I am Hercules.
The other Ain’t It Cool editors are sequestered within the Original Alamo Drafthouse for the next 18 hours or so, so it falls to me to pass on some not-so-cool news.
Richard Pryor, the stand-up who made likely the three funniest concert films ever committed to celluloid, passed away Saturday morning at age 65.
Aside from his concert films, his most enduring contribution to cinema may end up being 1974’s “Blazing Saddles,” which he co-wrote with Mel Brooks, Andrew Bergman, Norman Steinberg and Alan Uger.
Long a popular club and television comedian, he followed his breakthrough film performance in the 1976 Gene Wilder comedy “Silver Streak” with starring roles in “Blue Collar,” “Stir Crazy,” “The Toy” and “Superman III.”
His pre-“Silver Streak” resume listed the sci-fi drama “Wild in the Streets,” as well as “Lady Sings The Blues,” “Uptown Saturday Night,” “Car Wash” and “The Bingo Long Traveling All-Stars and Motor Kings.”
Pryor's last big-screen appearance was in a truly great movie, David Lynch's 1997 brain-twister "Lost Highway."
Read more of this bona fide comedy genius here.
