Richard Pryor Retro

Welcome to the Richard Pryor Film Retrospective page!

The Black Film Center/Archive and the Department of Afro-American Studies celebrate and commemorate his career with the Film Retrospective, "IS HE CRAZY?: THE HUMOR AND GENIUS OF RICHARD PRYOR." According to BFC/A director Audrey T. McCluskey, this recognition of Pryor's significance to popular culture is long overdue. "He has a lasting effect on people, even those who initially disliked his often provocative material. It has been said that he could be simultaneously profane and profound in his social critiques, and that is a quality that has been distorted in today's emphasis on being shocking and shallow," McCluskey says. "In his movie roles, Pryor's characterizations could lift the most pedestrian films. This retrospective is an opportunity to re-introduce Pryor to some, and introduce him to a younger generation who missed out."

Beginning October 10 through November 7, 2001, the retrospective presents a selection of Pryor's most representative work in film. MacArthur Fellow and Pulitzer Prize-winning author James Alan McPherson will present the keynote lecture on Thursday, October 11 at 7 p.m. McPherson, a chaired professor at the University of Iowa, is author of Elbow Room, Hue And Cry, Crabcakes, and his latest work, A Region Not Home, published in 2000. His keynote presentation, "Crazy Like a Fox: The Vernacular Style of Richard Pryor," includes selections from Pryor's films.