PEORIA, Ill. (AP) — A statue of Richard Pryor has been unveiled in his hometown of Peoria after a yearslong effort to honor the late comedian and actor.
The (Peoria) Journal Star reports more than 300 people were at the unveiling Sunday for the 9-foot-tall bronze statue of Pryor. The statue is in the Warehouse District and has downtown Peoria as a backdrop.
Efforts to build the statue went on for nine years, with the $130,000 needed raised through donations and a November benefit organized by comic George Lopez.
Richard Pryor Jr., who was at the unveiling, said it was surreal to see a statue erected for his father, who died in 2005.