Dick Gregory

Comedian/Activist

Comedian, civil-rights activist, and nutritionist, born in St Louis, Missouri,
USA. Known for his ground-breaking use of socially conscious racial
humour. He overcame his origins in extreme poverty to become the first
African-American comedian to perform for white audiences. After attending
Southern Illinois University on an athletic scholarship and serving in the US
Army (1953–6), he rose to national prominence at the Chicago Playboy
Club (1961).

Throughout the 1960s his fame as a civil-rights activist and nightclub
performer made his name synonymous with progressive social and political
causes. He ran in Chicago's mayoral race (1966) and for the US
presidency (1968) to publicize human-rights issues. Embracing
vegetarianism through his commitment to nonviolence, he became a
radical nutritionist and nutritional proselytizer, and founded Dick Gregory
Health Enterprises (1984). Famous for using fasts and marathons as
activist tools, his many popular records and writings include Nigger: An
Autobiography (1964, 1970).