pryor

I know him mostly from Blazing Saddles, where the new black sherriff (NOT played by Pryor, my mistake) holds a gun to his head and says, "Nobody moves or the n***** gets it!" This is what else I've learned in the last few days following Pryor's death.

"I've always thought that a big laugh is a really loud noise from the soul saying, 'Ain't that the truth!' Richard Pryor is the truth machine. He has taken black street humor to its highest universal level." -Quincy Jones

His website still reads "I ain't dead yet m*therf@ck%r!!"

In 1998, Richard Pryor was awarded the first Kennedy Center Mark Twain Humor Prize. His acceptance statement was released as follows: "Two things people throughout history have had in common are hatred and humor. I am proud, that like Mark Twain, I've been able to use humor to lessen people's hatred. I feel great about accepting this prize. It is nice to be regarded on par with a great white man. Now that's funny." (Rotten Library)