Advanced search

Highly influential, and always controversial, African-American actor/comedian who was equally well known for his colorful language during his live comedy shows, as for his fast paced life, multiple marriages and battles with drug addiction. He has been acknowledged by many modern comic artist's as a key influence on their careers, and Pryor's observational humor on African-American life in the USA during the 1970s was razor sharp brilliance.

He was born Richard Franklin Lennox Pryor III on December 1, 1940, in Peoria, Illinois, the son of Gertrude L. (Thomas) and LeRoy "Buck Carter" Pryor. His mother, a prostitute, abandoned him when he was ten years of age, after which he was raised in his grandmother's brothel. Unfortunately, Pryor was molested at the age of six by a teenage neighbor, and later by a neighborhood preacher. To escape this troubled life, the young Pryor was an avid movie fan and a regular visitor to local movie theaters in Peoria. After numerous jobs, including truck driver and meat packer, the young Pryor did a stint in the US Army between 1958 & 1960 in which he performed in amateur theater shows. After he left the services in 1960, Pryor started singing in small clubs, but inadvertently found that humor was his real forte.

Pryor spent time in both New York & Las Vegas, honing his comic craft. However, his unconventional approach to humor sometimes made bookings difficult to come by and this eventually saw Pryor heading to Los Angeles. He first broke into films with minor roles in The Busy Body (1967) and Wild in the Streets (1968). However, his performance as a drug addicted piano player in Lady Sings the Blues (1972), really got the attention of fans and film critics alike.

He made his first appearance with Gene Wilder in the very popular action/comedy Silver Streak (1976), played three different characters in Which Way Is Up? (1977) and portrayed real-life stock-car driver "Wendell Scott" in Greased Lightning (1977). Proving he was more than just a comedian, Pryor wowed audiences as a disenchanted auto worker who is seduced into betraying his friends and easy money in the Paul Schrader working class drama Blue Collar (1978), also starring Yaphet Kotto and Harvey Keitel. Always a strong advocate of African-American talent, Pryor next took a key role in The Wiz (1978), starring an all African-American cast, including Diana Ross and Michael Jackson, retelling the story of The Wizard of Oz (1939). His next four screen roles were primarily cameos in California Suite (1978); The Muppet Movie (1979); Wholly Moses! (1980) and In God We Trust (or Gimme That Prime Time Religion) (1980). However, Pryor teamed up with Gene Wilder once more for the prison comedy Stir Crazy (1980), which did strong box office business.

His next few films were a mixed bag of material, often inhibiting Pryor's talent, with equally mixed returns at the box office. Pryor then scored second billing to Christopher Reeve in the big budget Superman III (1983), and starred alongside fellow funny man John Candy in Brewster's Millions (1985) before revealing his inner self in the autobiographical Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986). Again, Pryor was somewhat hampered by poor material in his following film ventures. However, he did turn up again in See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) with Gene Wilder, but the final product was not as sharp as their previous pairings. Pryor then partnered on-screen with two other very popular African-American comic's. The legendary Redd Foxx and 1980s comic newcomer Eddie Murphy starred with Pryor in the gangster film Harlem Nights (1989) which was also directed by Eddie Murphy. Having contracted multiple sclerosis in 1986, Pryor's remaining film appearances were primarily cameos apart from his fourth and final outing with Gene Wilder in the lukewarm Another You (1991), and his final appearance in a film production was a small role in the David Lynch road flick Lost Highway (1997).

Fans of this outrageous comic genius are encouraged to see his live specials Richard Pryor: Live and Smokin' (1971); the dynamic Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979); Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982) and Richard Pryor... Here and Now (1983). In addition, The Richard Pryor Show (1977) is a must-have for any Richard Pryor fans' DVD collection.

Unknown to many, Pryor was a long time advocate against animal cruelty, and he campaigned against fast food chains and circus shows to address issues of animal welfare. He was married a total of seven times, and fathered eight children.

After long battles with ill health, Richard Pryor passed away on December 10th, 2005.

