1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,239 Speaker 1: This episode contains content that may be disturbing to some listeners. 2 00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:07,080 Speaker 1: Please check the show notes for more information. Hollywood Land 3 00:00:07,240 --> 00:00:12,320 Speaker 1: is a production of Double Elvis and. 4 00:00:23,000 --> 00:00:30,960 Speaker 2: Man. 5 00:00:33,440 --> 00:00:37,680 Speaker 1: The stories about Richard Pryor are insane. In fact, there 6 00:00:37,680 --> 00:00:40,479 Speaker 1: are so many insane stories that it's impossible to fit 7 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:43,239 Speaker 1: them all into one episode. I could easily go on 8 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:47,040 Speaker 1: about his insatiable sexual appetite, as many x y's, including 9 00:00:47,040 --> 00:00:49,200 Speaker 1: the one who tried to kill him, all the cocainey 10 00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:52,559 Speaker 1: snorted and gunsy shot with Freddie Prin's, or his profound 11 00:00:52,560 --> 00:00:55,880 Speaker 1: trip to Africa, which forever changed the words he used. 12 00:00:56,600 --> 00:00:59,880 Speaker 1: But as Richard Pryor would understand, we ain't got time 13 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:03,000 Speaker 1: all that shit. A good story is like a good 14 00:01:03,040 --> 00:01:06,080 Speaker 1: comedy routine. The set's got to be tight. You're in, 15 00:01:06,240 --> 00:01:09,119 Speaker 1: you're out, you leave him wanting more. So here are 16 00:01:09,440 --> 00:01:13,200 Speaker 1: some insane stories about Richard Pryor. He was raised by 17 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:16,399 Speaker 1: a grandmother who ran the town brothel. As a child, 18 00:01:16,440 --> 00:01:19,280 Speaker 1: he regularly saw men and women fuck, shoot, and stab 19 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:22,360 Speaker 1: each other. As an adult, he stabbed a fellow soldier 20 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,039 Speaker 1: with a switchblade. While serving in the army, he shot 21 00:01:25,080 --> 00:01:27,760 Speaker 1: up his Mercedes with a three fifty seven magnum. He 22 00:01:27,880 --> 00:01:31,600 Speaker 1: was busted from marijuana at the US Mexico border, busted 23 00:01:31,600 --> 00:01:35,360 Speaker 1: for assault. His own brain was busted by freebasing so 24 00:01:35,560 --> 00:01:39,720 Speaker 1: much cocaine that he suffered from hallucinations because he was 25 00:01:39,760 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 1: incapable of doing anything in moderation. And Richard Pryor, despite 26 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:49,160 Speaker 1: all that, made great films, Unlike that clip I played 27 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:51,480 Speaker 1: for you at the top of the show, that wasn't 28 00:01:51,480 --> 00:01:54,240 Speaker 1: a clip from a great film. That was a fair use. 29 00:01:54,320 --> 00:01:58,800 Speaker 1: Sample from the Library of Congress of ws J Bird, Harrison, Walls, 30 00:01:58,880 --> 00:02:02,680 Speaker 1: Chains and Sylvester jah Owns performing Worry Blues in nineteen 31 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:06,240 Speaker 1: thirty nine. I've played you that clip because I can't 32 00:02:06,280 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: afford the rights to Irvin Kershner's The Empire Strikes Back. 33 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 2: And why would I play. 34 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: You that specific slice of stuck up, half witted, scruffy 35 00:02:15,240 --> 00:02:18,760 Speaker 1: looking nerf herd or cheese. Could I afford it? Because 36 00:02:18,840 --> 00:02:22,680 Speaker 1: that was the number one movie in America on June ninth, 37 00:02:22,840 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: nineteen eighty and that was the day that Richard Pryor 38 00:02:26,440 --> 00:02:30,000 Speaker 1: nearly died after he set himself on fire, winding up 39 00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:37,960 Speaker 1: in the hospital covered in third degree burns. On this episode, stabbing, shooting, fucking, burning, 40 00:02:38,280 --> 00:02:46,160 Speaker 1: freebasing and Richard Pryor, I'm Jake Brennan and this is Hollywoodland. 41 00:03:14,760 --> 00:03:18,400 Speaker 1: Richard Pryor was in pain. Most of his body was burned, 42 00:03:18,840 --> 00:03:21,360 Speaker 1: the worst of it the third degree burns. There were 43 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:23,560 Speaker 1: on his chest, his back, his arms, his neck, and 44 00:03:23,600 --> 00:03:27,880 Speaker 1: his face. They oozed pus and blood. The doc gave 45 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:30,520 Speaker 1: him a one to three chance of survival, and if 46 00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:33,440 Speaker 1: he did survive, Richard Pryor would have to face something 47 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:37,000 Speaker 1: else besides the pain. He would have to face the fear, 48 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:41,320 Speaker 1: the fear that after years of searching from Peoria to Germany, 49 00:03:41,480 --> 00:03:44,800 Speaker 1: Youngstown to Pittsburgh, Vegas to Berkeley and New York to 50 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:49,480 Speaker 1: Los Angeles, he had finally found him, the real Richard Pryor, 51 00:03:50,040 --> 00:03:54,720 Speaker 1: and that guy scared the shit out of him. They 52 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:57,360 Speaker 1: all said that Richard Pryor was fearless, that he was 53 00:03:57,400 --> 00:03:59,400 Speaker 1: a pioneer when he came to what could be said 54 00:03:59,440 --> 00:04:01,800 Speaker 1: on stage or what could be written for the screen. 55 00:04:02,360 --> 00:04:05,400 Speaker 1: That after the paradigm shift ushered in by groundbreaking black 56 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:09,320 Speaker 1: comedians including Dick Gregory and Bill Cosby, Richard Pryor was 57 00:04:09,360 --> 00:04:11,800 Speaker 1: a new kind of comic for a new age. But 58 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,400 Speaker 1: even Richard Pryor knew that there was a fine line 59 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:18,240 Speaker 1: between being fearless and being incapable of living in moderation. 