Gregory, Dick

GREGORY, DICK (1932-2017). Arguably the most politically-active comedian of his day, often putting aside his career to join causes, Gregory never disappeared entirely from sight during a long run as humorist and militant.

Born in St. Louis, attending Southern Illinois University on a track scholarship, Richard Claxton Gregory set records in several events. Drafted in 1954, he responded to military life with a humorous patter in Army talent shows. Returning briefly to Carbondale, he decided to quit both college and competitive athletics and moved to Chicago. For a decade, he worked day jobs, appearing in black nightclubs for little or no money.

At a moment when prominent Black comedians created a new kind of humor, playing upon the dilemmas of African American life but breaking with minstrelsy, Gregory impressed Hugh Hefner, who invited him in 1961 to do stand-up at the Playboy Club. He happened to replace another comic long known to be on the Left: “Professor” Irwin Corey.

As the civil rights movement’s momentum picked up, Gregory became a favorite of college groups, stirring campus conservatives and politicians to attack him. William Kunstler defended his right to speak at the University of Tennessee and won the case. By that time, Gregory had joined many civil rights actions, from the 1963 Selma March to protests against the Vietnam War, where be delivered militant and funny speeches. He offered his own reward of $25,000 for information about the murderers of James Chaney, Andrew Goodman and Michael Schwerner, prompting a reluctant FBI to do the same. Gregory was arrested in an action supporting Washington’s Nisqually People in 1969 and served a six-week sentence, fasting to dramatize the cause. In the 1970s, he supported the women’s liberation movement among many other causes.

Running against Richard J. Daley for Mayor of Chicago in 1967, Gregory drew wide attention and admiration if not many votes. He ran for president on the Freedom and Peace Party ticket in 1968, a break away from the better-known Peace and Freedom Party, and nevertheless earned nearly 50,000 votes. He continued for more than three decades to do stand-up fund-raisers as well as heart-felt speeches for a variety of protest groups.

Gregory became deeply involved in the examination of the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and collaborated on a conspiracy book with Mark Lane. In future decades, he returned repeatedly to conspiracy theories, costing him much credibility. But his criticism of the inquiries around the assassination of JFK hit a nerve, helping to prompt further Congressional investigation. His attachment to a variety of causes, including dietary reform (he developed and sold his own powered mix), animal rights and others, made him an fascinating figure until near the end of his life. He recorded dozens of comedy records, wrote a handful of books, and kept himself in the public eye.

Gregory, Dick, with Robert Lipsyte. Nigger: an Autobiography. New York: E.P. Dutton, 1964.