One of those strikingly familiar matrons you just can't place, character actress Mary Jackson is probably best known for her recurring role as one of the delightfully eccentric bootlegging sisters, "Miss Emily" Baldwin, on the series The Waltons (1972) that ran for nine seasons. She was born November 22, 1910 in rural Milford, Michigan, and earned a bachelor's degree from West Michigan University in 1932. A Depression-era school teacher for one year before pursuing her interest in theater, she returned to college (this time Michigan State University) in a fine arts program. She started out on the Chicago stage and in summer stock before migrating to the larger stages in New York and Los Angeles.

Film and TV roles did not come her way until well into middle age. Guesting on such TV shows as "The Andy Griffith Show," "The Twilight Zone," "My Three Sons," "Hazel," "The Mary Tyler Moore Show," "Barnaby Jones" and "Highway to Heaven," she usually appeared as ladylike small-town citizens. She was also part of the ensemble in Peter Bogdanovich's first lowbudget film thriller Targets (1968), which was Boris Karloff's last feature. In the 70s she started gathering up character bits here and there, such as her nuns in the all-star epic Airport (1970) and the horror Audrey Rose (1977). A variety of pleasant, maternal parts came her way, including Lynn Carlin's mother in the Blake Edwards' western Wild Rovers (1971) and Jane Fonda's in the comedy caper Fun with Dick and Jane (1977). She supported Fonda again in the Vietnam-era drama Coming Home (1978), was among the cast in the cultish Big Top Pee-wee (1988) and had a noticeable role in Steve Martin's Leap of Faith (1992).

As for "The Waltons" success, character actress Dorothy Stickney played the part of Emily in the initial TV pilot along with Josephine Hutchinson as older sister Mamie. When the series came to fruition, Mary and actress Helen Kleeb, another one of those "I've seen her before" character faces, took over the spinster roles. Both she and Kleeb continued their sister act periodically in several Walton "reunion" TV-movies, which included assorted weddings and holiday gatherings. Both ladies made their final TV appearances in A Walton Easter (1997). Kleeb died of natural causes in 2003 at age 96. Mary passed away two years later at age 95 of complications from Parkinson's disease.

Eugene McCarthy, the U.S. Senator from Minnesota whose maverick anti-war Presidential campaign in 1968 toppled Lyndon B. Johnson from power, was born on March 29, 1916, in the small town of Watkins, Minnesota. He took degrees from St. John's University (Collegeville, Minnesota) and the University of Minnesota before becoming a teacher. After a stint as a civilian War Department employee during World War II, he became a college economics and sociology professor. A omen Catholic deeply committed to social justice, he spent a year in a monastery. Eventually, he turned to politics.

McCarthy served 10 years in the U.S. House of Representatives after wining election in 1948, then two terms in the Senate, elected in both 1958 and 1964. As a Congressman, McCarthy supported the U.S. intervention in favor of South Korea during the 1950-53 Korean Conflict, but he came out as an opponent of the Vietnam War. In 1968, he thew his hat into the ring in the New Hampshire presidential primary as an anti-war candidate, opposing sitting President Lyndon B. Johnson for the Democratic nomination. He stunned the nation and changed political history when he won the primary, racking up 42% of the vote. A humiliated Johnson soon withdrew from the race, leaving the field open.

A well-educated person, McCarthy was an extremely erudite individual, and he attracted support from not only anti-war youth but from intellectuals, and many celebrities, including movie superstar Paul Newman, who had actively campaigned for McCarthy in New Hampshire. McCarthy's chances at the presidency were diminished, however, when Senator Robert F. Kennedy came out against the war and joined the field. Despite being denounced by many as an opportunist, Kennedy was an attractive candidate and represented the legacy of Camelot, his late brother John F. Kennedy's presidency. Some McCarthy supporters, like Richard Goodwin, defected to Kennedy. RFK was despised by Lyndon Johnson, and the president threw his support to his Vice-President and McCarthy's fellow Minnesotan, Hubert H. Humphrey, a mixed blessing at best as Humphrey, a noted liberal, was left with the job of defending Johnson's war in Vietnam. Despite Johnson's support of Humphrey, the race initially evolved into a contest between the two Irish Catholic anti-war candidates, McCarthy and Kennedy, a struggle that was terminated by RFK's assassination.

