Ever seen Richard Pryor's stand up DVD where he does the "Pryor on Fire" thing? Relating the story of an aborted suicide attempt high on crack cocaine when he first set himself alight and then jumped out of his hotel window and ran along the road before being put out. Incredible. Incredible to have done this in the first place (30% body burns he gained for his troubles) and then to be able to relate it to an audience in such a fashion that I was crying with laughter just watching the film of it. This man LIVED (raised in his grandmother's brothel, abused as a kid, etc) and he became a peerless, groundbreaking, breathtaking comedy genius as well as a huge Hollywood star. And he endured 20 years of MS to top it all off. Read his autobiography and be humbled.
John Spencer died last Friday of a heart attack. He played Leo in The West Wing, and was one of the best things in this fabulous TV programme. I have only ever seen him in TWW but I believe he was also in LA Law and several other US TV shows. Apparently he was a great man in person and had, like his West Wing character, lived through alcoholism. He stated that he used acting as his therapy - his 'other drug'.
(Hmmm - two post about deaths, and one about a marriage split - maybe I should lighten things up a bit soon eh :-).
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