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Article: Legendary comedian Richard Pryor dies at 65.
- Article from:
- Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL)
- Article date:
- December 10, 2005
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Chicago Tribune. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Allan Johnson
CHICAGO _ In 1980, news reports around the country said Richard Pryor was close to death after suffering from severe burns to more than 50 percent of his body, and it was later reported that it was because he was freebasing cocaine.
In his 1982 concert "Live on the Sunset Strip," Pryor joked about the incident: "Fire is inspirational. They should use it in the Olympics, because I ran the 100 (meter) in 4.3 (seconds)."
Material like that _ biting, human, raw, uninhibited _ was Pryor's calling card, jokes about the human condition that inspired a generation of stand-up comedians.
He may have survived that ...