Becoming Richard Pryor

by Scott Saul

  292 “You’re gonna pay me” . . . “I’m the director,” . . . “Get me my money”: “Michael Campus handwritten notes (1972),” p. 1.

  292 “Richie is the human submarine”: Ibid., pp. 13–17.

  292 “one of the coldest movies”: Vibe, Apr. 2005, p. 123; bodyguards carried firearms: Commentary on The Mack; bottles started raining down: Mackin’ Ain’t Easy, directed by Laura Nix (2002).

  293 “base of operations” . . . “liberating the territory of Oakland”: Joshua Bloom and Waldo Martin, Black against Empire: The History and Politics of the Black Panther Party (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2013), p. 380; secured the Ward Brothers’ protection: Ron Pennington, “Producer of ‘Mack’ Gains Confidence of Oakland Gang Lords to Shoot Film,” Hollywood Reporter, Sept. 14, 1972; “You’re in Panther territory”: Author’s interview with Harvey Bernhard.

  293 the next day at noon: Ibid.

  294 set up pickets . . . “The Black Community Will Not Be Exploited Anymore” . . . “silver coated form of oppression”: “Blaxploitation,” The Black Panther, Oct. 7, 1972, pp. 2, 9, 11.

  294 “What are you doing?”: Author’s interview with Michael Campus, July 27, 2010.

  294 needed to prop him up: Author’s interview with Michael Campus, Aug. 28, 2009.

  295 at 3:00 a.m., he knocked: Commentary track, The Mack.

  295 “I was going to throw the coffee table on top”: Author’s interview with Bernhard.

  295 The manager of the Marriott . . . would have to be written out: Author’s interview with Michael Campus, Aug. 28, 2009.

  296 which Richard in fact was doing: Robert Poole, “The Mack shooting script,” Michael Campus Papers, Special Collections, Bancroft Library, University of California at Berkeley, pp. 44–45; “we’re gonna get the motherfucker”: The Mack.

  297 “I know ladies who’ve been abused”: Commentary track, The Mack.

  297 fourth-highest-grossing film: “50 Top Grossing Films,” Variety, Apr. 25, 1973, p. 10.

  297 “Bitch,” he said: Unless otherwise noted, all details of this episode come from the author’s interview with Patricia Heitman, Sept. 11, 2011.

  298 a writing friend of Richard’s: Author’s interview with Rick Edelstein, Mar. 15, 2013.

  Chapter 16: Black Goes First

  300 “Shoulders stooped”: [Paramount Pictures], “Richard Pryor Emerges as a Dramatic Actor,” Hit! publicity materials (1973), n.p., Cinematic Arts Library, University of Southern Calfornia, Los Angeles, CA.

  300 “a half-empty room”: Author’s interview with Mel Stuart, July 16, 2009.

  301 “on one condition”: Ibid.; held an open call: Wattstax publicity brochure, p. 1, Box 131, Folder 10, David L. Wolper Collection, David L. Wolper Center for the Study of the Documentary, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA (hereafter DLWC); “Wattstax ‘72’ Film Shot by 90% Black Crews; 250G Budget for Docu,” Variety, Sept. 27, 1972; Larry Clark commentary on Wattstax, directed by Mel Stuart (Columbia, 1973), DVD (hereafter Wattstax).

  301 ninety-two thousand people: William Earl Berry, “How Watts Festival Renews Black Unity,” Jet, Sept. 14, 1972, p. 54; one hundred thousand feet of film: “‘Wattstax ‘72’ Film Shot by 90% Black Crews”; not unlike later film reviewers: Dennis Hunt, “Pryor Highlight of ‘Wattstax’ Collage,” Los Angeles Times, Feb. 21, 1973, p. G10; John Hartl, “‘Wattstax’ Owes a Lot to Pryor,” Seattle Daily Times, June 8, 1973; “It’s a newsreel”: Author’s interview with Stuart.

  302 “There are directors I could name”: Bridget Byrne, “Celebration Turned into Social Commentary,” Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, Mar. 4, 1973, p. D1.

  302 “Gentlemen, we need Shakespeare”: Author’s interview with Stuart.