60 00:04:19,160 --> 00:04:22,400 Speaker 1: And being incapable of moderation was what gut him here, 61 00:04:22,839 --> 00:04:26,039 Speaker 1: covered in third degree burns. Fearing that the real Richard 62 00:04:26,040 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: Pryor was about to be revealed to the world. That guy, 63 00:04:30,839 --> 00:04:33,000 Speaker 1: the real Hymn, he stepped right out of a wall 64 00:04:33,040 --> 00:04:35,640 Speaker 1: at Richard's home. He stood there in his underwear, looking 65 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:37,919 Speaker 1: at Richard, looking back at him like a reflection in 66 00:04:37,920 --> 00:04:40,159 Speaker 1: a mirror, and then he said he was the devil, 67 00:04:40,560 --> 00:04:43,640 Speaker 1: which meant they were both the devil, since Richard and 68 00:04:43,720 --> 00:04:45,159 Speaker 1: this thing were one and the same. 69 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:46,640 Speaker 2: Are you really me? 70 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:50,560 Speaker 1: Richard asked him, just to make sure, yes, I am you, 71 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:54,679 Speaker 1: it replied, and then it disappeared back into the wall. 72 00:04:56,000 --> 00:04:58,279 Speaker 1: At first, Richard wrote it off as the state of 73 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:01,800 Speaker 1: his mind. It was just a hallucination, paranoia. Night was 74 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:04,240 Speaker 1: day up was down, and there were no more friends 75 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:06,680 Speaker 1: and family anymore, just people in the walls and on 76 00:05:06,680 --> 00:05:08,479 Speaker 1: the other side of the windows out to steal his 77 00:05:08,560 --> 00:05:11,480 Speaker 1: money and maybe even his mind. That was one hundred 78 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:14,000 Speaker 1: percent the cocaine talking, And I don't mean a couple 79 00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:17,120 Speaker 1: of lines shared at some chic industry party. I'm talking 80 00:05:17,200 --> 00:05:19,480 Speaker 1: rocks of pure coke. Heat it up with a big 81 00:05:19,600 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: lighter until the vapors start to rise and you just 82 00:05:22,080 --> 00:05:26,320 Speaker 1: breathe in deep. I'm talking freebase, just like dirty Dick Totter. 83 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:28,919 Speaker 1: Dirty Dick had been dealing Richard the good shit for 84 00:05:29,040 --> 00:05:32,719 Speaker 1: years and hadn't steered him wrong yet. So Richard steered 85 00:05:32,760 --> 00:05:34,920 Speaker 1: himself right into an empty room and locked the door 86 00:05:34,960 --> 00:05:37,160 Speaker 1: behind him, fucked out of the guy in the wall. 87 00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:40,719 Speaker 1: Richard hit the pipe and didn't stop. The binge lasted 88 00:05:40,760 --> 00:05:44,720 Speaker 1: for what two three days? He dipped a cotton swab 89 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:47,279 Speaker 1: and rum and lit it with his lighter. This was 90 00:05:47,320 --> 00:05:50,200 Speaker 1: his torch. He didn't want to use an actual lighter 91 00:05:50,200 --> 00:05:52,600 Speaker 1: to heat up the pipe, or else you'd be inhaling 92 00:05:52,680 --> 00:05:56,919 Speaker 1: lighter fluid. The rum made it less toxic. Thus was 93 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:59,159 Speaker 1: the logic of a junkie in the throws of addiction. 94 00:05:59,560 --> 00:06:02,200 Speaker 1: But this was one hundred and fifty one proof, and 95 00:06:02,360 --> 00:06:05,800 Speaker 1: Richard Pryor was capital f fucked fucked up. That is, 96 00:06:06,400 --> 00:06:09,320 Speaker 1: before long the rum was everywhere, It was all over him, 97 00:06:09,440 --> 00:06:11,400 Speaker 1: and all it took was one flick of that big letter, 98 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:13,800 Speaker 1: one spark for it all to go out. 99 00:06:13,839 --> 00:06:16,160 Speaker 2: In the flames. 100 00:06:17,560 --> 00:06:21,039 Speaker 1: Richard Pryor literally set himself on fire, just like that 101 00:06:21,160 --> 00:06:24,520 Speaker 1: monk did protesting the Vietnam War. But Richard Pryor was 102 00:06:24,560 --> 00:06:29,520 Speaker 1: no monk Jack. Richard Pryor didn't abstain. He indulged in everything. 103 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:34,240 Speaker 1: Pussy booze, cocaine, cocaine, man. That shit be fucking with you. 104 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:37,159 Speaker 1: That shit brought on an entirely different person when you 105 00:06:37,160 --> 00:06:39,320 Speaker 1: were on it, or maybe it was the person you 106 00:06:39,400 --> 00:06:42,640 Speaker 1: truly were on the inside that finally emerged, like that 107 00:06:42,720 --> 00:06:46,040 Speaker 1: apparition from inside the wall, the person you hid from 108 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:48,840 Speaker 1: everyone else. And as much as you want to deny it, 109 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:55,440 Speaker 1: that person is real. But just what was real? Peoria 110 00:06:55,600 --> 00:06:58,400 Speaker 1: was real? If it played in Peoria, I could play anywhere, 111 00:06:58,680 --> 00:07:01,960 Speaker 1: or so that old vaudeville saying, Oh, they called Peoria 112 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,039 Speaker 1: the model city. But as Richard Pryor himself said later 113 00:07:05,080 --> 00:07:07,600 Speaker 1: in his stand up act, the ones calling his hometown 114 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:10,760 Speaker 1: the model city were the ones keeping Peoria's black residence 115 00:07:10,760 --> 00:07:14,520 Speaker 1: in their place. In the nineteen forties and nineteen fifties, 116 00:07:14,560 --> 00:07:17,680 Speaker 1: that place was light years from the bullshit family life 117 00:07:17,680 --> 00:07:21,080 Speaker 1: that played out on Father and Knows Best. Sitcoms like 118 00:07:21,160 --> 00:07:24,680 Speaker 1: that were science fiction over on North Washington Street in 119 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:29,680 Speaker 1: the black part of town. Peoria was populated with pimps, drunks, bootleggers, 120 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:33,880 Speaker 1: and sex workers. Richard's grandfather owned the local pool hall, 121 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:37,600 Speaker 1: his grandmother ran the town brothel. His own mother worked 122 00:07:37,720 --> 00:07:41,400 Speaker 1: at the brothel. And so as a kid, Richard Pryor 123 00:07:41,520 --> 00:07:44,520 Speaker 1: saw some shit. He saw a baby in a shoe box, 124 00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:47,080 Speaker 1: deader than a motherfucker. He saw a man who lost 125 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:49,280 Speaker 1: a knife fight struggling to push his guts back into 126 00:07:49,320 --> 00:07:52,280 Speaker 1: his stomach. He saw his own mother in bed with 127 00:07:52,440 --> 00:07:55,240 Speaker 1: a john. He also saw his mother get hit by 128 00:07:55,240 --> 00:07:58,760 Speaker 1: his father, and that only happened twice. After the first time, 129 00:07:58,840 --> 00:08:01,200 Speaker 1: she told him, OK, the fucker, don't hit me no more. 130 00:08:01,560 --> 00:08:04,760 Speaker 1: And after the second time, she didn't need words. She 131 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:06,920 Speaker 1: took one look at Richard's father standing in front of 132 00:08:06,920 --> 00:08:08,680 Speaker 1: her poop bearing it, wearing nothing but a T shirt 133 00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:11,480 Speaker 1: and underwear, and she swung her long fingernails at his crotch. 