Gregory, Dick

Richard Claxton "Dick" Gregory (born October 12, 1932) is an <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">American</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedian" title="Comedian" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">comedian</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_activist" title="Social activist" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">social activist</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_critic" title="Social critic" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">social critic</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Writer" title="Writer" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">writer</a>, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneur" title="Entrepreneur" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">entrepreneur</a>, and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conspiracy_theorist" title="Conspiracy theorist" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">conspiracy theorist</a>.Gregory is an influential <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States" title="United States" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">American</a> comedian who has used his performance skills to convey to both white and black audiences his political message on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_rights" title="Civil rights" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">civil rights</a>. His social satire helped change the way white Americans perceived black American comedians since he first performed in public.<div id="toc" class="toc" style="border: 1px solid rgb(170, 170, 170); background-color: rgb(249, 249, 249); padding: 7px; font-size: 13px; display: table; zoom: 1; color: rgb(37, 37, 37);"><div id="toctitle" style="direction: ltr; text-align: center;"><h2 style="color: black; background-image: none; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border: none; font-size: 13px; display: inline; line-height: 1.3;">Contents</h2>  [<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#" class="internal" id="togglelink" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">hide</a>] </div><ul style="line-height: 1.6em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0.3em 0px; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#Early_life" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">1 Early life</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#Career" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">2 Career</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#Post_career" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">3 Post career</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-4" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#Personal_life" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">4 Personal life</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-5" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#Activism" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">5 Activism</a><ul style="line-height: 1.6em; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 2em; padding: 0px; list-style-image: none;"><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-6" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#Political_activism" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">5.1 Political activism</a></li><li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-7" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#Health_Enterprises.2C_Inc." style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">5.2 Health Enterprises, Inc.</a></li></ul></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#Discography" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">6 Discography</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#Books" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">7 Books</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-10" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#Filmography" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">8 Filmography</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-11" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#See_also" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">9 See also</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-12" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#References" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">10 References</a></li><li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-13" style="margin-bottom: 0.1em;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#External_links" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">11 External links</a></li></ul></div><h2 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3;">Early life<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-family: sans-serif;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dick_Gregory&action=edit&section=1&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Early life" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a>]</h2><div><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-family: sans-serif;">
</div><div><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-family: sans-serif;">...</div><h2 style="background-image: none; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); font-weight: normal; margin: 1em 0px 0.25em; overflow: hidden; padding: 0px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-bottom-style: solid; border-bottom-color: rgb(170, 170, 170); font-family: 'Linux Libertine', Georgia, Times, serif; line-height: 1.3;">Career<span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-family: sans-serif;">[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dick_Gregory&action=edit&section=2&editintro=Template:BLP_editintro" title="Edit section: Career" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">edit</a>]</h2>Dick Gregory began his career as a comedian while serving in the military in the mid 1950s. He served in the army for a year and a half at Ft. Hood in Texas, Ft. Lee in Virginia and Ft. Smith in Arkansas. He was drafted in 1954 while attending <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Illinois_University_at_Carbondale" title="Southern Illinois University at Carbondale" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Southern Illinois University at Carbondale</a>. After being discharged in 1956 he returned to the university but did not receive a degree. With a desire to perform comedy professionally, he moved to Chicago<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#cite_note-3" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[3]</a>In the beginning of his career, Gregory experienced his share of failure and success. In 1958, Gregory tried his hand in opening a nightclub called the Apex Club in Illinois. The club failed, landing Gregory in financial hardship. However, in 1959, Gregory landed a job as master of ceremonies at the Roberts Show Club.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#cite_note-4" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[4]</a>Gregory performed as a comedian in small, primarily black-patronized <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nightclub" title="Nightclub" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">nightclubs</a> while working for the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service" title="United States Postal Service" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">United States Postal Service</a> during the daytime. Dick Gregory was one of the first black comedians to gain widespread acclaim performing for white audiences. When Dick Gregory was starting out, it was nearly unheard of for black comics to perform in white night clubs. In an interview with the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huffington_Post" title="Huffington Post" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Huffington Post</a>, Gregory describes the past role of black comics as limited. “Blacks could sing and dance in the white night clubs but weren't allowed to stand flat-footed and talk to white folks, which is what a comic does.”In 1961, while working at the Black-owned Roberts Show Bar in Chicago, he was spotted by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hugh_Hefner" title="Hugh Hefner" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Hugh Hefner</a> performing the following material before a largely white audience:<blockquote class="templatequote" style="margin-top: 0px; color: rgb(37, 37, 37); font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.399999618530273px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I understand there are a good many Southerners in the room tonight. I know the South very well. I spent twenty years there one night.Last time I was down South I walked into this restaurant and this white waitress came up to me and said, "We don't serve colored people here." I said, "That's all right. I don't eat colored people. Bring me a whole fried chicken."Then these three white boys came up to me and said, "Boy, we're giving you fair warning. Anything you do to that chicken, we're gonna do to you". So I put down my knife and fork, I picked up that chicken and I kissed it. Then I said, "Line up, boys!"<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#cite_note-5" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[5]</a></blockquote>Gregory attributes the launch of his career to Hugh Hefner, who watched him perform at Herman Roberts Show Bar. Based on that performance, Hefner hired Gregory to work at the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago" title="Chicago" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Chicago</a> <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Playboy" title="Playboy" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Playboy Club</a> as a replacement for the white comedian Professor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irwin_Corey" title="Irwin Corey" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Irwin Corey</a>.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dick_Gregory#cite_note-6" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; white-space: nowrap; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">[6]</a>Gregory's first TV appearance was on the late night <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tonight_Show_Starring_Jack_Paar" title="The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar</a>.[<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">citation needed</a>] He soon began appearing nationally and on television.Early in Dick Gregory’s career, he was offered a gig on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tonight_Show_Starring_Jack_Paar" title="The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar" class="mw-redirect" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">The Tonight Show Starring Jack Paar</a>. That particular show was known for helping to propel entertainers to the next level of their careers. At the time, black comics were allowed to perform on the show but were not allowed to stay after their performances to sit on the famous couch and talk with the host. Dick Gregory declined the invitation to perform on the show several times until finally <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Paar" title="Jack Paar" style="text-decoration: none; color: rgb(11, 0, 128); background-image: none; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Jack Paar</a> called him to find out why he refused to perform on the show. Eventually, in order to have Gregory perform, the producers agreed to allow him to stay after his performance and talk with the host on air. This was a first in the show's history. Dick Gregory’s interview on The Tonight Show spurred conversations across America. His interview provided an opportunity for European-American viewers to see an African American in a positive and humane light....<div><span class="mw-editsection" style="-webkit-user-select: none; font-size: small; margin-left: 1em; vertical-align: baseline; line-height: 1em; display: inline-block; white-space: nowrap; padding-right: 0.25em; unicode-bidi: -webkit-isolate; font-family: sans-serif;">=</div>