine
(film), 393

Clayburgh, Jill, 390, 391

Cleopatra Jones
(film), 289–90

Cohen, Rob, 366, 369, 370, 371, 372, 380, 450, 452, 453–54, 486

Cole, Adaline, 24

Collins, Cabristo “Bris,” 41–42, 44, 64, 105

Collins, Pat, 176, 179

Collins Corner, 105–8, 216

closing of, 108

comedy

as art of self-humiliation, 50

autobiographical turn in stand-up, xiii, 238, 240

Berle generation, 161, 345–46

Berle-RP dustup, 343–46

black comedy and cultural segregation, 167–70

black comics, mid-century, 111

Chitlin Circuit, 108, 111–15, 168, 244, 411, 512n112

Cosby’s style and influence, xii, 113–15

Greenwich Village (1963) and, 117–18

Groucho-RP exchange and, 161–62

obscenity laws and, 12, 135, 180–81, 339–40, 483

RP as groundbreaker, 217, 262–64

RP as inspiration and mentor, 76, 433, 478, 482

RP’s help to other comedians, 431

RP’s impact on, xiii, 237, 240, 330, 337, 433, 478, 482–84

“That Nigger’s Crazy”
as landmark in, 329–31, 337

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

Comedy Store, Los Angeles, 328, 353, 431, 467

Committee for the Negro in the Arts, 508n82

Compass theater ensemble, 124, 125

conjure tales, 356

Conjure Woman, The
(Chestnutt), 356

Cooley High
(film), 394, 549–50n394

CORE (Congress of Racial Equality), 124, 125, 223

Cornelius, Don, 329

Cornish, Loren, 75

Cosby, Bill, 113–15, 118, 127, 143, 168, 200, 255, 364

career route of, 114, 129

I Spy
, 125

RP and, 153, 217

RP emulating, xii, xvi

signature routine: God and Noah, 114

Uncle Tom’s Fairy Tales
shown to, 234–35

‘Craps’ (After Hours)
(album), 237–41, 249, 312, 529n238

Culbertson, John T., 34–36, 500n36

Curtis, Tony, 156, 245

Daisy club, Beverly Hills, CA, 155–57, 171, 245

Daniels, John, 215

Daniels, Lee, 478

Darin, Bobby, 157, 159–62,
160
, 165, 167, 245, 519n159

throws party for RP, 160–61

Davidson, John, 154,
158
, 159

Davis, Ossie, 393

Davis, Sammy, Jr., 347, 466

praises RP, 343

Queen Booking as agent, 329

as RP idol, 112, 342

RP seeks out as young comedian, 112

witnesses RP’s abusive behavior, 348

Davis, Tiny,
56

Day, Doris, 50

Day, Robert, 104

DeBlasio, Ron, 305

as RP’s agent, 305–6, 314, 327–28, 329, 334, 338, 339, 472

RP’s firing of, 349–50

Decatur, IL, 9

black political organizations in, 10

demimonde of, 11, 13

drinking of “canned heat” in, 16

as “dry” town, 16

Great Depression in, 18

Pryor family in, 7–19

speakeasies in, 16

status of blacks in, 8–9, 11–12, 18

vigilante justice in, 9–10

Decatur Herald
, xv, 11, 17

Decatur Review
, 13

Dee, Sandra, 161

Def Comedy Jam
(TV show), 330

De Niro, Robert, 418

Diamond Lil (Peoria madam), 18, 23, 24

Diggers Creative Society, 212, 525n212

Diltz, Henry, 201–3, 524–25n201

domestic abuse

RP and, 33, 220, 280, 287, 297–98, 310, 348, 349

RP’s father and, 32, 220

RP’s grandmother and, 12–13, 14, 495n13

Douglas, Mike, 47, 78, 341–45, 347.
See also Mike Douglas Show, The

Downey, Robert, Sr., 235

Dr. Dre, 292

Drexler, Rosalyn, 322

Drozen, Louis and David, 237

Dutchman
(Jones), 136–37

Dylan, Bob, 128–29

Dynamite Chicken
(film), 312

Eagle, Joe, 52

Eagle, Roxy, 51–52

East St. Louis, Missouri, 108, 112

Eastwood, Clint, 474

Easy Rider
(film), 274

Ebersol, Dick, 361–62, 430–31, 435

Ebony
magazine, 166, 259

Belafonte interview, 168

Franklin profile in, 351

photo of RP, 155,
156

RP apologizes to fans in, 366

RP interviews, 170–71, 182, 467

RP profile in, 525n218

Eckstine, Billy, 153

Ed Sullivan Show, The

RP as no-show, 182, 523n183

RP on, 141, 143, 178

Efron, Marshall, 250

Eisenhower, Dwight D., 31

Elks Club, Peoria, IL, 103

Ellison, Bob, 427

El Teatro Campesino theater group, 407

Elwood, Phil, 249

Entratter, Jack, 167

Esquire
magazine, interview with Claude Brown, 256

Eye Body
performance art, 117

Falk, Peter, 157

Famous Door tavern, Peoria, IL, 30,
31
, 32, 42–44,
44
, 45, 51, 58, 432, 504n63

Farley, Alan, 244, 255, 267, 530n244

recordings of RP by, xi–xii, 248–49, 257–58, 259, 530n244

as RP’s Berkeley roommate, xi, 248–50, 253, 257

Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!
(film), 218

Feliciano, José, 178

Felton, David, 467–68, 470

film industry (aka Hollywood).
See also specific films; studios

“baby moguls,” 396–97

bankable formulas, 309

black actors and, 231–32

blaxploitation films, 288, 363, 365, 394

Blazing Saddles
formula, 282

Blazing Saddles
spiking of RP as Black Bart and, 307–8

dissidents in, 392–97

evolution of, 1976 to 1989, 476–77, 561n476

exploitation films and, 218

genre films, 477

independent filmmaking and, 218, 219

integration and, 364

“New Hollywood” (1970s), xvi, 274–75, 405, 417, 486, 533n275

overhaul of, 1970s, 273–74

racism and, 220