134 00:08:11,960 --> 00:08:15,600 Speaker 1: Richard's father screamed, blood ran down his leg. She ripped 135 00:08:15,600 --> 00:08:19,239 Speaker 1: his nutsack right open. Yes, that actually happened. 136 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:20,040 Speaker 2: Look it up. 137 00:08:20,880 --> 00:08:24,040 Speaker 1: In Richard Pryor's Peoria. This is how you handled your shit. 138 00:08:24,400 --> 00:08:24,960 Speaker 2: You did it. 139 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:29,200 Speaker 1: Fast and maybe with your fingernails, even better with a knife. 140 00:08:29,000 --> 00:08:29,600 Speaker 2: Or a gun. 141 00:08:30,160 --> 00:08:32,560 Speaker 1: When some guy talked shit to Richard's grandfather and the 142 00:08:32,600 --> 00:08:36,160 Speaker 1: family tavern, a place called the Famous Door, Richard's father 143 00:08:36,240 --> 00:08:39,120 Speaker 1: drew a pistol and emptied every last round into his ass, 144 00:08:39,360 --> 00:08:42,120 Speaker 1: and that motherfucker hit the floor, bleeding and screaming, but 145 00:08:42,200 --> 00:08:45,040 Speaker 1: he wasn't dead. He dragged his bullet written body across 146 00:08:45,080 --> 00:08:48,040 Speaker 1: the floor, pulled out a knife and sliced Richard's father 147 00:08:48,200 --> 00:08:51,280 Speaker 1: right across his leg. And between that and the torn nutsack, 148 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:53,040 Speaker 1: dude was good and fucked up for the rest of 149 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:55,960 Speaker 1: his life. And that wasn't the life Richard wanted to live. 150 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:58,559 Speaker 1: Though work, you're asked to the bone in the pool 151 00:08:58,600 --> 00:09:00,880 Speaker 1: hall and the cathouse or the slot house every day, 152 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:02,920 Speaker 1: only to get shot up when you were busy trying 153 00:09:02,920 --> 00:09:04,760 Speaker 1: to get fucked up at the end of a long night. 154 00:09:05,520 --> 00:09:05,880 Speaker 2: Fuck that. 155 00:09:06,440 --> 00:09:08,959 Speaker 1: We joined the army and he get the hell out 156 00:09:09,160 --> 00:09:14,040 Speaker 1: of Puria. But even in the service, even in Germany, 157 00:09:14,360 --> 00:09:16,680 Speaker 1: in Europe, where the world was supposed to be enlightened 158 00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:19,839 Speaker 1: and free, shit was still the same. One hundred and 159 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:22,880 Speaker 1: fifty bars in Kaiserslat and only three of them allowed 160 00:09:22,920 --> 00:09:24,599 Speaker 1: black people to walk through the door. 161 00:09:24,800 --> 00:09:26,120 Speaker 2: And that shit surprised him. 162 00:09:26,280 --> 00:09:28,480 Speaker 1: What didn't surprise him was that when his unit was 163 00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:31,319 Speaker 1: taking in some rn R and watching a melodrama about 164 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:34,679 Speaker 1: race and class in America, one of his fellow soldiers, 165 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:37,199 Speaker 1: a white guy, laughed a little too hard at the 166 00:09:37,240 --> 00:09:40,120 Speaker 1: wrong part, and why you could take Richard out of Peoria, 167 00:09:40,320 --> 00:09:42,880 Speaker 1: you sure as hell couldn't take Peoria out of Richard. 168 00:09:43,240 --> 00:09:45,520 Speaker 1: Richard pulled a switchblade, he stuck it in the white 169 00:09:45,520 --> 00:09:48,360 Speaker 1: soldier's back deep, and then he pulled it out, and 170 00:09:48,400 --> 00:09:51,480 Speaker 1: the blade glistened with blood, and Richard stabbed him again 171 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:54,800 Speaker 1: and again and again. He stabbed that dude six or 172 00:09:54,840 --> 00:09:56,960 Speaker 1: seven times, each time hoping it would be the final 173 00:09:56,960 --> 00:09:59,320 Speaker 1: blow and that this backwoods pack ahead honky would just 174 00:09:59,320 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 1: fucking die. But just like the guy Richard's father shot 175 00:10:02,160 --> 00:10:05,680 Speaker 1: back in the whorehouse in Peoria, this kid lived, and 176 00:10:05,720 --> 00:10:08,720 Speaker 1: they tossed Richard in a jail cell. He spent his 177 00:10:08,720 --> 00:10:11,760 Speaker 1: final days as an enlisted man on a cold cement floor. 178 00:10:12,240 --> 00:10:14,600 Speaker 1: He received the mercy of a base commander more concerned 179 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:17,200 Speaker 1: with his own retirement than actually dealing with Richard's muting 180 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:20,439 Speaker 1: his ass, and then he received an early discharge and 181 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:23,360 Speaker 1: he was shipped back home. It was the first time 182 00:10:23,440 --> 00:10:24,920 Speaker 1: Richard Pryor cheated. 183 00:10:24,640 --> 00:10:29,560 Speaker 2: Death, but it wouldn't be the last. 184 00:10:50,320 --> 00:10:53,520 Speaker 1: Richard Pryor was a born performer. He'd been putting on 185 00:10:53,559 --> 00:10:55,959 Speaker 1: a show since he was just a kid, and ever 186 00:10:56,000 --> 00:10:59,680 Speaker 1: since he was a kid, there was incentive to perform. First, 187 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:02,800 Speaker 1: it was the reward of the performance itself. His elementary 188 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:05,280 Speaker 1: school teacher cut him a deal. If he could actually 189 00:11:05,320 --> 00:11:07,920 Speaker 1: get to school on time every day, then each Friday 190 00:11:07,960 --> 00:11:10,080 Speaker 1: afternoon he could perform a stand up set in front 191 00:11:10,080 --> 00:11:15,280 Speaker 1: of the class. The next incentive was laughter tasted sweet 192 00:11:15,679 --> 00:11:19,400 Speaker 1: like revenge, but you can get it without violence. And now, 193 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:22,640 Speaker 1: in nineteen sixty seven, at twenty six years old, the 194 00:11:22,679 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 1: incentive for Richard Pryor was money. Get on stage, say 195 00:11:26,920 --> 00:11:29,600 Speaker 1: something funny, make him laugh, get paid, and get the 196 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:32,360 Speaker 1: fuck out. Didn't matter if Richard's stand up at the 197 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:35,080 Speaker 1: time was a faint echo of Bill Cosby's shick, He 198 00:11:35,120 --> 00:11:37,520 Speaker 1: got paid, didn't he. But as much of a born 199 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:40,400 Speaker 1: performer as Richard Pryor was, as much as he learned 200 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:42,679 Speaker 1: on the stage as a Greenwich village and beyond, it 201 00:11:42,800 --> 00:11:46,200 Speaker 1: was always that occasional tough crowd like the one at 202 00:11:46,200 --> 00:11:49,440 Speaker 1: the United States Customs on the Mexican border. The customs 203 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:51,800 Speaker 1: agent didn't have a laugh or a smile, or he 204 00:11:51,840 --> 00:11:54,520 Speaker 1: didn't say shit. That dude just looked at Richard from 205 00:11:54,559 --> 00:11:58,640 Speaker 1: behind his ray bands, one long look as Richard slowly 206 00:11:58,679 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: inched his car closer and closer to the checkpoint. And 207 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:05,400 Speaker 1: there was no turning around, now, no take backs. Richard 208 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:08,320 Speaker 1: was in this and he was fucked. He pulled up 209 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:10,720 Speaker 1: to the checkpoint and applied the brake, and the agent 210 00:12:10,720 --> 00:12:13,079 Speaker 1: got close, craned his neck to look in the back 211 00:12:13,120 --> 00:12:16,800 Speaker 1: of the car. What were you doing in Mexico? Just visiting, 212 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:19,360 Speaker 1: seeing the sights? It was good, real good movie bueno. 