The comedian Morgan Freeman said “could make me laugh until I wept”
Although he’s starred in plenty of light-hearted and good-natured films over the years, Morgan Freeman has never been renowned for having natural comedic chops, but the man knows something funny when he sees it.
For the most part, the more humorous parts of the esteemed icon’s career have come when he leans into his established persona and offers straight-faced and solemn gravitas in the face of ludicrous situations – with his role as God in Bruce Almighty standing out in that regard – or bringing a touching element of pathos to either serious or frivolous subject matter.
He was delightful in The Bucket List opposite Jack Nicholson, leaned into the silliness alongside Bruce Willis, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren in the RED franchise, and made great use of his legendary reputation alongside a number of veteran Hollywood heavyweights in movies like Going in Style and Last Vegas.
However, when it comes to the comedian who had Freeman howling so uncontrollably that he ended up with tears in his eyes, the Academy Award winner settled on a boundary-pusher and trailblazer. One of the most influential stand-up comics of all time who went on to carve out a successful Hollywood career, Richard Pryor is undoubtedly one of the true greats.
Jerry Seinfeld referred to him as “the Picasso of our profession,” while a selection of the other names to who celebrated Pryor’s standing in the annals of comedy history extends to Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Chris Rock, George Carlin, Robin Williams, and Eddie Murphy, to name just a very small few.
As it turns out, Freeman was an early fan of the pioneering comedian’s razor-sharp, insightful, profane, and gut-busting routines, telling The Guardian how “the first time I saw Richard Pryor was on Johnny Carson’s show,” during a period when “he wasn’t the Richard Pryor we all know and loved.”
Pryor made an early appearance on Carson’s Tonight Show as far back as 1968, long before he became a household name, but Freeman knew there was something special. “He hadn’t found his voice yet, but once he found it, he was hilarious,” he said. “That man could make me laugh until I wept.”
Following Pryor’s death in 2005, Freeman offered an even more impactful assessment when he paid tribute to the inimitable performer. “There are some people who impact your life forever; Richard Pryor is such a person,” he shared. “It is undefining to call him a comedian, for he seemed to transcend comedy when he spoke to us.”
Freeman had been a fan for almost four decades at that point, and it’s clear from the way he spoke about Pryor that whenever he was in need of a guaranteed laugh, there was only one place he was going to turn in order to get it.
