By Richard Pryor

 

 

Richard Pryor’s grandmother’s Marie Pryor features prominently not only in his journey to stardom, but also his comedic material. Pryor was born to LeRoy “Buck” Pryor and Gertrude Thomas on December 1, 1940, in Peoria Illinois. His grandmother eventually escaped an abusive relationship with her husband of eight years. She was famed not only for fighting him back, as evidenced by her multiple assault charges lodged against her then husband, but also for operating a brothel in Peoria, Illinois. Richard spent part of his childhood in the brothel run by his grandmother Marie. His father worked as a pimp and his mother as a prostitute.

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