Richard "Cactus" Pryor (January 7, 1923 – August 30, 2011) was an American recording artist, broadcaster and humorist.
Pryor was an Austin native whose grandfather helped build the Texas Capital. Cactus contracted show business fever at age 3 when his father, Richard "Skinny" Pryor, let him make stage appearances at Austin's early-day picture show, the Cactus, which he owned. Those stints at the landmark led to his permanent nickname. Cactus attended Austin High School and the University of Texas. After leaving UT he served in the US Army Air Corp. Upon his return to Austin he became a member of Lady Bird Johnson's broadcast family in 1944 when he joined the staff of KLBJ Radio and became a familiar decades-long fixture to Central Texas listeners.
Pryor was first heard on Lady Bird Johnson's radio station 590 KLBJ, though his face became as well known as his voice once he moved to television broadcasting on Austin television station KTBC. In addition to his work in radio and television,. At KTBC, Pryor had served as programming manager and had hosted a variety of shows. He had conducted interviews with celebrities such as Arthur Godfrey and Dan Blocker and narrated behind-the-scenes programs about KTBC.
As a recording artist his specialty was the Country novelty/parody tune, and in 1950 he made it to the national C&W charts with a hilarious spoof of the Tennessee Ernie Ford and Frankie Laine hit "The Cry Of The Wild Goose". Under the title "The Cry Of The Dying Duck In A Thunder-Storm" and billed to Cactus Pryor & His Prickly Pears, it peaked at # 7 in June on 4 Star 1459 b/w Double Trouble. That would be his only such national claim to fame on record, although he did release quite a number of other singles, three of which came out before the above spoof. His first, in late 1949, was "That's All I Want For Christmas" b/w "Christmas Time Is A Very Merry Time" on Empire 455, and this was followed in early 1950 by "Jackass Caravan" b w/ "Red River Valley" on 4 Star 1404 and "Texas Tapper" b/w "Cool Water" on 4 Star 1442."
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| Pryor with Ann-Margret |
As part of his involvement with the Headliners Club of Austin journalists, Pryor starred in satires of television news. He provided the voiceover for the 1960 KTBC film “Target Austin”, which presents the scenario of a nuclear missile strike on Austin. Cactus also appeared in the movies, "Hellfighters" and The Green Berets," with John Wayne. He and "the Duke" were friends and Cactus was introduced to the crew of the Green Berets as the "funniest man alive." Not surprisingly, he was a sought-after special events entertainment headliner. One of his trademark acts was to appear in the character of a monarch or other royalty of an obscure European principality. Disguised by dress and accent, he mesmerized dinner guests who were totally charmed and then astounded when the masquerade was revealed.
Cactus also served as co-host of the weekly Darrell Royal Football Show for a number of years in the late 60's during that legendary U.T. coach's championship run. As such, he gave voice to the questions of Longhorn fans and often spiced the commentary with irreverent ad libs.
Cactus has been a distinguished writer all of his life. The bulk of his work has been for the radio ear or the television monitor, but he has published two books of his radio commentaries, Inside Texas and Playback, and a more recently light-hearted work, My Sand Trap or Yours. He regaled audiences on Austin radio with a daily 2-minute trip down memory lane, reminiscing about places and people from his past well into the 2000s. He was a self-described liberal, but acknowledged that his children do not share his beliefs. He claimed to have been one of the first people to have heard of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, having been at the ranch of then-vice president Lyndon Baines Johnson at the time.
Pryor had for several years, been a radio spokesman for the Austin-based Tex-Mex restaurant chain Serrano's. In these ads, he is often called "Nopalito," which loosely means little cactus, after the Spanish word nopal. His broadcasting sign-off consisted of a nonsense word, "thermostrockimortimer," the meaning of which (if any) was never made public. Cactus stated that, "The phrase is in the Bible; if you don't find it, keep reading."
In 2007, Pryor told his radio audience that he was battling Alzheimer's disease. He died on August 30, 2011 in Austin, Texas, aged 88, weeks after breaking his leg in a fall. Cactus had been the recipient of a host of honours for community service through the years, including recognition as Austin's Most Worthy Citizen.
"Thermostrockimortimer!" appears on the shared headstone of Cactus Pryor and his wife Peggy in the Texas State Cemetery in Austin.
(Edited from Wikipedia & legacy.com)