LOS ANGELES – Comedian Richard Pryor died Saturday, December 10 of a heart attack. Pryor, who had been ill with multiple sclerosis, died at Encino Hospital near Los Angeles at 7:58 a.m. PT. Jennifer Lee Pryor tried to revive him at their home before paramedics arrived and took him to the hospital, she said.
“He enjoyed life right up until the end,” she said, adding that Pryor had been laughing a lot and was in good spirits in the two weeks preceding his death. “At the end, there was a smile on his face.”
“He will be missed, but will forever live in thousands and thousands of hearts and continue to impact and inspire people with his truth and his pain, which he turned into comedy brilliantly,” she said.
Pryor was known for his raunchy stand-up comedy and a variety of acting roles, including in “Superman III,” “The Toy” and “Harlem Nights,” in which he starred with his comedic predecessor, Redd Foxx, and his heir apparent, Eddie Murphy.
After nearly losing his life in 1980 when he caught on fire while freebasing cocaine, he turned the experience into laughs in later routines, telling audiences how quickly the flames sobered him up.
Pryor was married six times. His children include sons Richard and Steven, and daughters Elizabeth, Rain and Renee.