  302 felt he’d found his chorus figure: Ibid. The site of Pryor’s performance—identified at the Summit Club in Wattstax’s records—has been mistakenly linked to the Summit Club of Hollywood. However, this Summit Club was closed by 1972; the Summit Club of Pryor’s performance was located at the intersection of La Brea and Stocker in the upscale black enclave of Baldwin Hills.

  303 I think that niggers: For whatever reason, Pryor did not repeat this parable about the origins of nigger in any of his recorded performances onstage (Reggie Collins, e-mail to the author, July 11, 2013).

  304 “side-splittingly funny”: Arthur Knight, “Facing Reality,” The Saturday Review, Apr. 1973, p. 72.

  305 “Here and Now Black Man”: Sandra Haggerty, “1972 for Blacks: Gains and Losses,” Los Angeles Times, Dec. 31, 1972, p. B1. On the state of the Black Power movement in 1972, see Peniel Joseph, Waiting ’Til the Midnight Hour: A Narrative History of Black Power in America (New York: Henry Holt, 2006).

  305 Not long after Richard tried to choke: Author’s interview with Patricia Heitman, Sept. 11, 2011.

  305 ran a boutique label . . . made a list: Author’s interviews with Ron DeBlasio, Dec. 28, 2010, and Jan. 8, 2011.

  306 “Richie, you were a sensation”: Author’s interview with DeBlasio, Dec. 28, 2010.

  306 Richard popped by: Ibid.; glowing reviews: Charles Champlin, “Two Ladies Who Sing the Blues,” Los Angeles Times, Oct. 25, 1972, p. E1; Gene Siskel, “A Nice ‘Lady,’ but She’s No Billie,” Oct. 27, 1972, p. B1; Andrew Sarris, “Films in Focus”; Kael, “Lady Sings the Blues: Pop Versus Jazz.”

  306 the Pied Piper: Gertrude Gipson, “Gertrude Gipson’s Candid Comments,” Los Angeles Sentinel, Nov. 23, 1972, p. B3A.

  307 near the end of 1972: “Cleavon Little Plays ‘Black Bart’ Title Role,” Daily Variety, Dec. 19, 1972; an amiable, classically trained actor: Glenn Collins, “Cleavon Little, Award-Winning Actor, Dies at 53,” New York Times, Oct. 23, 1992; “acting out so many things,” Felton, “This Can’t Be Happening to Me,” p. 71; asked [Warner Bros.] on bended knee: Jacoba Atlas, “Mel Brooks Interview,” Film Comment (Mar.–Apr. 1975); even flew out to New York: Mel Brooks commentary track, Blazing Saddles; “Very simply . . . they’re afraid”: Felton, “This Can’t Be Happening to Me,” p. 71.

  307 “Warner Bros. wouldn’t touch him”: Author’s interview with Andrew Bergman, July 12, 2010.

  307 “a thorn in my heart” . . . “They used me and that’s not fair”: Martin Weston, “Richard Pryor: Every Nigger Is a Star,” Ebony, Sept. 1976, p. 56; Mooney, Black Is the New White, pp. 154–55; claiming credit later for the film’s most famous scene: Pryor Convictions, p. 132.

  307 “Nobody takes credit”: Author’s interview with Norman Steinberg, July 6, 2010.

  308 “Good morning, ma’am”: Blazing Saddles; “Richie had a dark side”: Author’s interview with Bergman.

  308 “Cleavon is not a threatening figure”: Author’s interview with Bergman. Earlier in 1972, Pryor had actually shared screen time with Little on “The Connection,” the season-premiere episode of The Mod Squad. Richard played a jazz trumpeter with a lucrative sideline in heroin smuggling; Cleavon, his squirrelly right-hand man. In their scenes together, the difference between them as actors is striking. Richard is streetwise and rugged, spitting words with earned authority; Cleavon is stagy and broad, an actor putting curlicues on his tough-guy role. (“The Connection,” The Mod Squad, aired Sept. 14, 1972.)

  308 disappointed with the scripts: Pryor Convictions, p. 133; “I don’t want to become Jack Oakie”: Gregg Kilday, “Richard Pryor—Rapman without an Exit Line,” Los Angeles Times, Mar. 15, 1973, p. H29.

  309 “Lincoln-doctor’s-dog of a movie”: Charles Champlin, “Billie Dee and the Soiled Six,” Los Angeles Times, Oct. 3, 1973, p. D1; allowed to improvise: “Hit!,” Hollywood Reporter, Sept. 19, 1973, pp. 3, 8.