213 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:22,920 Speaker 1: Richard didn't say anything about the Tijuana brothel he visited her, 214 00:12:22,960 --> 00:12:24,920 Speaker 1: the women he focked, or the tequila, the float like 215 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:27,760 Speaker 1: an honorary body fluid. And the agent kept on with 216 00:12:27,800 --> 00:12:30,400 Speaker 1: that long look, and then he pointed to an area 217 00:12:30,440 --> 00:12:31,280 Speaker 1: off to the side. 218 00:12:31,840 --> 00:12:32,320 Speaker 2: Pull over. 219 00:12:33,640 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 1: Richard Pryor had been in Tijuana because he was running away, 220 00:12:37,200 --> 00:12:39,320 Speaker 1: not unlike he had run away from Peoria to the 221 00:12:39,440 --> 00:12:41,880 Speaker 1: Army all those years ago, but now he. 222 00:12:41,880 --> 00:12:43,320 Speaker 2: Was running from responsibility. 223 00:12:43,800 --> 00:12:46,920 Speaker 1: His girlfriend was nine months pregnant, and she wanted Richard 224 00:12:46,920 --> 00:12:49,720 Speaker 1: to commit. She wanted Richard to settle down and start 225 00:12:49,720 --> 00:12:53,400 Speaker 1: a family. He'd already done that once before, didn't end well. 226 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:56,160 Speaker 1: He didn't feel like doing it again, not right now. 227 00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,439 Speaker 1: So instead Richard jumped at a car and just drove 228 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,080 Speaker 1: and over the border was easy enough coming back. There's 229 00:13:03,120 --> 00:13:06,160 Speaker 1: another thing, altogether, There wasn't a joke or a well 230 00:13:06,200 --> 00:13:07,880 Speaker 1: rehearsed routine that was going to get him out of 231 00:13:07,880 --> 00:13:08,880 Speaker 1: having his car searched. 232 00:13:09,280 --> 00:13:10,200 Speaker 2: He didn't even try it. 233 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,480 Speaker 1: The customers agent poked around and found a little grass, 234 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:16,400 Speaker 1: all right, that was Richard's fault. He should have smoked 235 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:18,480 Speaker 1: the rest of it before he hit the road, and 236 00:13:18,520 --> 00:13:20,720 Speaker 1: the agent examined it with his eyes and decided it 237 00:13:20,760 --> 00:13:23,760 Speaker 1: was an ounce. An ounce sym there was barely enough 238 00:13:23,760 --> 00:13:25,120 Speaker 1: to roll a joint. 239 00:13:24,880 --> 00:13:25,839 Speaker 2: An ounce his ass. 240 00:13:26,800 --> 00:13:28,800 Speaker 1: Running away from his problems was proven to be a 241 00:13:28,880 --> 00:13:33,440 Speaker 1: lesson brilliant plan for Richard Pryor. Thankfully, business was booming. 242 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:36,280 Speaker 1: He was making that money, so his wallet was fat 243 00:13:36,720 --> 00:13:38,400 Speaker 1: that he could afford to pay his own bail. 244 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:41,800 Speaker 2: So maybe nineteen sixty seven would be alright after all. 245 00:13:44,000 --> 00:13:47,160 Speaker 1: Nineteen sixty seven was the year Richard met Paul Mooney, 246 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:49,160 Speaker 1: the man who would become his co writer and one 247 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:52,000 Speaker 1: of his closest friends. It was also the year he 248 00:13:52,080 --> 00:13:54,800 Speaker 1: met Dirty Dick, the dealer with the top shelf stuff, 249 00:13:54,800 --> 00:13:57,280 Speaker 1: the cocaine that Richard was dishing out one two hundred 250 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 1: dollars a day for. In nineteen sixty seven was also 251 00:14:00,440 --> 00:14:03,400 Speaker 1: the year that he had the epiphany. It happened in Vegas, 252 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:07,120 Speaker 1: Dean Martin and those other Rappac dudes half drunk, laughing 253 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:10,360 Speaker 1: in the audience, Richard up on stage, telling jokes, getting last, 254 00:14:10,400 --> 00:14:13,160 Speaker 1: getting paid. He had an appearance on Ed Sullivan to 255 00:14:13,160 --> 00:14:15,959 Speaker 1: thank for this opportunity, or maybe it was the Carson Show, 256 00:14:16,400 --> 00:14:17,040 Speaker 1: but he knew. 257 00:14:16,880 --> 00:14:18,640 Speaker 2: It was all in act. Literally. 258 00:14:19,160 --> 00:14:21,160 Speaker 1: The more he went through the motions, the more jokes 259 00:14:21,200 --> 00:14:24,280 Speaker 1: didn't resonate with him. They weren't about his life. What 260 00:14:24,360 --> 00:14:27,680 Speaker 1: was the people said, write what you know, Richard Pryor 261 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:28,880 Speaker 1: was it writing what he knew? 262 00:14:29,400 --> 00:14:30,120 Speaker 2: And what did he know? 263 00:14:30,800 --> 00:14:34,480 Speaker 1: He knew peoria, he knew junkies and drunks, pimps and pushers. 264 00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:37,160 Speaker 1: He knew sex, he knew pain, and he knew what 265 00:14:37,240 --> 00:14:39,160 Speaker 1: it was like to be a black man navigating a 266 00:14:39,200 --> 00:14:42,440 Speaker 1: world of ignorance and fear. The lights on the Vegas 267 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:45,920 Speaker 1: stage were bright, and they burned into his eyeballs, and 268 00:14:45,960 --> 00:14:49,320 Speaker 1: they flooded his peripheral vision. Soon all I could see 269 00:14:49,440 --> 00:14:52,400 Speaker 1: was the blinding light it. Stalking dead in his tracks, 270 00:14:52,960 --> 00:14:55,280 Speaker 1: must have looked like a goddamn idiot just standing there. 271 00:14:55,880 --> 00:14:57,240 Speaker 2: The hell am I doing here? 272 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:00,160 Speaker 1: He realized after the fact that he had actually he 273 00:15:00,200 --> 00:15:03,280 Speaker 1: said that line out loud. It was a rhetorical question. 274 00:15:03,840 --> 00:15:06,440 Speaker 1: He already knew the answer. He turned around and. 275 00:15:06,440 --> 00:15:07,560 Speaker 2: Walked off the stage. 