Richard Pryor was hilarious, outspoken, a comedic pioneer ― and, if you ask his daughter Rain, a strict disciplinarian.
Since Pryor was a successful comedian and a popular fixture on the Hollywood scene, people may have assumed he was away from his family a lot. But Rain tells “Oprah: Where Are They Now?” that, as a father, Pryor wasn’t as absent as some would think.
“A lot of people don’t know that my dad was very active in my life,” she says.
In fact, Rain continues, her father made a habit of showing up on set when Rain was working as an actress. And even though it was a professional setting, Pryor had no qualms about stepping in as a parent.
“One day, I got in trouble because I decided to have a diva attitude,” Rain says. “He came driving over, pulled me off to the side and was like, ‘If I ever, ever ... hear you act that way, I will kick your ass. You understand?’”
Rain got the message.
“I cried, boo-hooed,” she says. “It never happened again.”
Rain’s youth may not have been picture-perfect 24/7, but when Pryor was present in her life, he was serious about it. It’s something she now truly appreciates.
“Was he always hands-on? No, because of drugs and alcohol,” Rain says. “But when he was hands-on ― and what I love, which I wish people would really know ― he was the strictest dad in the world.”
“Oprah: Where Are They Now?” airs Saturdays at 10 p.m. ET on OWN.
Another Pryor family reveal:
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