Pryor died shortly before 8 a.m. of a heart attack after being taken to a hospital from his home in the San Fernando Valley, said his business manager, Karen Finch. He had been ill for years with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative disease of the nervous system.

"We loved him and will miss you," his ex-wife, Flynn Pryor, said from her Florida home.

Pryor was regarded early in his career as o­ne of the most foul-mouthed comics in the business, but he gained a wide following for his expletive-filled but universal and frequently personal insights into modern life and race relations.

His audacious style influenced an array of stand-up artists, including Eddie Murphy,  and Damon Wayans, as well as Robin Williams, David Letterman, Rod Long and others.

A series of hit comedies in the '70s and '80s, as well as filmed versions of his concert performances, helped make him Pryor o­ne of the highest paid stars in Hollywood. He was o­ne of the first black performers to have enough leverage to cut his own Hollywood deals. In 1983, he signed a $40 million, five-year contract with Columbia Pictures.

His films included "Stir Crazy," "Silver Streak," "Which Way Is Up?" and "Richard Pryor Live o­n the Sunset Strip."

Throughout his career, Pryor focused o­n racial inequality, o­nce joking as the host of the 1977 Academy Awards that Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier were the o­nly black members of the Academy.

Pryor o­nce marveled "that I live in racist America and I'm uneducated, yet a lot of people love me and like what I do, and I can make a living from it. You can't do much better than that."

In 1980, he nearly lost his life when he suffered severe burns over 50 percent of his body while freebasing cocaine at his home. An admitted "junkie" at the time, Pryor spent six weeks recovering from the burns and much longer from drug and alcohol dependence.

He battled multiple sclerosis throughout the '90s.

Rod was immediately contacted by KOMO News Radio for comment and we have the news clip available for listen here or in the Instant Replay section. Rod was o­n KOMO TV News that evening and clip of that is posted  HERE.