PEORIA, Ill., Oct. 17 (UPI) -- Comedian Richard Pryor will finally get his due in his hometown of Peoria.
After months of arguing, the City Council voted 6-5 Tuesday to recognize the town's famous and funny native son with six blocks of Sheridan Road and the first block of Persimmon Street renamed "Richard Pryor Place."
Pryor, 60, suffers from multiple sclerosis.
First District Councilman Clyde Gulley Jr. convinced the majority that the city should be proud of Pryor's achievements and not focus on his past drug use or history of domestic violence.
"I'm not focusing on all the bad -- all the negative aspects -- but the good things that Richard Pryor has done for the city of Peoria," Gulley told the Peoria Journal Star. Opposing council members said Pryor did not represent Christian values and suggested honorary streets for other noted Peorians.
Pryor was honored with the Mark Twain Prize humor in 1999 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, but he has never received a key to the city of Peoria.
Council members rejected a proposal to rename a portion of downtown Third Avenue after the sarcastic comic in March. "Richard Pryor Place" will be in the center of the South Side African-American community.
But a former councilman said Pryor should be recognized for overcoming the disadvantaged circumstances of his birth and upbringing in brothels to achieve legendary status as a performer for his biting, sarcastic, often epithet-laced comedy.
"It's a story we can tell people about Peoria," Gulley said. "I want something we can show and try to brag about."
