Richard Pryor

Richard Franklin Lennox Thomas Pryor (December 1, 1940 – December 10, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, and actor. He is currently listed at Number 1 on Comedy Central's list of all-time greatest stand-up comedians.

Pryor was known for uncompromising examinations of racism and topical contemporary issues, which employed colorful vulgarities and profanity, as well as racial epithets. He reached a broad audience with his trenchant observations and storytelling style. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential stand-up comedians of all time: Jerry Seinfeld called Pryor "The Picasso of our profession" and Bob Newhart heralded Pryor as "the seminal comedian of the last 50 years". This legacy can be attributed, in part, to the unusual degree of intimacy Pryor brought to bear on his comedy. As Bill Cosby reportedly once said, "Richard Pryor drew the line between comedy and tragedy as thin as one could possibly paint it."

Pryor's body of work includes the concert movies and recordings: Richard Pryor: Live & Smokin' (1971), That Nigger's Crazy (1974), ...Is It Something I Said? (1975), Bicentennial Nigger (1976), Richard Pryor: Live in Concert (1979), Richard Pryor: Live on the Sunset Strip (1982), and Richard Pryor: Here and Now (1983). He also starred in numerous films as an actor, such as Superman III (1983), but was usually in comedies such as Silver Streak (1976), and occasionally in dramatic roles, such as Paul Schrader's film Blue Collar (1978). He collaborated on many projects with actor Gene Wilder. Another frequent collaborator was actor/comedian/writer Paul Mooney.

Jennifer Lee (filmmaker)

Jennifer Michelle Lee (born 1971 as Jennifer Michelle Rebecchi) is an American film writer and director. Her credits include co-writing the screenplay for Disney's Wreck-It Ralph (2012), and writing and co-directing (with Chris Buck) the 2013 Disney animated feature Frozen, which won the 2013 Academy Award for Best Animated Feature.

Lee is the first female director of a Walt Disney Animation Studios feature film, the first writer at any major animation studio to become a director, and the first female director of a feature film that earned more than $1 billion in gross box office revenue.

Early life and career

Lee was born in 1971 to Linda Lee and Saverio Rebecchi, who were living in Barrington at the time; after their divorce, Lee and her older sister, Amy, lived with their mother in East Providence, Rhode Island. Both Lee and her older sister graduated from East Providence High School and the University of New Hampshire. Lee earned a bachelor's degree in English in 1992 and went to New York City, where she worked as a graphic artist in publishing; she designed audiobooks and DVD covers for Random House. As an adult, she began using her mother's maiden name, Lee, in a professional capacity and in January 1995, legally changed her last name from Rebecchi to Lee.