*Award-winning comedian/author Rain Pryor, daughter of comedy legend Richard Pryor, has a new autobiographical solo show, “Fried Chicken and Latkes,” about growing up as a biracial, half-Jewish child in Beverly Hills. The solo show includes endearing material about her father’s struggles with drugs and multiple sclerosis, which claimed his life in 2005.
The award-winning show, revamped with director Kamilah Forbes, explores racism in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Pryor’s mother was a Jewish go-go dancer and Rain was primarily raised by her maternal grandparents, who taught her about Jewish culture. Pryor, who starred in the ’80s ABC sit-com “Head of the Class,” does a “spot-on” impersonation of her famous father, according to reports, and the accomplished cabaret singer also sings in the show, which is being filmed for an “Oprah: Where Are They Now?” episode.
“I grew up in Beverly Hills and unfortunately, the one thing I didn’t realize at a young age … I didn’t know there were poor black people,” the actress told the Daily News.
“My dad was a black rich man. So the concept wasn’t in my comprehension until I learned about history: ‘Oh, blacks didn’t always have a limousine driver.’”
Rain also revealed that she received a harsh lesson at the age of 6, about the N-word when it was directed at her for the first time.
“I didn’t know what it was. I knew it was something bad, so I grabbed the kid, bit him and called him a motherf—er, because he pushed me down and said this thing,” recalled Pryor, 46, whose mother is astronomer, Shelley Bonus.
“It didn’t matter that my dad was Richard Pryor. It mattered that he was black.”
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