276 00:15:08,000 --> 00:15:09,880 Speaker 1: They told him he'd never work in Vegas again, and 277 00:15:09,960 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 1: you know what, that was just fucking fine with him. 278 00:15:12,840 --> 00:15:14,760 Speaker 1: He didn't want to be that guy. He wanted to 279 00:15:14,800 --> 00:15:17,880 Speaker 1: be Richard pryor the real Richard Pryor they weren't going 280 00:15:17,920 --> 00:15:18,800 Speaker 1: to believe their ears. 281 00:15:19,080 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 2: He would shock them. 282 00:15:20,160 --> 00:15:22,600 Speaker 1: He would make them piss themselves, laughing until their slacks 283 00:15:22,640 --> 00:15:25,000 Speaker 1: were soaked, and not just because what they said was funny, 284 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:28,440 Speaker 1: because it was provocative, but because it was real. Just 285 00:15:28,560 --> 00:15:33,120 Speaker 1: like Miles, Miles Davis did whatever the hell he wanted. 286 00:15:33,440 --> 00:15:35,360 Speaker 1: But whatever the hell Miles Davis wanted to do was 287 00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:37,560 Speaker 1: one hundred percent the opposite of what everyone else wanted 288 00:15:37,640 --> 00:15:40,360 Speaker 1: him to do. You think Columbia Records wanted Miles Davis 289 00:15:40,400 --> 00:15:42,680 Speaker 1: doing what he did, no fucking way, man, but Miles 290 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:45,560 Speaker 1: did Miles period, No two ways around me. And when 291 00:15:45,600 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 1: Miles Davis and Richard Pryor did some shows together in 292 00:15:47,840 --> 00:15:51,320 Speaker 1: New York City, Miles flipped the script. Those shows weren't 293 00:15:51,320 --> 00:15:53,440 Speaker 1: your typical shows with a comic warming up the crowd 294 00:15:53,480 --> 00:15:55,720 Speaker 1: before the musician took the stage for a headlighting set. 295 00:15:56,080 --> 00:15:57,960 Speaker 1: Miles told Richard, hey, man, you. 296 00:15:57,840 --> 00:15:58,560 Speaker 2: Opened up for me. 297 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:02,080 Speaker 1: And that was far out. That was Miles Davis giving 298 00:16:02,160 --> 00:16:05,480 Speaker 1: Richard Pryor his blessing. That was Miles saying, I see 299 00:16:05,480 --> 00:16:09,200 Speaker 1: what you're doing, I hear you, I feel you. But 300 00:16:09,360 --> 00:16:12,000 Speaker 1: just as Richard Pryor's realness was having a profound effect 301 00:16:12,040 --> 00:16:14,600 Speaker 1: on his career and on the evolution of American comedy, 302 00:16:15,000 --> 00:16:18,840 Speaker 1: it was making everything else in his life worse. Every 303 00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:22,120 Speaker 1: year was some new bullshit. He was arrested again and 304 00:16:22,160 --> 00:16:23,840 Speaker 1: for getting in a fight with the guy working at 305 00:16:23,840 --> 00:16:27,040 Speaker 1: the desk at his apartment building. That dude sued Richard 306 00:16:27,080 --> 00:16:30,080 Speaker 1: for seventy five thousand dollars and won. And then there 307 00:16:30,080 --> 00:16:32,440 Speaker 1: were the girlfriends and the ex girlfriends, and the wives 308 00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:35,560 Speaker 1: and the ex wives. They were piling up. Some were 309 00:16:35,560 --> 00:16:38,800 Speaker 1: coming after Richard for child support, some were coming for blood, 310 00:16:39,040 --> 00:16:42,440 Speaker 1: Some lawyered up, some had warrants, And as the nineteen 311 00:16:42,520 --> 00:16:45,960 Speaker 1: sixties turned into the nineteen seventies, Richard Pryor was a 312 00:16:46,000 --> 00:16:50,320 Speaker 1: wanted man. But Richard Pryor wanted something else. He wanted 313 00:16:50,320 --> 00:16:53,120 Speaker 1: to do more cocaine. He wanted to get drunk. He 314 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:55,800 Speaker 1: wanted to fuck. He wanted to unpack all the dark 315 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:59,040 Speaker 1: corners of his life, all those junkies, pimps, and scary 316 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:02,280 Speaker 1: family members of his past, his grandmother, his mom, all 317 00:17:02,360 --> 00:17:04,320 Speaker 1: the dope he was doing and the sex he was having, 318 00:17:04,440 --> 00:17:06,280 Speaker 1: get it all out of his head, get it down 319 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:09,400 Speaker 1: on paper, and transform it all to a comedy juggernaut 320 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:11,880 Speaker 1: that had never been seen before. To do all that, 321 00:17:12,359 --> 00:17:16,080 Speaker 1: he had to get away. So in nineteen seventy one, 322 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:18,919 Speaker 1: Richard Pryor once again got behind the wheel of a car, 323 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:21,680 Speaker 1: this time with his pal Paul Mooney at his side, 324 00:17:21,960 --> 00:17:26,119 Speaker 1: and he escaped away from his obligations, away from the 325 00:17:26,160 --> 00:17:29,720 Speaker 1: soul sucking traps of places like Las Vegas, and away. 326 00:17:29,520 --> 00:17:31,720 Speaker 2: From the people trying to catch him. Then people trying 327 00:17:31,760 --> 00:17:32,480 Speaker 2: to stop him. 328 00:17:32,840 --> 00:17:36,879 Speaker 1: And Richard Pryor didn't stop running until he reached Berkeley, California, 329 00:17:37,160 --> 00:17:39,080 Speaker 1: that freaky diey place on the edge of the world 330 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:42,720 Speaker 1: where the Black Panthers, Bradburgers, musicians and poets were all 331 00:17:42,760 --> 00:17:46,520 Speaker 1: conspiring to do whatever it took to feel free. 332 00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:51,720 Speaker 2: We'll be right back after this. We're We're, We're. 333 00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:00,800 Speaker 1: The gun was on the night stand and inside his 334 00:18:00,840 --> 00:18:04,800 Speaker 1: north Ridge home, three point fifty seven magnum, big motherfucker. 335 00:18:05,359 --> 00:18:08,359 Speaker 1: It wasn't small like his three eighty automatic. It wasn't 336 00:18:08,400 --> 00:18:12,200 Speaker 1: unwieldy like his shotgun, or useless like his antique flintlock. 337 00:18:12,920 --> 00:18:14,119 Speaker 1: This was the showpiece. 