Richard Pryor Net Worth in 2023 (Biography, Net Worth, Career, Personal Life, Age, etc.)

Richard Pryor Net Worth. Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor was an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer.

He is widely recognized as one of the finest and most influential stand-up comedians of all time, thanks to his trenchant remarks and storytelling technique. Richard Pryor Net Worth is estimated to be approximately $40 Million.

Richard Pryor Net worth and profile in one glance

Richard Pryor Biography

Early life

Pryor was born in Peoria, Illinois, on December 1, 1940. His grandmother, Marie Carter, owned a brothel where his drunken mother, Gertrude L., worked as a prostitute. LeRoy “Buck Carter” Pryor, his father, was a former boxer, hustler, and pimp who lived from June 7, 1915, until September 27, 1968.

Pryor was raised mostly by Marie, a tall, angry woman who would beat him for any of his peculiarities after Gertrude abandoned him when he was ten years old. Pryor was reared in his grandmother’s brothel as one of four children.

At the age of seven, he was sexually abused, and at the age of fourteen, he was dismissed from school. He became a Prince Hall Freemason at a local lodge while in Peoria.

Pryor served in the United States Army from 1958 to 1960 but spent the majority of his time in a military jail. Pryor was imprisoned for an event that occurred while he was stationed in West Germany, according to a 1999 feature in The New Yorker.

Pryor and several other black soldiers were enraged when a white soldier was unduly thrilled by the racially charged portions of Douglas Sirk’s film Imitation of Life, and they beat and stabbed him, but not fatally.

Stepping stone into Richard Pryor Net Worth (Career)

Pryor began as a middlebrow comic, inspired by Bill Cosby, with substantially less contentious material than what was to follow. He soon began appearing on television variety shows including The Ed Sullivan Show, The Merv Griffin Show, and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson on a regular basis.

As a result of his notoriety, he became a successful comic in Las Vegas. Pryor’s early years are captured in the first five tracks on the 2005 collection CD Evolution/Revolution: The Early Years (1966–1974), which were recorded in 1966 and 1967.

Primary source of Richard Pryor Net worth (Acting)

Pryor wrote for shows like Sanford and Son, The Flip Wilson Show, and a 1973 Lily Tomlin special for which he received an Emmy Award. Pryor attempted to get into popular television during this time.

Lady Sings the Blues (1972), The Mack (1973), Uptown Saturday Night (1974), Silver Streak (1976), Car Wash (1976), Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976), Which Way Is Up? (1977), Greased Lightning (1977), Blue Collar (1978), and The Muppet Movie (1979).

1980s

During the filming of Stir Crazy (1980), Pryor drenched himself in rum and lit himself on fire while on a freebasing binge. Pryor’s comedy show Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip included a description of the incident (1982).

He joked that the incident was caused by a cookie being dunked into a glass of low-fat, pasteurized milk, resulting in an explosion. He poked fun at individuals who made jokes about it at the end of the skit by holding a lit match and said, “What exactly is it? Richard Pryor can be seen sprinting along the street.”

Pryor was set to begin filming Mel Brooks’ History of the World, Part I (1981) before his horrifically damaging 1980 freebasing event, but was replaced at the last minute by Gregory Hines. Similarly, Pryor was due to appear on The Muppet Show at the time, forcing the producers to put Chris Langham, a British writer, as the episode’s guest star instead.

1990s and 2000s

Due to multiple sclerosis, Pryor used a power-operated mobility scooter in his later years, beginning in the early to mid-1990s (MS). MS stood for “More Shit” to him. In his last film appearance, a minor role as an auto-repair garage manager named Arnie in David Lynch’s Lost Highway (1997), he rides a scooter.

For the box set, Rhino Records remastered all of Pryor’s Reprise and WB recordings…
It’s also quite deep! The Warner Bros. Recordings in Their Entirety (2000).

Pryor made his first appearance in the cold open of The Norm Show in the episode “Norm vs. The Boxer” in late December 1999. When he kept fighting the nurses before attacking Norm, he was cast as Mr. Johnson, an elderly man in a wheelchair who had lost his right to in-home nursing. This was his final appearance on television.

Personal life

Through comedian Freddie Prinze, Pryor met actress Pam Grier. When they were both casts in Greased Lightning, they started dating (1977). Grier tutored Pryor in reading and attempted to help him overcome his drug addiction. While dating Grier, Pryor married another woman.

During the production of Some Kind of Hero, Pryor dated actress Margot Kidder (1982). After their initial meeting, Kidder remarked that she “fell in love with Pryor in two seconds flat.”

Health problems

Pryor suffered a minor heart attack in November 1977, at the age of 37, following many years of excessive smoking and drinking. In January of the following year, he recovered and started performing. He was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1986. Pryor suffered a second heart attack in Australia in 1990. In 1991, he underwent triple heart bypass surgery.

Death

Pryor died of a third heart attack in Los Angeles on December 10, 2005, nine days after his 65th birthday. After his wife’s attempts to resuscitate him failed, he was brought to a local hospital. At 7:58 a.m. PST, he was pronounced dead. “At the end, there was a smile on his face,” his widow Jennifer was quoted as saying.

His ashes were handed to his family after he was cremated. Jennifer, his widow, later spread his ashes in Hana, Hawaii, in 2019. Pryor’s fatal heart attack, according to forensic pathologist Michael Hunter, was caused by coronary artery disease, which was at least partially caused by years of cigarette smoking.

Conclusion

Richard Pryor is a well-known and brilliant actor from the Hollywood film business. The Richard Pryor Net Worth serves as a source of motivation and inspiration. You should check out – Dave Chappelle Net Worth.