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Legendary Comedian Richard Pryor Died

Ex-Wife Flynn Pryor: "We loved him and will miss you."

Legendary American comedian Richard Pryor died peacefully today of a heart attack at age 65, in an Encino hospital from California, after almost 20 years with multiple sclerosis.

"We loved him and will miss you," his ex-wife, Flynn Pryor, said from her Florida home. Since 1986, when Pryor announced that he suffered from multiple sclerosis, he fought the disease, continuing to make occasional film appearances. His final film appearance was a small role in the David Lynch film "Lost Highway" in 1997.

A gifted storyteller known for unflinching examinations of race and custom in modern life, Pryor, born in Peoria, Illinois, on December 1, 1940, shattered many barriers for African American stand-up comedians.

Though he frequently used colorful language, vulgarities, as well as racial epithets (such as "nigger"), he reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations. Pryor was often ranked among the best stand-up comedians.

Pryor was at his best when he took the tragic events that happened during his life and made them a part of his on stage routine in concert movies and recordings such as "Richard Pryor: Live & Smokin'" (1971), "That Nigger's Crazy" (1974), "Bicentennial Nigger" (1976), "Richard Pryor: Wanted - Live In Concert" (1979) and "Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip" (1982).