Humphrey, with the backing of Establishment Democrats, won the Democratc nomination at the Chicago convention, which was the scene of what was later termed a "police riot" by Democratic mayor Richard M. Daley's law enforcement operations targeting the army of anti-war protesters that had descended on the City of Broad Shoulders and hard police batons. The debacle was symbolic of the wider conflict between idealistic youth & other anti-establishment elements and the old guard of machine politicians & entrenched, pro-war government hacks that tore apart the party created by Franklin D. Roosevelt during the Great Depression. Norman Mailer, in his book about the party conventions "Miami and the Siege of Chicago", said that during the mêlées that took place between protesters and police in Chicago, McCarthy worried that Daley might have his children imprisoned, beaten or murdered. The Chicago convention, in which CBS reporter Dan Rather was punched in the stomach on-camera by a Chicgo plain-clothes detective, was one of the nadirs of American politics.

Hubert Humphrey narrowly lost the November presidential election to Richard Nixon in November. Third-party candidate George Wallace, an Alabama Democrat, had siphoned-off support from traditional Democratic demographic groups by running on a anti-integrationist platform. Capitalizing on the "politics of rage", Wallace effectively split-off parts of the old party base, the heart of the Solid South and many working class Democrats, by a blunt appeal to racism. It effectively handed the election to Nixon, who won with less than half the popular vote.

A revolution had occurred in American politics, the effects of which are felt to this day, with the defecting of the Southeastern states from their traditional home in the Democratic Party to what was once the hated Republican Party of Reconstruction over the issue of civil rights, and the wooing of the working class, traditional Democrats, by the GOP with the use of "wedge" issues that touched on social anxieties.

Eugene McCarthy declined to run for a third term in the Senate in 1970 (his seat was won by Hubert Humphrey) and devoted much of his time to writing, including poetry. He ran for the Democratic presidential nomination four more times, in 1972, 1976, 1988 and 1992, but never came close to generating the enthusiasm of his first campaign.

McCarthy believed that the Democratic Party greatest achievements were the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the enactment of the national health insurance programs "Medicare" and "Medicaid" as part of LBJ's vision of the "Great Society". However, he blamed the ratcheting up of Vietnam War by Johnson for the failure of part of the Great Society agenda, as it took the focus of revitalizing America. Not surprisingly, McCarthy was a critic of George W. Bush, whom he considered an "amateur", and Bush's war in Iraq.

Eugene McCarthy died in his sleep on December 11, 2005. He was 89 years old.

Mitch Ducksworth was born in 1963. Mitch was a producer, known for Three Long Years (2003). Mitch died on 10 December 2005 in Bronx, New York City, New York, USA.

Laura McNaughton was born on 24 August 1975 in San Diego, California, USA. She died on 10 December 2005 in Clovis, New Mexico, USA.

Jean-Marie Toulgouat was born on 15 September 1927 in Giverny, Eure, France. He died on 10 December 2005 in Giverny, Eure, France.

Jean Veenenbos was born in 1932 in Java, Indonesia. Jean was a production designer, known for Die totale Familie (1982), Liebesgrüße aus der Lederhose 6: Eine Mutter namens Waldemar (1982) and Job für Kutschera (1975). Jean died on 10 December 2005 in Vienna, Austria.

Betty Tetrick was born on 16 January 1916. She died on 10 December 2005 in Saint Johns, Florida, USA.

Pearlie McKeough was born on 30 January 1918 in Pillager, Minnesota, USA. She was married to Michael McKeough. She died on 10 December 2005 in Bowie, Maryland, USA.

Jiri Budin was born on 17 October 1935 in Prague, Czechoslovakia [now Czech Republic]. He was an actor, known for The Shop on Main Street (1965), Poklad byzantského kupce (1967) and Nevesta k zulíbání (1981). He died on 10 December 2005 in Prague, Czech Republic.

Billy Clarey was born on 6 October 1982 in Buffalo, New York, USA. Billy was a casting director and producer, known for Parents Wanted (2004), Shakes (2005) and The Daily Show (1996). Billy died on 10 December 2005 in New York City, New York, USA.