338 00:18:14,800 --> 00:18:17,800 Speaker 2: This was the what the fuck did you say? Gun? 339 00:18:18,400 --> 00:18:21,359 Speaker 1: Richard Pryor picked it up. This was the piece Richard 340 00:18:21,359 --> 00:18:23,480 Speaker 1: waved around when it was clear he was losing another 341 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:26,639 Speaker 1: argument with his wife. You're gonna shoot me, then shoot me, 342 00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:29,760 Speaker 1: his wife told him. Richard pointed it away from her. 343 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:32,199 Speaker 1: He didn't actually want to shoot her, which didn't mean 344 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 1: he didn't want to shoot something, and she told him 345 00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:36,960 Speaker 1: to put the gun down. Fuck you, he said, And 346 00:18:36,960 --> 00:18:38,600 Speaker 1: then he told his wife to round up her friends 347 00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:40,560 Speaker 1: and get the hell out of his house. It was 348 00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:44,439 Speaker 1: just minutes in a year's day nineteen seventy eight, the 349 00:18:44,480 --> 00:18:47,000 Speaker 1: party that Richard Pryor and his now third wife were 350 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:50,399 Speaker 1: hosting had gone as flat as day old champagne. What 351 00:18:50,520 --> 00:18:53,040 Speaker 1: had started out as a celebration was now all out 352 00:18:53,080 --> 00:18:57,320 Speaker 1: domestic warfare. Moments ago, Richard and his wife had shared 353 00:18:57,320 --> 00:19:00,320 Speaker 1: a midnight kiss, and now they were at each other's throat. 354 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:02,399 Speaker 1: Didn't help that they were drunk and high on some 355 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:05,919 Speaker 1: of Dirty Dick's supply. Richard decided that his wife and 356 00:19:05,920 --> 00:19:08,879 Speaker 1: her friends weren't moving fast enough. He pointed the magnum 357 00:19:08,880 --> 00:19:12,000 Speaker 1: at the ceiling and pulled the trigger. The gun fired, 358 00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:14,359 Speaker 1: and the bullet blew apart the ten thousand dollars Tiffany, 359 00:19:14,440 --> 00:19:17,000 Speaker 1: she had a leier hanging from above, and the women 360 00:19:17,080 --> 00:19:19,760 Speaker 1: moved faster. Now outside, they piled. 361 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:20,199 Speaker 2: Into a buick. 362 00:19:20,640 --> 00:19:23,640 Speaker 1: Richard got into the Mercedes, turned the key in the admission, 363 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:26,399 Speaker 1: put it in drive, and then he drove it straight 364 00:19:26,400 --> 00:19:30,879 Speaker 1: into the buick, over and over. The women screamed, they 365 00:19:31,000 --> 00:19:33,639 Speaker 1: ditched the buick. Richard followed suit and stepped out of 366 00:19:33,640 --> 00:19:36,200 Speaker 1: the Mercedes. He didn't know what his wife's next move 367 00:19:36,240 --> 00:19:38,560 Speaker 1: would be. Maybe she'd push him aside and take the 368 00:19:38,640 --> 00:19:41,480 Speaker 1: bens get the fuck out. Maybe it would be the 369 00:19:41,560 --> 00:19:45,000 Speaker 1: last time. Maybe she wouldn't come back. Richard didn't care, 370 00:19:45,640 --> 00:19:47,720 Speaker 1: but all the same he didn't want her getting in 371 00:19:47,760 --> 00:19:50,800 Speaker 1: that car, not because she'd leave, because if she did, 372 00:19:51,240 --> 00:19:54,600 Speaker 1: then she'd win, and Richard Pryor wasn't about to lose 373 00:19:54,640 --> 00:19:57,919 Speaker 1: another argument. Fuck that, So he jumped in between his 374 00:19:57,960 --> 00:20:00,359 Speaker 1: wife and the Mercedes, pulled back the hand ammer on 375 00:20:00,440 --> 00:20:02,840 Speaker 1: the magnum, pointed it at one of the tires, and 376 00:20:03,000 --> 00:20:10,919 Speaker 1: pulled the trigger. A few years earlier before, he had 377 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:13,280 Speaker 1: a house in Northridge, back when he was making his 378 00:20:13,320 --> 00:20:16,439 Speaker 1: Great Escape to Berkeley with Paul Mooney, Richard felt like 379 00:20:16,480 --> 00:20:19,919 Speaker 1: he'd found a new lease on life, creatively and personally. 380 00:20:21,080 --> 00:20:24,000 Speaker 1: Here in the Bay Area, hippies were protesting the war, 381 00:20:24,600 --> 00:20:27,400 Speaker 1: Black people like him were declaring that there was somebody. 382 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,719 Speaker 1: He started hanging out with freedom fighters like Angela Davis 383 00:20:30,760 --> 00:20:34,359 Speaker 1: and Hue Union, with poets like Al Young and Ishmael Reid. 384 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:37,920 Speaker 1: Intellectualism didn't have to be a dirty word. You could 385 00:20:37,960 --> 00:20:40,200 Speaker 1: be smart and cussed like one of the women who 386 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:43,520 Speaker 1: worked at his grandmother's brothel. The two weren't mutually exclusive. 387 00:20:44,200 --> 00:20:47,040 Speaker 1: That was the lesson, along with the realization that he 388 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:50,000 Speaker 1: had a lyce worth material to draw from a lesson 389 00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:50,399 Speaker 1: he took with. 390 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:52,439 Speaker 2: Him when he moved down to Los Angeles. 391 00:20:52,760 --> 00:20:54,280 Speaker 1: It was all about being fearless. 392 00:20:54,800 --> 00:20:54,919 Speaker 2: There. 393 00:20:54,960 --> 00:20:58,600 Speaker 1: It was again that word fearless, the word that everyone 394 00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:02,320 Speaker 1: was using to describe him. In reality, Richard Pryor just 395 00:21:02,359 --> 00:21:04,600 Speaker 1: didn't give a shit anymore. He didn't give a shit 396 00:21:04,640 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: that his material was obscene, that it was profane, but hey, 397 00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:11,040 Speaker 1: selling over a million copies of a live comedy record, 398 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:13,280 Speaker 1: holding on the number one spot on the Billboard arm 399 00:21:13,320 --> 00:21:16,399 Speaker 1: B chart for four straight weeks for a live comedy record, 400 00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:19,359 Speaker 1: and then winning a Grammy Award for a comedy record 401 00:21:20,080 --> 00:21:23,640 Speaker 1: that he could give a shit about because now he 402 00:21:23,680 --> 00:21:26,480 Speaker 1: was in demand, and because now the money was rolling 403 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:28,800 Speaker 1: in more than it ever had, which meant more money 404 00:21:28,800 --> 00:21:32,080 Speaker 1: for cavossier and cocaine. But whether it was getting profound, 405 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:35,520 Speaker 1: getting last, getting famous, or getting high, Richard Pryor did 406 00:21:35,640 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: nothing in moderation, which was exactly why mel Brooks hired 407 00:21:40,640 --> 00:21:43,920 Speaker 1: Richard Pryor to help write a script for his next film, 408 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:47,200 Speaker 1: a Western satire about a black railroad worker who was 409 00:21:47,240 --> 00:21:48,520 Speaker 1: appointed sheriff. 