Civil Rights Activist, Iconic Comedian Dick Gregory Dead At 84
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Dick Gregory, who broke racial barriers in the 1960s and used his humor to spread messages of social justice and nutritional health, has died.
He was 84.
Gregory's son, Christian, told The Associated Press his father died late Saturday in Washington, D.C. after being hospitalized for about a week. He had suffered a severe bacterial infection.
Gregory was one of the first black comedians to find mainstream success with white audiences in the early 1960s. He rose from an impoverished childhood in St. Louis to become a celebrated satirist who deftly commented upon racial divisions at the dawn of the civil rights movement.
About being black in America Dick Gregory has passed away, Condolences to his family and to us who won't have his insight 2 lean on
— Whoopi Goldberg (@WhoopiGoldberg) August 20, 2017
R.I.P
He also ran for president in 1968 as the Peace and Freedom party candidate.
Gregory was married only once, in 1959, and he and wife Lillian has 10 children.
#DickGregory was a hero in my childhood. 20 yrs later we met walking down a street in Boston. He was the saint I imagined him to be.
— Lawrence O'Donnell (@Lawrence) August 20, 2017
He taught us how to laugh. He taught us how to fight.He taught us how to live.Dick Gregory was committed to justice.I miss him already. #RIP pic.twitter.com/3CfpM2O17D
— Rev Jesse Jackson Sr (@RevJJackson) August 20, 2017
The comedian received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2015 for live theater work.
Rest n Peace Dick Gregory. Warrior, soldier, revolutionary....Your voice will be missed in this troubled world.
— David Alan Grier (@davidalangrier) August 20, 2017
Dick Gregory lived an amazing, revolutionary life. A groundbreaker in comedy and a voice for justice. RIP
— John Legend (@johnlegend) August 20, 2017
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