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Brother Richard Pryor

Blake Bowden

Administrator
Staff Member
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Brother Richard Pryor

The first recipient of the prestigious annual Mark Twain Humor Prize in 1998, Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor III was an influential and popular American comedian.

A veteran of 40 films between 1967 and 1991, he has been featured in four films, Live and Smokin', Richard Pryor Live in Concert, Richard Pryor Live on Sunset Strip, and Here and Now. His recordings have earned him two platinum albums, five gold albums, and five Grammys.

Freemason : Henry Brown Lodge No. 22, Peoria, IL
Source: The Phylaxis. Boston : The Phylaxis Society, 1981. Third Quarter p. 58.
 
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Boxing Buckeye

Registered User
I am a very new MM, but my understanding is that you have to believe in God/Creator to be a Mason. Pryor, to my knowledge, did not. His funeral was presided over by a Celebrant and not a clergyman because of this. My source is a trade journal, as I am an undertaker and a certified Celebtant
 

crono782

Premium Member
Some men have a less than conventional definition of what Deity means to them. Perhaps he was one of these. I'm not sure in this case.
 

Boxing Buckeye

Registered User
I am a very new MM, but my understanding is that you have to believe in God/Creator to be a Mason. Pryor, to my knowledge, did not. His funeral was presided over by a Celebrant and not a clergyman because of this. My source is a trade journal, as I am an undertaker and a certified Celebtant
I also want to say that I am taking nothing away from what Pryor accomplished. He is as gifted a comedian as there ever was. I have his box set and listen to it regularly. It got me from Denver to Vegas once on a particularly grueling drive. I also use one of his Mudbone skits (the one about hard times) as a day to day inspiration
 

jwhoff

Premium Member
Some men have a less than conventional definition of what Deity means to them. Perhaps he was one of these. I'm not sure in this case.

That's an interesting and, might I say ... rather LOADED response. Considering what is done in the name of the Deity these days; a rather loaded statement indeed.

My favorite Brother Pryor movie was The Toy. Much of it was filmed on location in Baton Rouge. A great mind who carried comedy to thresholds only approached by fellow greats Robin Williams and Andy Kaufman.

Say, speaking of The Toy, was Jackie Gleason also a mason? That would surprise me not.
 
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