  309 Hit!’s production in late 1972: “Richard Pryor in Paramount’s ‘Hit!,’” Hollywood Reporter, Nov. 29, 1972; Richard served as best man . . . “Me and Billie”: Author’s interview with Patricia Heitman, Sept. 11, 2011.

  309 jealous of Billie: Author’s interview with Rob Cohen, Aug. 18, 2010; “I didn’t know anyone more aware”: Pryor Convictions, p. 108; turne
d often to Richard for advice: Author’s interview with Patricia Heitman, Sept. 11, 2011; called Richard a “genius”: James J. Murray, “Williams Says ‘Hit’ Film Puts Drugs Down,” New York Amsterdam News, Sept. 29, 1973, p. C6.

  309 poker: Ponchitta Pierce, “A Look into the Private Life of Billie Dee Williams,” Ebony, Apr. 1974, p. 64; drawn into an affair: Author’s interview with Patricia Heitman, Sept. 11, 2011.

  310 Then, one day, . . . burning up: Ibid.

  310 “The secret of the film’s success”: Judith Crist, “Seasonal Slurp,” New York, Sept. 23, 1973, p. 89; a typical pan . . . “made the bizarre choice”: “Hit!,” p. 3; Vincent Canby, “Furie’s ‘Hit!’ Is a Caper Film without Style,” New York Times, Sept. 19, 1973, p. 38.

  310 “Pryor’s humor pierces through”: Jay Cocks, “Bad Dope,” Time, Oct. 29, 1973.

  311 “His work may relieve the tension”: “Hit!,” p. 9; spent three hours . . . “fashion free-for-all”: Beth Ann Krier, “‘Wattstax’ Outdoes Premiere-Goers,” Los Angeles Times, pp. F1, F8; range of politicians: Leah Davis, “Wattstax Premiere,” SOUL, Mar. 12, 1973; “‘Wattstax’ to Open at Music Center’s Ahmanson Theater,” Hollywood Reporter, Jan. 19, 1973; Marvene Jones, “The V.I.P.’s,” Hollywood Reporter, Feb. 6, 1973; Norma Lee Browning, “Is This an Offer Brando Can’t Refuse?,” Chicago Tribune, Feb. 12, 1973; Marilyn Beck, “Cream of Filmland Society, Watts Residents to Preview Wattstax,” San Jose News, Dec. 5, 1972—all in Box 131, Folder 1, DLWC.

  312 “I’m not equipped”: Kilday, “Richard Pryor—Rapman without an Exit Line,” p. H29.

  312 grand marshal: “Eighth Watts Festival to Open Aug. 15,” Los Angeles Times, July 29, 1973; Richard was chosen to headline it: Los Angeles Sentinel, Feb. 15, 1973, p. B4A.

  313 “wickedly funny”: Arthur Cooper, “Watts Happening,” Newsweek, Feb. 26, 1973; “breathtakingly irreverent and ironic”: Charles Champlin, “Vibrations from a Black Woodstock,” Los Angeles Times, Feb. 27, 1973, p. H1; “the most talented black comedian”: Ronald E. Butler, “Viewpoint,” Tulsa World, June 23, 1973.

  314 Even those less captivated: Vincent Canby, “‘Wattstax,’ Record of Watts Festival Concert,” New York Times, Feb. 16, 1973, p. 17; “Without Pryor’s wise rudder”: Peter Herbst, “‘Wattstax’ Tells Life-Style,” Boston Herald-American, Mar. 23, 1973; “Perhaps Pryor should have directed”: Hartl, “‘Wattstax’ Owes a Lot to Pryor.”

  314 in London: James Bacon, “Ayres Turmoil Recalled by Amnesty Controversy,” Los Angeles Herald Examiner, Feb. 15, 1973; United Nations: “Wattstax,” Richmond African-American, May 12, 1973; Washington, DC: “Previewing ‘Wattstax’ for Washington Brass,” Daily Variety, Jan. 19, 1973; “You Can’t Judge a Movie by Its Color”: Unidentified clipping, Box 131, Folder 9, DLWC.

