Richard Pryor dead.

Richard Pryor, the groundbreaking comedian whose profanely personal insights into race relations and modern life made him one of Hollywood's biggest stars, died of a heart attack Saturday. He was 65.

Pryor died shortly before 8 a.m. after being taken to a hospital from his home in the San Fernando Valley, said his business manager, Karen Finch. He had been ill for years with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease of the nervous system.

Pryor once marveled "that I live in racist America and I'm uneducated, yet a lot of people love me and like what I do, and I can make a living from it. You can't do much better than that."

But he battled drug and alcohol addictions for years, most notably when he suffered severe burns over 50 percent of his body while freebasing at his home. An admitted "junkie" at the time, Pryor spent six weeks recovering from the burns and much longer from his addictions.

The first time I heard of Richard Pryor was sneaking a listen to an LP that a friend had when I was very young. My first film exposure was Stir Crazy. Then The Toy, of which I remember and I think enjoyed the best. As I grew older, and cable television matured, I was able to catch more movies such as Car Wash, Silver Streak, and Greased Lightining. The advent of Usenet allowed exposure to previous works, in digital form. Once MS took hold, it seemed like he disappeared. I believe many thought he had died before now. How apropos that his last work was entitled "I ain't dead yet, motherf*ckers".

A fellow Farker used the below image....and I can't think of one that fits better.
Have a safe flight, Richard...