Comedian, Actor, Writer Paul Mooney Dies at 79

Paul Mooney, the comedian, actor and writer for Richard Pryor, died Wednesday morning at the age of 79.

Mooney died at his home in Oakland, Calif., after suffering a heart attack, his representative Cassandra Williams confirmed the news.

The comedian's Twitter account also shared the news, posting “Thank you all from the bottom of all of our hearts…To all in love with this great man.”

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Following the heartbreaking news, fans, friends and celebrities took to social media to pay tribute to Mooney.

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Moreover, actor and comedian D.L. Hughley paid a heartfelt tribute to Mooney, "Rest Well Lion!"

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Grammy Award winning singer and actress Stephanie Mills also took to Twitter to express her deep grief over the tragic news.

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Mooney was best known for his works as the head writer on "The Richard Pryor Show", as well as shows such as "In Living Color", "Good Times", "The Larry Sanders Show", "Chappelle’s Show" and "Real Husbands of Hollywood".

On Chappelle’s Comedy Central show, Mooney played the recurring character Negrodamus.

The character was a Black version of the philosopher Nostradamus who specialized in answering questions like “Why do white people love Wayne Brady so much?”, and the answer would be “Because Wayne Brady makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X”.

Besides comedy, he appeared as an actor in movies like "The Buddy Holly Story", "Bustin' Loose", "Hollywood Shuffle", "Bamboozled and Meet the Blacks".