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Although widely study to be one of the greateststand - up comediansof all clip , Richard Pryor was also quite an accomplished author and player in his twenty-four hours . He not only wrote the classic Mel Brooks western lampoonBlazing Saddles , but he also won a Primetime Emmy as a author on the 1973 form showLily .
After making his screen debut in 1966 viaThe Wild Wild West telecasting show , Pryor logged roughly 50 big and small screen credits over the next three decade . In addition to a slew of comedy , Pryor work with such directors as Wiliam Castle , Penelope Spheeris , Sidney Poitier , Paul Schrader , Sidney Lumet , David Lynch , and more .
Uptown Saturday Night (1974) 6.7/10
Directed by and asterisk Sidney Poitier , Uptown Saturday Nightalso features Pryor , Bill Cosby , and Harry Belafonte . The taradiddle occupy one heroic night of partying going dreadfully awry when two men lose their winning drawing ticket .
Set for a swing good time at Madame Zenobia ’s underground night club , Steve ( Poitier ) and Wardell ( Cosby ) are sidetracked when they ’re fleece on the street . With their wallet take , they misplace their succeed lottery ticket and spend the rest of the dark tenaciously tracking it down with the help of gangster Geechie Beauford ( Poitier ) .
The Mack (1973) 6.7/10
In what ’s becomea blaxploitation furor - classic , The Mackfollows Goldie ( Max Julien ) , a scurvy - point cap impudent out of a five - year prison least sandpiper . Upon his return to his house in Oakland , Goldie get up a plan to become the most hefty pimp in the land .
While his socially - conscious brother Olinga ( Roger E. Mosely ) tries to stop him , Goldie enlists the help of his righthand human beings Slim ( Pryor ) and chief call - girl Lulu ( Carol Speed ) on the way to becoming a fast - rising street street girl .
Stir Crazy (1980) 6.8/10
Also take aim by Sidney Poitier , Stir Crazyis the first pic target by an African American to gross more than $ 100 million in North America . The film also strike off the 2d of three collaborations between Pryor and Gene Wilder .
When good friends Skip ( Wilder ) and Harry ( Pryor ) are wrongfully convicted of bank robbery , they ’re sent to prison house to serve a 125 - year sentence . Not long for prison life , the two men become restless as they befriend fellow inmates and concoct an leakage plan through an on - site rodeo contender .
The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars & Motor Kings (1976) 6.9/10
A decade before he made the baseball movieBrewster ’s Millions , Pryor starred in John Badham ’s tale of a Negro League mound out to foster systemic change in the thirties .
Billy Dee Williams star as Bingo Long , an ace pitcher disgruntled over the abusive handling of African - American players . Long recruits players from other Negro teams such as Catcher Leon Carter ( James Earl Jones ) and Right Fielder Charlie Snow ( Pryor ) and go on to hit the road and take exception every squad in the midwest .
See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989) 6.9/10
The third and final Pryor / Wilder collaboration come via the 1989 comedySee No Evil , Hear No Evil , in which Pryor play a blind serviceman and Wilder plays a deaf piece who both see a execution .
Wally ( Pryor ) fails to see the culprit while Dave ( Wilder ) fails to hear their voice . The police dismiss their fib as pure fury , pull up stakes the men to solve the criminal offence on their own . When the killers adjudicate to kill Dave and Wally , the two men must protect one another at all costs .
Silver Streak (1976) 6.9/10
Silver Streakmarks the first cinematic partnership between Pryor and Gene Wilder . The Arthur Hiller motion picture concerns a loopy script editor ( Wilder ) find a murder on a cross - country gearing misstep from Chicago to Los Angeles .
The satiricalHitchcockian thrillerpicks up when George ( Wilder ) consider he sees a mankind throw from his train in cold roue . George ’s paranoia escalates when nobody will believe his story . As he begins to snoop around on his own , George becomes the master target of the Orcinus orca aboard the caravan . Along the room , George see help from an incarcerated thief named Grover ( Pryor ) .
Lady Sings The Blues (1972) 7.1/10
In the Billie Holidaymusical biopicLady Sings The Blues , Diana Ross won a Golden Globe for Most Promising Newcomer . Her debut functioning was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role .
Directed by Sidney J. Furie , the provenience - to - grave account of one of the greatest jazz Isaac M. Singer of all clip features Pryor as Piano Man , Holiday ’s closest melodic collaborator . Holiday remains professionally close to Piano Man as she climbs the chart and climb up to meteorologic success .
Blue Collar (1978) 7.5/10
In Paul Schrader ’s directorial debutBlue Collar , a ternion of Detroit autoworkers plot to rob their local union bosses . However , upon doing so , Zeke ( Pryor ) , Jerry ( Harvey Keitel ) , and Smokey ( Yaphet Kotto ) unearth a conspirative coverup in the manufactory the work in .
When the three men get sensitive material in the union government agency ’s safe , they settle to pressure the sum . Of naturally , their plans recoil at every bend , lead to a series of infighting and fingerbreadth - pointing . Despite the lifelike chemistry exhibited onscreen , the three actors famously hate working with each other .
The Muppet Movie (1979) 7.6/10
In the first theatrical film to feature the loveable Muppets , Pryor joined the likes of Jim Henson , Mel Brooks , Bob Hope , Steve Martin , Orson Welles , and many others . The film Oscar nods for Best Original Song and Best Original Score .
address by James Frawley , the fib finds Kermit the Frog on a cross - country journeying to realize his dreams when offered a luck to audition in Hollywood . On his epical road trip , Kermit run into one unbalanced character after another , many of whom facilitate him get to Hollywood and ward off the evil Doc Hopper ( Charles During ) who wants Kermit to be a mascot for his restaurants .
Lost Highway (1997) 7.6/10
According to IMDB , the last motion picture Pryor appeared in ranks as his all - time well . In David Lynch ’s surreal nightmareLost Highway , Pryor play against character as a wheelchair - confine auto car-mechanic mention Arnie .
The film boasts an indescribable plot in which a instrumentalist identify Fred Madison ( Bill Pullman ) is accused of murder , only to inexplicably transform into a young man named Pete Dayton ( Balthazar Getty ) while on Death Row . Pete works in a strange auto garage where he encounters the as bizarre Arnie .
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