Differences Between Richard Pryor And Bill Cosby

Richard Pryor and Bill Cosby, both famous for their standup comedy, have their own unique way of delivering their comedy to their audiences. These two African Americans have both made names for themselves through their standup comedy and films. The differences between their styles of comedy gave each their own fame. They both are famous for the films that each performed in. Their unique styles and characteristics made them who they are. Richard Pryor was born December 1, 1940, in Peoria, Illinois. He was the class clown in school and a community theater actor in his teens. For much of his youth, Pryor was left in his grandmother’s care and lived in a brothel that she ran. There is some speculative belief that he was sexually abused as a child. To step away from his grim reality, Pryor found solace in going to the movies. At the age of 14, Pryor was expelled from school and resulting in working a various string of jobs until he joined the military in 1958. He served in the
Confined to a wheelchair, he was carried to the stage to still perform his stand-up and acting. Even though his multiple sclerosis kept him from preforming in his last few years before his death in December 10, 2005, Pryor’s mind continued to catalog events of his life. Pryor will never lose his position as cultural icon. Bill Cosby was born July 12, 1937, in Philadelphia, Pa. Cosby grew up in Philadelphia’s Germantown neighborhood as the oldest of four boys. Financially, the Cosby’s were doing as well as they could, until his father, William Sr., began to drink heavily. Cosby’s father then enlisted in the Navy and Bill Cosby had to become like a parent to his brothers while his mother, Anna, worked cleaning houses. He and his family ended up living in a low-income housing project in his neighborhood. At the age of eight, Cosby suffered a tremendous loss when his brother James, the second oldest,