410 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:49,200 Speaker 2: Of an all white town. 411 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:52,800 Speaker 1: Mel Brooks wanted this movie to not just be funny, 412 00:21:53,240 --> 00:21:57,680 Speaker 1: to be outrageously shockingly funny, the jokes, the link which 413 00:21:57,760 --> 00:22:00,359 Speaker 1: the lines that were crossed. The whole thing had to 414 00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:04,800 Speaker 1: be no holds barre blazing Saddles was a perfect assignment 415 00:22:04,840 --> 00:22:08,119 Speaker 1: for Richard Pryor. He threw himself into the script he 416 00:22:08,160 --> 00:22:11,040 Speaker 1: wrote with utter abandon. He helped create not just one 417 00:22:11,040 --> 00:22:13,320 Speaker 1: of the funniest mel Brooks movies, but one of the 418 00:22:13,359 --> 00:22:16,480 Speaker 1: funniest American comedies of all time. And he did it 419 00:22:16,520 --> 00:22:19,920 Speaker 1: while under the impression that he Richard Pryor would also 420 00:22:19,960 --> 00:22:23,679 Speaker 1: play the lead role of Bart, the Black Sheriff. Richard 421 00:22:23,720 --> 00:22:26,800 Speaker 1: often acted outlines and scenes in the writer's room. Everyone 422 00:22:26,840 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: involved in the movie could see it. He was the 423 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:32,639 Speaker 1: obvious choice, but at the last minute the studio revealed 424 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:37,119 Speaker 1: that they thought otherwise. They claimed that Richard lacked acting experience, 425 00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:41,399 Speaker 1: but there was something else. His reputation was equally lacking, 426 00:22:41,800 --> 00:22:44,639 Speaker 1: his drug use, his run ins with the law, the 427 00:22:44,680 --> 00:22:47,520 Speaker 1: simple fact that he was, by nineteen seventy four, one 428 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:51,680 Speaker 1: of the most controversial people in Hollywood. Warner Brothers took 429 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:54,119 Speaker 1: the safe bet for a movie that was all about 430 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:57,879 Speaker 1: taking huge risks, and they cast Richard's friend plevon Lyddle 431 00:22:57,960 --> 00:23:03,320 Speaker 1: as barn Instead, Richard walked away from the experience confused 432 00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:06,280 Speaker 1: and disappointed and more than a little mistrustful of the 433 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:10,240 Speaker 1: powers of being in Los Angeles. He felt used, used 434 00:23:10,240 --> 00:23:13,919 Speaker 1: by mel Brooks, used by the studio. He wanted to 435 00:23:13,920 --> 00:23:15,960 Speaker 1: prove them all wrong, that not only was he not 436 00:23:16,000 --> 00:23:19,239 Speaker 1: an unreliable cokehead, but that he could act, and not 437 00:23:19,440 --> 00:23:22,160 Speaker 1: just in a mel Brooks satire. He took a lead 438 00:23:22,280 --> 00:23:26,240 Speaker 1: role in Blue Collar, the directorial debut by Paul Schrader, 439 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,359 Speaker 1: then best known for his screenplay for Martin Scorsese's Taxi Driver. 440 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:34,960 Speaker 1: Along with Harvey Kayitel, Richard Pryor played a disgruntled autoworker 441 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,159 Speaker 1: who decides to rob his union local. It was a 442 00:23:38,240 --> 00:23:40,840 Speaker 1: role unlike anything he played before, and he never did 443 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:44,720 Speaker 1: anything like it ever again, because it was painful. You 444 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:47,040 Speaker 1: had a look inward to act in a drama like that, 445 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:50,919 Speaker 1: go deep into the recesses of your own mind. Not 446 00:23:51,040 --> 00:23:53,520 Speaker 1: that that was different from comedy, but at least the 447 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:56,360 Speaker 1: payoff in comedy was a laugh. There was a release 448 00:23:57,040 --> 00:23:59,679 Speaker 1: when comedy hits. Richard once said, it's as close to 449 00:23:59,720 --> 00:24:03,359 Speaker 1: fly his man gets when you're on and rolling. Nothing 450 00:24:03,359 --> 00:24:09,080 Speaker 1: comes close, not cocaine, not even pussy capital a acting 451 00:24:09,520 --> 00:24:14,040 Speaker 1: wasn't pussy or cocaine, and assure shit wasn't comedy. Richard 452 00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:17,680 Speaker 1: was exhausted when the Shoe was over, just like Blazing Saddles. 453 00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:22,080 Speaker 1: He walked away from Blue Collar, confused, disappointed, and frustrated. 454 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,560 Speaker 1: The movie didn't go anywhere. Critics loved him in it, 455 00:24:25,840 --> 00:24:28,719 Speaker 1: but critics didn't pay the bills. So in order to 456 00:24:28,720 --> 00:24:32,239 Speaker 1: not feel much of anything, Richard did more cocaine, and 457 00:24:32,280 --> 00:24:34,960 Speaker 1: then he did some more, and by New Year's Morning 458 00:24:35,040 --> 00:24:37,679 Speaker 1: in nineteen seventy eight, he wasn't even sure what he 459 00:24:37,720 --> 00:24:41,520 Speaker 1: was supposed to feel anymore, and honestly, he didn't give 460 00:24:41,600 --> 00:24:46,960 Speaker 1: much of a fuck. The second bullet hit another tire. 461 00:24:47,240 --> 00:24:51,119 Speaker 1: The tire hissed aggressively. Richard Pryor reloaded the magnum. He 462 00:24:51,160 --> 00:24:54,320 Speaker 1: aimed it at the Mercedes again and fired. Fucked this car, 463 00:24:54,560 --> 00:24:58,240 Speaker 1: fucked this marriage. He reloaded and fired again, and by 464 00:24:58,280 --> 00:25:01,280 Speaker 1: the time the police got there, was shot to shit. 465 00:25:01,920 --> 00:25:05,679 Speaker 1: They took Richard downtown assault of the deadly weapon. Pretty 466 00:25:05,720 --> 00:25:08,000 Speaker 1: soon Wife number three would be ex wife number three, 467 00:25:08,400 --> 00:25:11,080 Speaker 1: but not before Wife number three's friend, sporting a new 468 00:25:11,119 --> 00:25:13,960 Speaker 1: neck brace, walked into La Superior Court with the story 469 00:25:14,000 --> 00:25:17,359 Speaker 1: of how Richard orchestrated a quote unprovoked attack when he 470 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:19,600 Speaker 1: chased them from his house in the early hours of 471 00:25:19,600 --> 00:25:22,680 Speaker 1: New Year's Day. She sued himTo the tune of seventeen 472 00:25:22,800 --> 00:25:26,920 Speaker 1: million dollars. If she gets it, Richard said it, meaning 473 00:25:26,960 --> 00:25:46,639 Speaker 1: his money, I'll marry her. On June ninth, nineteen eighty, 474 00:25:46,920 --> 00:25:51,040 Speaker 1: Richard Prior's addiction to freebasing cocaine reached a harrowing new low. 475 00:25:51,840 --> 00:25:55,240 Speaker 1: That was the day he set himself on fire. Neighbors 476 00:25:55,280 --> 00:25:58,240 Speaker 1: watched as he ran down the street, screaming, his body 477 00:25:58,280 --> 00:26:01,840 Speaker 1: engulfed in flames. It took six weeks of skin grass, 478 00:26:01,840 --> 00:26:04,879 Speaker 1: plastic surgery, and physical therapy, and even then it was 479 00:26:04,960 --> 00:26:09,600 Speaker 1: still a long, hard road to recovery. On July twenty fourth, 480 00:26:09,760 --> 00:26:12,240 Speaker 1: during his first interview after being rushed to the hospital, 481 00:26:12,600 --> 00:26:16,000 Speaker 1: Richard denied that he was freebasing cocaine when the accident happened. 