Mel Brooks Wrote A Key Role In History Of The World, Part I With Richard Pryor In Mind
In my eyes, one of the most singularly talented people of the second half of the 20th Century was Gregory Hines. The man was a true triple threat that harkened back to Golden Age of Hollywood musical stars. He was overflowing with movie star charisma and also had impeccable comedic chops. Hines was the consummate entertainer and sadly died far too soon from liver cancer in 2003.
The first time I ever saw Hines was in Mel Books' 1981 comedy "History of the World, Part I," which is finally getting a "Part II" this year. As it turns out, this also happened to be his very first movie, discounting his appearance in "Finian's Rainbow" as an extra when he was a kid. Brooks lets Hines show off every single thing that made him such a talent, most obviously his ability to play an absolute lown. It seems like it was a role specifically written for Hines, as if Brooks had seen Hines on stage and knew he just had to have him in the movie. But that isn't how the role of Josephus came to be.
The role was originally intended for someone specific, but it wasn't Hines. Instead, this was a part created to be played by legendary comedian Richard Pryor. While I would like for this to not have happened based solely on scheduling issues, that actual reason Brooks looked to Gregory Hines was because of one of the more harrowing moments in Richard Pryor's life.
A tragic circumstance
Richard Pryor was well-known for his pretty unmatched talents as a standup comedian. He was also well-known for his dalliances in a variety of vices. One of those vices was cocaine, which was a difficult thing to escape if you were an incredibly famous person at that time. Pryor dealt with a lot of demons in his life, and one of the ways that manifested was in freebasing cocaine. Two days before he was to start shooting on "History of the World, Part I," he was freebasing and decided to cover himself in rum and set himself on fire. He was rushed to the hospital and sustained some pretty terrible burns. Mel Brooks wrote about the incident for The New York Times back in 1981:
"I called all night, the hospital was flooded with calls and I couldn't get an answer. It wasn't until Monday morning that we were relieved to find out that he would survive."
Luckily, Pryor survived and was eventually able to go back out on the road and create some of the most honest and hilarious standup comedy ever conceived afterwards. After all, what do they say about tragedy and time?
Despite this horrifying situation, the production of "History of the World, Part I" still had to go ahead, and they needed a new Josephus. Brooks considered writing the part out of the movie in respect to Pryor, but then Madeline Kahn, one of Brooks' most important collaborators, suggested Gregory Hines to replace him. Hines immediately came out to California, though hesitant about the whole situation. Brooks alleviated those fears the only way he could:
"Gregory knew Richard Pryor was going to play the role and was worried about filling such big shoes. I said, 'Don't worry,' glancing down, 'you've got big feet!'"
Not the only time Richard Pryor had to bow out for Mel
What makes the situation a little more sad was that this was going to be the time Mel Brooks and Richard Pryor finally worked together on screen. You see, a few years before "History of the World, Part I," Pryor was going to star in another Brooks film but had to be replaced. The role of Bart, the sheriff of Rock Ridge, in "Blazing Saddles" was intended for Pryor. He even co-wrote the movie with Brooks. While he wasn't in the movie for any one drug-related incident, Warner Bros. refused to let Pryor be the star of the film because they knew his drug habits would make him completely uninsurable. In the "Back in the Saddle" feature on the film's Blu-ray, producer Michael Hertzberg recalls one instance during pre-production that illustrates Pryor's fallibility:
"We were writing, and we were there, and Richie didn't show up. The phone rings, 'Richie, where are ya?' 'Detroit.' 'What are you doing in Detroit?' 'Well, I met a couple of girls last night. I'm in Detroit. I need $200 to come back.'"
Comedically, it's difficult to find someone better than Richard Pryor, but from a business perspective, I completely understand why they couldn't count on him, especially as the lead. Luckily, they found, like Gregory Hines, another incredibly engaging song and dance stage performer in Cleavon Little to play the part. He also died far too early in his 50s from cancer. In both cases, I am glad Mel Brooks gave chances to these guys who otherwise probably would not have gotten major roles like this in big Hollywood films. Though, the alternate universe where Richard Pryor plays both roles would be a fascinating one to visit.