European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 04, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Doil Magazine Richard Pryor to everybody actor Pryor up from the school of hard knocks. I by Janet Maslin new York times like to go to movies. I like to be  i enjoy burning my hair with my cigarette like i just did said Richard Pryor calmly Pat Ting out the accidental Blaze without missing beat. One thing Pryor does not enjoy though is talking about his acting career. During a recent interview he Seldom raised his voice above a whisper reserving his More animated tones for a wide Range of  he did speak about acting it was in a guarded and deliberately vague Way. Why i have my reasons he murmured. It s like if you make a wish and you Light the candles you re not supposed to Tell nobody or else it won t come True. That s my feeling. I won t Tell nobody i la just do it. They can t Stop it once it s done. You Tel people what you want to do and somebody s Gonna find a Way to Stop you for  far nobody has come up with a Way to Stop Pryor from becoming the most promising and spontaneous new screen presence since. Since. How bout Lau rence Olivier Pryor suggested helpfully. He is currently one of Hollywood s hottest proper ties with a television series due this fall several forthcoming film performances and two separate movie contracts. The first was with Universal an the later agreement first announced a few weeks ago is a four picture Deal with Warner Brothers. Pryor was especially guarded when it came to Dis cussing the terms of the Warner agreement is he to write act in perhaps even direct any of these projects did the studio have anything specific in mind of yes said Pryor grinning they have in mind to make Money. I think it s fair to say that making Money is first and fore most in their minds and As Long As we make Money the Deal will be in effect. If i disappoint them it la become a one picture  he is at his most taciturn when it comes to the motive that have governed his Choice of film roles. About Silver Streak a film he seems not to have liked he simply says i put myself in it but i did t do it not with my heart. It was a business decision. I was looking to Hustle and i  about greased lightning he Points out that the part of racing Driver Wendell Scott was the first Worth while starring role anyone had offered him and i thought it would be a Good Chance for me to be in  acting comes so naturally to Pryor that he does t like to think about it. So the hardest thing about making a movie he says is not being Able to talk to people or sign autographs on the set. But when you re working you can t waste your time doing that you need All the extra moments you have to concentrate on what you re  How did he learn to act in the first place life teaches you How he smiled perking up noticeably at the Prospect of changing the subject. Like when you lie i use to lie a lot just to be popular and stuff. I d always have to remember those lies and that took work. Like the time isaid i was in the army before i was. I went to Chicago from his Home town of Peoria to take the test and flunked. So i stayed in the House for like a few months. Then i d put this uniform on when i went out and i fooled lot of my friends. Did t fool any of their parents  does he think that having Learned acting in the school of hard knocks has helped make him More versatile yes Pryor conceded looking glum All Over again. I m everybody. Everybody that i can re create i m somehow part of them. I be got the same things in me no matter How terrible they Are. Maybe i Don t do the same things but i  is there any kind of person he can t . Not even Hitler really.  Pryor is especially uneasy when it comes to Dis cussing the kinds of funny scathing characterizations his fans have come to Admire and expect from him. I Don t want people to believe in me for the wrong Rea sons he said vehemently adding that he had been genuinely anxious about How his Low keyed deliberately unfunny performance in greased lightning which methinks of As a Light drama would be received. I m always worried about everything i do. I never take people for granted. 1 was very nervous when i went to a preview of the movie especially because the Audi ence was laughing in the wrong places nervous laughter during the upsetting scenes maybe laughing so they would t cry. But then there s the scene when Pam Grier comes to visit me in the Hospital when i m All bandaged up and she starts saying what be you got left one Guy in the audience yelled out he got Pride and right then i knew everything was  Pryor sipped his straight Vodka ignored the sliced raw potato he had ordered from room service and began staring out the hotel window at the building next door so close by it made him shudder and think about snipers. He began feeling solemn and a question about his Success Only heightened the mood. I Don t know anybody worthwhile who you can walkabout who does t want some Money he said a Little defensively. Striking it Rich hey i saw my Mother turn tricks for some drunk White Man when i was a kid. I saw my father take the Money and i saw what it did to them. But they gave me righteousness my parents i m a Good person he continued very quietly. Nobody can approach me on nothing. I did t Cut nobody s Throat to get where i am. I did it just me it happened to me twas a gift. Whoever did it i thank him for it. I should be doing what i m doing god showed me what i should do. I m proof that there s a god because i m supposed to be dead by now the suicide traps of life were set up for me. The cops Are supposed to have killed me a Long time ago just on . Not because i be Don nothing just because of where i was in life. Just a Little target practice. Just an  Pryor paused a Long while. Then Black people love me and i love them and i love that connection. If they took All my Money away i d have to go to some ghetto to live. It Ain t gon be some White neighbourhood i d have to go live with my people. As Long As they like what i do i know i m doing All   a x so \ new Vork times with Beau Bridges in greased lightning Low keyed deliberately unfunny starring role. Sunday september 4,1977 the stars and stripes Page 9