‘Foxy Brown’ star Pam Grier recalls her tumultuous relationship with Richard Pryor: ‘I had to walk away’

Pam Grier clearly remembers when she first learned her ex-boyfriend Richard Pryor nearly ended his life.

It was 1980, and the actress was on set filming “Fort Apache, The Bronx.” A production officer informed her that the comic’s pal, Jim Brown, was on the phone and needed to speak with her right away.

“He tells me, ‘Richard was in an accident,'” the 73-year-old recalled to Fox News Digital. “I immediately went, ‘Oh my God,’ but I knew. I didn’t know the details of the accident, but I just knew an accident was coming, and it would be drug-related. We had broken up maybe a couple of years ago, but I just knew something was going to happen. That’s when he told me, ‘Richard wants to see you. He may not make it to the night. He wants to see all his closest friends before he passes.'”

“I told him, ‘No, I’m not coming. I’m not going to be a crutch for him,'” she shared. “I just had nothing to say to him. I was angry. I knew sobriety was his hero. And he had so many opportunities. He was just squandering it. I didn’t want to judge or beat him when he was down, so I just didn’t feel it was right for me to go.”

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The “Foxy Brown” icon is reflecting on her decades-long career, including all the highs and lows that came with it, in “Here Comes Pam.” The fourth season of the TCM podcast “The Plot Thickens” is hosted by Ben Mankiewicz and premiered on Oct. 25. In 20 hours of interviews, Mankiewicz follows Grier across her New Mexico ranch, where she currently resides with her rescued horses and dogs, the New York Times reported. In it, she recalls her memories of Pryor, whose addiction took a toll on their relationship.

The couple began dating in 1975. The relationship disintegrated in 1976 after he “fell off the wagon.” Grier said she had received crisis calls before about the actor over his drug use. However, this time was different.

After a marathon cocaine binge that reportedly lasted for days, Pryor poured 151 proof rum on himself. He then lit himself on fire and ran down the street from his Los Angeles home. The fire department found the star in a daze with third-degree burns over the upper part of his body.

Grier said she refused to visit him at the hospital even as he recovered.

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“He respected me for my decision,” Grier recalled. “Richard had a way of trying to figure out whether he could trust the people that were around him. If you hung around him constantly, it meant that you were just there for the money and fame. Then he had no respect for you. I would tell him, ‘I don’t need your fame or your light. I need nothing from you.'”

“When I left, I indicated to him that I would never talk to him again,” she said. “I had no reason to. But as hard as it was for me, I felt he was getting all of these opportunities that I would never get in Hollywood as a woman. So, you go ahead and be a victim. You go ahead and be weak and stupid and squander all these incredible opportunities that Hollywood wants to offer you that I’ll never get… It’s hard to tell that to someone you love. But he had to manage his addiction. He had to manage his talent. I just couldn’t put myself in that situation… I saw him beating himself up and ruining his life.”

“I didn’t know if I was going to stay in this industry for long,” she continued. “But there are so many stories to tell, to create. And I just felt like I needed to give myself a chance and not depend on people who can offer you everything and then take it away when they want to. I wanted to have that power and control.”

Grier said she remained firm on her decision. It was a road she had once visited before. In 1973, the actress was in a relationship with another comic – Freddie Prinze – who also struggled with addiction. In 1977, the “Chico and the Man” star died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at age 22. According to reports, it was Prinze who introduced Grier to Pryor.

After the accident, Pryor was hospitalized for nearly two months as he underwent a series of skin grafts. Not only did he recover, but Pryor went on to be a top box office attraction during the ’80s, The New York Times reported.

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Grier said one of the happiest moments she shared with Pryor was when she got him a bike, and they used to go riding on the beach.

“I taught him how to swim,” she said. “He wouldn’t get in the pool unless I was there. And then he tried to lure me by getting a horse named Ginger. I was so enamored.”

Grier said Pryor’s dogs attacked Ginger. The actor was hysterical. That was when she took matters into her own hands.

“We needed to get her to the vet,” said Grier. “I didn’t have a horse trailer. So we put her in the backseat of my Jaguar. She peed in my Jaguar, but we got her to the vet, and we saved her. I remember her head was hanging out on one side and her tail was on the other, and she was just bouncing around. Sparks are flying from the car and Richard is crying in a bathrobe. I just didn’t want to get arrested and save Ginger. But you see what those men will do to you? I’ve never gotten a Jaguar since then!”

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Grier then grew quiet.

“I just didn’t want to lose that talent,” she said. “I really wanted to hold up a mirror and show him how wonderful and loved he was, and that he’s really gifted. But as they say, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. I had to walk away.”

In 1986, Pryor learned he was suffering from multiple sclerosis, a disease that impacts the nervous system. In 2005, Pryor passed away from a heart attack at age 65.

Grier is working on getting an adaptation of her 2010 memoir off the ground. She is aware that her 1974 Blaxploitation film “Foxy Brown” continues to fascinate fans.

“Oh, they remember my nipples,” Grier chuckled about her racy scenes in the 1974 film. “But I can see what they’re saying. Here you have a sister, a beautiful woman, expressing her sexuality and intelligence. Why should we judge and politicize that? It opened a dialogue about where women want to go. I didn’t know it would be analyzed as much. But I was moved by it. And when I did that film, I wasn’t sure I was going to continue making films. I missed science, which was a part of my life as a child. I just didn’t know there was an audience for me.”

“But it turned out I developed an audience,” Grier noted. “It wasn’t just women, but also artists and filmmakers who loved to see a woman walk in a man’s shoes and be viewed as strong, combative. Here was a woman who freely expressed herself in a way that wasn’t portrayed… But I come from the Black West, from women who are wholesome, but fierce. I wanted to bring that into my work. I lassoed people in and it opened the floodgates. I’m still amazed by all of these incredible women who are now doing action films, who aren’t afraid of guns and won’t stick their heads in the sand. I feel great that it’s helped other women express themselves and be strong, fearless. I’m really pleased with that.”

“And yes, I call it the Nipple Revolution,” she added.