it seems like a lot of stand up comedians get starring roles in comedies, richard pryor, her, bill cosby, dave chappelle
it seems like this is a trend which maybe started being a prevalent thing in the '70s
shareI'm also thinking of Robin Williams in "Good Morning, Viet Nam." With few exceptions, I have noticed that comedians seem to be able to tap into the dark side of life and they are good at playing serious roles. Their comedy is often rooted in some tragedy.
I've read several times, don't know who said it originally, that comedy is tragedy plus time.
richard pryor is bad in movies. he was great in stand up but horrible in movies. i've now watched him in 5 movies: stir crazy, brewster's millions, which way is up?, critical condition, and bustin' loose. the only time he was ever good was in a dramatic role in which way is up? but in comedy roles he's bad every time. what do you think of him in movies?
shareOf all the comedians that you could ask me about, Richard Pryor is one who I haven't seen in many movies.
I saw him in "Uptown Saturday Night" which wasn't really a starring vehicle for him. It's been years since I saw it. His performance was okay as far as I can recall.
Also saw him in "Silver Streak" with Gene Wilder. Again, I thought he was okay in it.