Gregory, Dick
Gregory, Dick
(Richard Claxton Gregory), 1932–2017, African-American civil-rights activist and comedian, b. St. Louis, Mo. A biting satirist who used the struggle for civil rights and other topical material in his performances, he became enormously successful in the early 1960s, performing, making recordings, and writing the first of several books; he was an influence on such black comedians as Bill CosbyCosby, Bill(William Henry Cosby, Jr.) , 1937–, American actor and comedian, b. Philadelphia. He became known as a comedian and was subsequently the first African-American actor to star in a dramatic series on television (I Spy, 1965–68).
..... Click the link for more information. and Richard PryorPryor, Richard,
1940–2005, American comedian, b. Peoria, Ill. His iconoclastic, wildly inventive, and racially explosive comic style was expressed in language that was often crude and frequently brilliant.
..... Click the link for more information. . At the same time he was an active participant in the civil-rights movement, and was arrested several times. His political activities increased; he ran for mayor of Chicago (1966) and U.S. president (1968), and was active in the anti–Vietnam War movement. Largely abandoning comedy during the 1970s, he preached nonviolence and protested injustices in a series of fasts. Becoming a healthy eating advocate and a vegetarian, he founded a weight-loss company. Gregory continued to perform into the 21st cent. Among his books are From the Back of the Bus (1962), Write Me In (1968), Dick Gregory's Political Primer (1971), and Dick Gregory's Natural Diet for Folks Who Eat (1983).
Bibliography
See his memoir, Callus on My Soul (2000); autobiographies, nigger (with R. Lipsyte, 1964) and Up from Nigger (1976).