Richard Pryor’s last film appearance was in David Lynch’s Lost Highway (1997).
Pryor became the first person to receive the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor from the Kennedy Center in 1998.
Continuing to thrive professionally, Pryor worked with Mel Brooks on the screenplay for the western spoof Blazing Saddles (1974).
His own work was also attracting a lot of attention. Despite its X-rated content, his third comedy album sold extremely well and won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Recording in 1974—a feat he repeated over the next two years.
Fans of all racial backgrounds were captivated by Pryor’s comedy, which consisted of situational and character-driven humor in place of straightforward jokes.
He poked fun at the white establishment and explored the racial divide. In one bit, Pryor described how differently the horror film The Exorcist would have been had it featured an African American family instead of a white one.
By the late 1970s, Pryor had a thriving career as a movie actor. He starred in the box office hit Silver Streak (1976), with Gene Wilder and Jill Clayburgh.
Pryor went on to play the first African American stock car racing champion in Greased Lightning (1977), with Beau Bridges and Pam Grier.
He and Grier were involved off-screen for a while before Pryor married his third wife, Deborah McGuire, in 1977. They divorced in 1979.