He fused Little Richard and Richard Simmons together for “Little Richard Simmons,” mimicked Stevie Wonder and Bill Cosby, and parodied Buckwheat of “Our Gang” and Gumby. Shortly after he was a regular on “Saturday Night Live” and soon the hit of the show. He rose quickly, performing at New York’s The Comic Strip for affluent East Siders who found his street jive an amusing novelty. And when the cycle for angry young men ebbed and audiences wanted a smiling new face, Murphy took over for Richard. Murphy talked about sex like Richard, cursed like Richard, made faces like Richard. On stage Murphy was Pryor without the hatred and bitterness. Admittedly growing up in an environment far removed from the racism and taunts that Richard Pryor knew as a child, Eddie’s idol was Elvis Presley whom he thought “had more presence and charisma than anybody who ever existed.” When he got into comedy, the young kid gravitated Richard Pryor albums loaded with all that cool cursing. Eddie went to Roosevelt Junior-Senior High School, and performed at the Roosevelt Youth Center talent shows in 1976. His mother remarried when Eddie was nine, and the family settled in Roosevelt, Long Island. For a time after his father’s death he and his brother Charles were placed in foster care. Murphy, like a rookie “pheenom,” had seemingly come out of nowhere to conquer the comedy world while barely out of his teens.Įddie was born in Brooklyn. “Ol’ Cos,” like a veteran baseball pitcher, had spent decades achieving superstardom. He and Bill Cosby ended the 80’s earning more each year than almost any other entertainers.
The magazine was counting up the take for a cool cat comedian-Eddie Murphy. Twenty million, thirty million-Forbes Magazine wasn’t counting the assets for some fat cat businessman.
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