  314 So Richard journeyed: Marilyn Beck, “Hollywood Closeup,” Milwaukee Journal, May 2, 1973.

  314 roulette wheels spun: Rex Reed, “Drop a Bomb over Cannes and There Goes Show Biz,” Chicago Tribune, May 27, 1973, p. E9; Wolper asked Richard: Author’s interview with Ron DeBlasio, Dec. 28, 2010.

  314 took in the Cannes parade: Ibid.; Ladies of the night . . . see-through swimsuits: Norma Lee Browning, “Standing on the Corner Watching the Girls,” Chicago Tribune, May 21, 1973, p. B26; garrulous and open . . . sad-faced girl: Dorothy Manners, “Tourists Star-Hunting at Festival,” Los Angeles Herald-Examiner, May 18, 1973; “‘WATTSTAX’ ou Cent Milles Noirs en Couleur . . . ,” unidentified clipping, Box 131, Folder 9, DLWC.

  314 talked with African filmmakers: Author’s interview with DeBlasio; exulted at seeing writer James Baldwin: Brown, “Remembering Richard Pryor”; “one of the uproarious delights”: Charles Champlin, “Merv’s Glimpses of the Cannes Festival,” Los Angeles Times, July 31, 1973, p. C12.

  315 at Richard’s urging . . . “No, black goes first”: Author’s interview with Mel Stuart; Commentary track, Wattstax.

  316 he’d made films for both Lyndon Johnson and Richard Nixon: David L. Wolper, Producer: A Memoir (New York: Scribner, 2003), pp. 75–80, 183; large enough for forty but holding eight: Author’s interview with DeBlasio; “Princess Grace can’t see you today”: Author’s interview with Mel Stuart.

  316 La Chaumière . . . “What’s wrong?”: Wolper, Producer, p. 183.

  317 No one knew how to translate: Author’s interview with Patricia Heitman, Sept. 11, 2011.

  Chapter 17: Be Glad When It’s Spring, Flower

  318 James B. Harris: Author’s interview with James B. Harris, July 30, 2010; Mel Stuart: Author’s interview with Mel Stuart, Oct. 4, 2010; he would remove some cocaine: Author’s interview with Ron DeBlasio, Dec. 28, 2010; “I had to jump through hoops with him”: Author’s interview with Lily Tomlin, Nov. 4, 2010.

  318 took Lily to a black part of Los Angeles: Ibid.; “meant, if you were a girl”: Jeff Sorensen, Lily Tomlin: Woman of a Thousand Faces (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1989), p. 14.

  318 only if she could pay her own way . . . “Nude Live Girls”: Author’s interview with Lily Tomlin, Nov. 4, 2010.

  319 Pussycat Theater: David Handelman, “The Last Time We Saw Richard,” Premiere, Jan. 1992, p. 87.

  319 “We had conversations”: Pryor Convictions, p. 136; “We are soul mates”: “Lily . . . Ernestine . . . Tess . . . Lupe . . . Edith Ann . . . ,” Time, Mar. 28, 1977.

  320 “The networks feel”: Sorensen, Lily Tomlin, p. 65; “the 11 o’clock news”: Cecil Smith, “Barbra, Lily in Tandem Specials,” Los Angeles Times, Nov. 2, 1973, p. F25.

  320 “something he’d be proud of”: Author’s interview with Lily Tomlin, Nov. 4, 2010; A white Tennessean by birth: Sorensen, Lily Tomlin, p. 60; an unusually bracing TV movie: Jane Wagner, J.T. (New York: Random House, 1969); “the most profound meditation”: Hilton Als, “A Pryor Love,” The New Yorker, Sept. 13, 1999, p. 70; the script came back: Author’s interview with Lily Tomlin, Nov. 4, 2010.

  321 “You ever kiss a black man?” . . . “You better get off”: David Felton, “Lily and All the Funny Women,” Rolling Stone, Oct. 24, 1974, p. 84; “He was telling people”: Handelman, “The Last Time We Saw Richard,” p. 87.

  321 The sketch’s most provocative moments: Felton, “Lily and All the Funny Women,” p. 84; Lily, directed by Joseph Hardy, aired Mar. 16, 1973 (CBS).

  321 “I always want them to be strong”: Sorensen, Lily Tomlin, p. 54.

  322 a winner in the Nielsen ratings: “The Bunkers and CBS Top Nielsen Poll,” Los Angeles Times, Mar. 28, 1973, p. 31; she was determined: Author’s interview with Lily Tomlin, Nov. 4, 2010; “Come on, leg or no leg”: Sorensen, Lily Tomlin, p. 65.

  322 “I have titties”: David Felton, “This Can’t Be Happening to Me,” p. 72.

  323 “Juke and Opal”: Felton, “Lily and All the Funny Women,” p. 84; “Don’t hand me that jive”: Lily, directed by Bill Davis, aired Nov. 2, 1973 (CBS).

  323 “probably the most radical departure”: Felton, “Lily and All the Funny Women,” p. 50; “Everybody kept saying”: Als, “A Pryor Love,” p. 81.

  324 Lily deliberately left Opal’s race: Author’s interview with Lily Tomlin, Nov. 4, 2010; mixed-race: TV Scout, “Barbra and Lily Present Specials on Channel 7,” Lowell Sun, Nov. 2, 1973, p. 33; black: Felton, “Jive Times,” p. 38.

  325 improvised questions: The questions that Juke the character improvises were, in fact, improvised by Richard Pryor the actor (author’s interview with Lily Tomlin, Nov. 4, 2010).

  325 “$360,000 jerk off”: Felton, “Lily and All the Funny Women,” p. 50; the network agreed to this lesser of two evils: Author’s interview with Lily Tomlin, Nov. 4, 2010.

  325 ranking fifty-first: Ernie Kreiling, “A Closer Look at Television,” Van Nuys News, Nov. 15, 1973, p. 20; “political stuff and mood pieces”: Sorensen, Lily Tomlin, p. 74.

  326 “I love Lily”: Felton, “Lily and the All the Funny Women,” p. 49.

  326 “sensual”: Pryor Convictions, p. 136.

  326 The only strains in their relationship: Author’s inter
view with Lily Tomlin, Nov. 4, 2010; At a restaurant on Sunset Boulevard: Author’s interview with Patricia Heitman, Sept. 11, 2011.

  327 Even Lily . . . acknowledged the difficulty: “Lily . . . Ernestine . . .”

  327 six films: Lady Sings the Blues, Blazing Saddles, The Mack, Some Call It Loving, Wattstax, and Hit!; low-paid cameo: The Mike Douglas Show, aired Nov. 26, 1974; “I’ve been trying to be a booty star”: Richard Pryor Live at the Comedy Store, recorded Oct. 29, 1973, Shout! Factory, 2013 (hereafter Live at the Comedy Store).

  327 Western wherein the odd couple: Author’s interview with Michael Schultz, Sept. 4, 2010; The Los Angeles Times announced: Mary Murphy, “Movie Call Sheet,” Feb. 28, 1973, p. G15.

  327 “Kiss my ass, Jack!”: Live at the Comedy Store; he saw Richard as a breakout performer: Author’s interview with Ron DeBlasio, Dec. 28, 2010; a midnight concert: Tom Zito, “Street Talk,” Washington Post, Dec. 17, 1973, p. B4; Cellar Door (220 seats): Author’s interview with Ralph Camilli, June 6, 2011; wondered if he was ready: The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, aired Jan. 17, 1974 (NBC).

  328 you can hear his nerves: Live at the Comedy Store.

  328 barely made it . . . a “nervous wreck”: Author’s interview with Ron DeBlasio, Dec. 28, 2010.

  329 “Ain’t gonna affect us” . . . “guffawing in the aisles”: Zito, “Street Talk,” p. B4.

  329 DeBlasio fielded a phone call: Author’s interview with Ron DeBlasio, Dec. 28, 2010; Queen Booking: “First Lady of Talent Booking,” Ebony, June 1974, pp. 73–80; author’s interview with Murray Swartz, Mar. 14, 2011; Lincoln Center: “Richard Pryor Naughty but Funny,” New York Amsterdam News, Oct. 19, 1974, p. B16; the Oakland Coliseum: Kathie Staska and George Mangrum, “California Jam a Smooth Show,” The Daily Review (Hayward, CA), Apr. 12, 1974, p. 40.

  329 90 percent black: Felton, “This Can’t Be Happening to Me,” p. 43; “Remember black people” . . . Richard himself came up with the album’s title . . . abbreviated in ads: Author’s interview with Ron DeBlasio, Dec. 28, 2010.