482 00:26:16,720 --> 00:26:19,760 Speaker 1: In this version of the story, someone accidentally spilled some 483 00:26:19,800 --> 00:26:22,040 Speaker 1: of that high test rum on him, and when he 484 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,320 Speaker 1: went to innocently light a cigarette, he. 485 00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:28,439 Speaker 2: Was on fire. But that wasn't the truth. 486 00:26:28,880 --> 00:26:31,119 Speaker 1: That was a story meant to hide the real Richard 487 00:26:31,160 --> 00:26:34,600 Speaker 1: Pryor from the public. Years later, in his nineteen ninety 488 00:26:34,600 --> 00:26:39,160 Speaker 1: five autobiography Prior Convictions, Richard described how he had smoked 489 00:26:39,240 --> 00:26:42,040 Speaker 1: so much rock that day that he actually ran out. 490 00:26:42,280 --> 00:26:45,760 Speaker 1: He was alone, miserable, afraid. He just needed to get higher, 491 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:49,359 Speaker 1: to smoke more. Cocaine was always the answer, no matter 492 00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:52,360 Speaker 1: the question. But with no drugs in the house, what 493 00:26:52,400 --> 00:26:55,119 Speaker 1: was he going to do? He started to laugh, and 494 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:58,600 Speaker 1: then he was crying. He needed to do something, something 495 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:03,040 Speaker 1: to make him feel. Feelings hurt. Feelings dragged you down, 496 00:27:03,400 --> 00:27:06,160 Speaker 1: Feelings took you back to places like Peoria, into jail 497 00:27:06,160 --> 00:27:09,159 Speaker 1: cells in Germany. He grabbed the bottle of booze and 498 00:27:09,200 --> 00:27:12,040 Speaker 1: dumped the entire thing on himself. He was still alone, 499 00:27:12,400 --> 00:27:15,520 Speaker 1: but he no longer felt scared. He stood in silence 500 00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:18,280 Speaker 1: and waited for his moment of sin, and then the 501 00:27:18,320 --> 00:27:20,879 Speaker 1: door to the room flung open. His cousin stood in 502 00:27:20,920 --> 00:27:23,400 Speaker 1: the doorway. He saw that Richard was holding his big 503 00:27:23,520 --> 00:27:26,919 Speaker 1: lighter in his hand, and that he was soaked. Wait, Richard, 504 00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:30,600 Speaker 1: what the fuck are you doing? Don't be afraid, Richard said, 505 00:27:30,960 --> 00:27:34,159 Speaker 1: and then he flicked the lighter and his body was 506 00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:37,840 Speaker 1: swallowed by fire and by Richard Pryor's own account, that 507 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:40,719 Speaker 1: accident was no accident, and by the account of his 508 00:27:40,720 --> 00:27:44,000 Speaker 1: fifth wife and widow, Jennifer Lee, it was very deliberate. 509 00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:48,200 Speaker 1: In the twenty nineteen documentary about Richard's life, Jennifer Lee 510 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:49,960 Speaker 1: said that he had tried to take his own life, 511 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:54,200 Speaker 1: but instead of dying, he lived. He lived to become 512 00:27:54,240 --> 00:27:57,480 Speaker 1: front page news for all the wrong reasons. He lived 513 00:27:57,480 --> 00:28:00,040 Speaker 1: to become a cheap punchline. He lived to make a 514 00:28:00,040 --> 00:28:03,639 Speaker 1: bunch of bullshit movies, cringey comedies like The Toy that 515 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:06,640 Speaker 1: I actually loved, by the way, pointless franchise cash ins 516 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:10,639 Speaker 1: like Superman three. He lived to make money, and in fact, 517 00:28:10,680 --> 00:28:12,760 Speaker 1: that's why he kept saying yes to the movie rolls 518 00:28:13,040 --> 00:28:15,280 Speaker 1: for the money, just like back when he was another 519 00:28:15,280 --> 00:28:16,920 Speaker 1: funny guy on a Vegas stage. 520 00:28:16,600 --> 00:28:18,200 Speaker 2: With a pocket full of stupid gags. 521 00:28:18,840 --> 00:28:22,439 Speaker 1: Fuck her. This wasn't Berkeley in nineteen seventy one. This 522 00:28:22,560 --> 00:28:25,440 Speaker 1: was Hollywood in the me decade. Who cares if most 523 00:28:25,480 --> 00:28:27,560 Speaker 1: of the movies he made were disposable. He got paid, 524 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:30,800 Speaker 1: didn't he. Those disposable comedies also served as a cover 525 00:28:30,840 --> 00:28:33,679 Speaker 1: for the real Richard Pryor, the one who couldn't stop, 526 00:28:33,880 --> 00:28:36,959 Speaker 1: the one who, even after his near death experience couldn't 527 00:28:36,960 --> 00:28:39,880 Speaker 1: shake the habit. Even when he got MS, he still 528 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:42,760 Speaker 1: chased pussy and cocaine from the confines of his wheelchair 529 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:45,200 Speaker 1: right up until the day he died in two thousand 530 00:28:45,200 --> 00:28:47,840 Speaker 1: and five a heart attack at the age of sixty five, 531 00:28:48,520 --> 00:28:52,400 Speaker 1: zero moderation. Those who knew him best weren't surprised, and 532 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:55,680 Speaker 1: the least as his great friend and co writer Paul 533 00:28:55,720 --> 00:28:58,640 Speaker 1: Mooney once said, Richard is a junkie first and a 534 00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:03,800 Speaker 1: genius second. Always, it's a tragic truth about one of 535 00:29:03,840 --> 00:29:08,880 Speaker 1: our greatest comics, one that ought to be in pictures. 536 00:29:09,800 --> 00:29:11,960 Speaker 1: I'm Jake Brennan in this. 537 00:29:12,800 --> 00:29:15,680 Speaker 2: It is Hollywoodland. 538 00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:30,760 Speaker 1: Hollywood Land was created by Years truly. In this produced 539 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:34,680 Speaker 1: in partnership with Double Elvis. Follow like, rate and review 540 00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:36,960 Speaker 1: hollywood Land wherever you get your podcasts, and get in 541 00:29:37,000 --> 00:29:40,320 Speaker 1: touch with us on social media at double Elvis. If 542 00:29:40,320 --> 00:29:42,160 Speaker 1: you like hollywood Land, check out my other show, the 543 00:29:42,200 --> 00:29:45,240 Speaker 1: award winning Disgraceland, which looks at the world of music 544 00:29:45,280 --> 00:29:46,120 Speaker 1: through the lens. 545 00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:46,480 Speaker 2: Of true crime. 546 00:29:46,560 --> 00:29:49,440 Speaker 1: Just search for Disgraceland or wherever you get your podcasts. 547 00:29:55,080 --> 00:29:56,560 Speaker 2: Good give a lot