Rudy Ray Moore, who’s portrayal as a pimp in blaxploitation flick ‘Dolemite’, has passed away today in Toledo, Ohio, from complications of diabetes. Moore was 81 years old.

While Moore may have passed his legacy never will. The Los Angeles Times explained his significance today in article where they announced his passing by saying:

Though he was little known to mainstream audiences, Moore had a significant effect on comedians and hip-hop artists.

“People think of black comedy and think of Eddie Murphy,” rap artist Luther Campbell of 2 Live Crew told the Miami Herald in 1997. “They don’t realize [Moore] was the first, the biggest underground comedian of them all. I listened to him and patterned myself after him.”

Here is the original trailer of Moore’s best known work ‘Dolemite’ which he starred, wrote, and produced in: